Personal Ethics

Personal Ethics

How Personal Can Ethics Get

This is a study paper discussing about ethical concepts and dilemmas that are facing Valerie

Young, who is an employee for a Chicago based fragrance company named Wisson.

Evening of the incident, Valerie confides in her boyfriend who she knows she can

trust, because this particular information was eating at her and she felt the need to tell someone.

The advice from her boyfriend was not to disclose the information to anyone at the present time

so that she didn’t jeopardize her job or schooling opportunities in the United States. In this case,

Valerie demonstrates the Self-Serving principle of the hedonist. By waiting to tell anyone until

she got her schooling completed or found another job, she took in my opinion the low road. This

is also an exhibition of the principle pertaining to the Utilitarian Principle. In Valerie’s mind,

she was doing it not only to save her job and schooling, but for the other department members,

who may have been affected negatively by her decision to report her managers’ impropriety. In

this case she is displaying the Concern for Others principle of Distributive Justice.

Personal Ethics 4

If I were Valerie, what would I do? And why would I do it?

Considering the four principles discussed in the previous section, my actions would have

been a bit different that those of Ms. Young. On the issue of finding the managers personal

invoices in the copier, I would not have kept this information to myself. My first response would

be to send this information anonymously to upper management. I would do this anonymously,

because I would not want to disclose at that time that I was the one who made the discovery.

With my citizenship, work and school status at risk from Mr. Waters retaliation I’d feel more

secure in knowing that management could handle the situation without further intervention from

me. Knowing that top management is committed to the ethical behavior of all...