Ethics Games Dilemas

Ethics Games Dilemmas- Week 5

ETH 316

February 11, 2013

DeVos

Ethics Games Dilemmas- Week 5

The Case of The Mysterious Roses is a scenario representing an ethical issue which involves harassment policies and a dilemma about confidentiality. Bill Witherspoon is a research scientist that has taken an interest in Gayle Dornier, a sales representative that has been struggling with her numbers recently. Another employee, Karen, has noted that Bill seems to come by every time that Gayle gets flowers. Karen comes to me and says that she thinks that Bill's attention is cute and wonders whether I knew anything. Gayle is concerned and requests a confidential meeting with me. The issue is - How to answer Gayle's request for confidentiality in my meeting. Everything else in this problem depends on how Gayle and I resolve her request that I not disclose to anyone else in the company what she tells me.

The first step to the proper resolution is to determine who the stakeholders are in this scenario. Acknowledging that the main purpose of the company is to maximize the shareholder value places the shareholders as stakeholders in this scenario. Carol Tempest, VP of Human Resources is a stakeholder because there is a high likelihood that I will need to involve HR at some point before the final decision is made. As Director of Sales, I am impacted by the decisions I make. My skills and reputation will be tested through this process. Gayle Dornier is the primary stakeholder because she will have to decide what to do based on my answer. Bill will be impacted because I suspect that he is the source of the problem Gayle wants to discuss. Even if I am wrong he will be impacted. John McIntyre, VP of Operations and Research is Bill’s superior and will be impacted if allegations of harassment are raised and will have to deal with the actions within his department.

The Rights and Responsibility lens will help define the duties and obligations I have when making the...