Topic
Study of Ethical Scenarios in a Business Environment – The Case of Michael
Instructions
Answer Preview
The ethical issue in the given scenario is illegal conduct by Michael’s boss in acquiring competitor’s confidential details unethically. Ethical conduct stipulates that in a competitive environment, players should not employ unethical and illegal measures to gain an unfair advantage over the market rivals. Instead, the competitors should engage creativity, innovation and ethical research to build a competitive edge in the market. Anti-trust practices such as the one employees by the boss violate the ethical best practices in the business context. Similarly, the methods that the boss used to obtain the secret strategic details from the competitor were illegal and outright unethical. When Michael queried about how he had acquired the documents, the boss indicated that he pulled them from the rival’s servers. He had apparently hacked the data systems of the competitor to electronically access the files. Whether he did it personally or hired someone else to do it, the fact remains the whole engagement is unethical. Now Michael faces an ethical dilemma. His boss brought the details which it is evident were acquired unethically and illegally. Proceeding to use these documents would constitute an unethical conduct in itself. In such a case, Michael would be culpable for participating in unethical business practices. Michael knows this, but his boss expected him to utilize the documents presumably to create a competitive position for their company.
Word Count: 1900