This case covers several ethical issues.
Jim is hired to work in the human resources department of KR Electronics and started by monitoring reports that came in from employees through the company’s ethics hotline. Jim was trained on the company’s ethical policies and values (such as the importance of integrity and confidentiality). However, when he approached the human resources manager, David, about complaints he was told of about an abusive manager, David shrugged off Jim’s concerns. David stated that the manager’s unit is one of the highest performing and that the manager must be doing something right. Jim filed a report from Sarah about unethical practices being conducted by salespeople. Sarah wanted to make sure that her sales manager did not find out that she was the one who reported these activities. Later, Jim finds out that Sarah has been fired for poor performance.
When Jim found out that Sarah had been fired for poor performance, he asked David about it and learned that Sarah’s manager had been informed about her report. David defended Sarah being fired and did not believe it was a violation of confidentiality. David states that Sarah did not have to provide her name for the report and that her manger is a good man and would not fire someone simply to get back at them for reporting. Jim remembers that the sales manager and David are good friends and often go out together for lunch.
One issue with this case is that the company’s ethical policies and values get pushed to the side in favor of sales performance and quotas. David defended the sales manager’s abusive behavior since his unit is one of the highest performers. He also disregarded Sarah’s comments about sales staff’s dishonesty regarding products to get better bonuses as a way for her to hide her poor performance. Another issue is the confidentiality of Sarah’s name in Jim’s report. Sarah’s sales manager had been informed about her report and could have fired her out of retaliation. David completely ignored the company’s policy of confidentiality.
Answer the following:
Part 1: What would you do if you were Jim? Should Jim have included Sarah’s name on the report since he knew she did not want her sales manager to find out she was the one filing the report? What might be the repercussions? How common do you think this type of scenario is in the work environment?
Part 2: How would you define corporate culture? How does corporate culture play a role in ethical behavior? How does corporate culture play a role in ethical decision making? Describe some ways an organization can change a negative corporate culture.