Ethical Dilemma Analysis Essay

Assignment 1: Ethical Dilemmas

Description

As a business communicator, you may face various ethical dilemmas in your career. Many factors can determine your choice of action to take. In this assignment, you will be presented with seven different ethical dilemmas. You are to choose four of these dilemmas and assess each of them using the Five Questions to Guide Ethical Decisions presented by Figure 1.12 on page 26 of your textbook. For each of your chosen dilemmas, you are then to explain your responses to each of the five questions in a report to your instructor.

This assignment relates to Module 1 of your course. It is to be completed individually. You are welcome to use your course textbook and resources to assist you in completing the assignment. You are also encouraged to discuss your answers with your classmates. You are, however, fully responsible for completing your own work in your own words. Plagiarism, cheating, and any other lack of academic integrity are not tolerated and will result in a grade of zero on the assignment.

Completion Instructions

To complete this assignment please work through the following steps:

1. Read all assignment completion instructions, formatting guidelines, and grading information prior to starting.

2. Read through the following seven ethical dilemmas (reproduced from Guffey & Lowey, 2018, p.28):

• Email Message – You accidentally receive a message outlining your company’s restructuring plan. You see that your co-worker’s job will be eliminated. He and his wife are about to purchase a new home. Should you tell him that his job is in danger?

• Customer Email – You are replying to an email to a customer who is irate over a mistake you made. Should you blame it on a computer glitch, point the finger at another department, or take the blame and risk losing this customer’s trust and possibly lose your job?

• Progress Report – Should you write a report that ignores problems in a project, as your boss asks? Your boss controls your performance evaluation.

• Sales Report – Should you inflate sales figures so that your team can meet its quarterly goal? Your team leader strongly urges you to do so, and you receive a healthy bonus if your team meets its goals. Disclaimer: This assignment is subject to change. Your instructor will inform you of the exact details in class. 2

• Presentation – You are rushing to prepare a presentation. On the Web, you find perfect wording and great graphics. Should you lift the graphics and wording but change a few words? Your figure that if it is on the Web, it must be in the public domain.

• Proposal – Your company urgently needs a revenue-producing project. Should you submit a proposal that unrealistically suggests a short completion schedule to ensure that you get the job?

• Resume – Should you inflate your grade point average or give yourself more experience or a higher job title than your experience warrants to make your resume more attractive? The job market is very competitive.

3. Choose four of the above dilemmas.

4. Assess each of your four chosen dilemmas using the Five Questions to Guide Ethical Decisions presented by Figure 1.12 on page 26 of your textbook.

5. Using a word-processing program (i.e., Microsoft Word, Pages), type out an analysis for your response to each of the five questions for each of your four chosen dilemmas.

6. Submit your completed document to your instructor via the “Assignment #1: Ethical Dilemmas” link on your course Blackboard. Further submission instructions can be found within the assignment link

Assignment Formatting Guidelines

Your word-processing document must adhere to the following formatting requirements:

• Times New Roman font – size 12

• 1” margins

• Double-spaced

Please follow this layout when creating your document: Disclaimer: This assignment is subject to change. Your instructor will inform you of the exact details in class. 3 Grading This assignment is graded out of 28 marks. It will be graded using the attached rubric.

Student Name

Assignment Name

Course Name and Section

Instructor Name

Date

Ethical Dilemmas

Dilemma 1: Email Message

Decision: I’ll maintain confidentiality

Analysis

Guffey & Loewy (2018) offered a framework to guide ethical decision-making. The first step involved the legality of the action. In this case, the email was not meant for the intended recipient, and the information contained was confidential. The information is not personal but does not fall within the public disclosure act. Hence, leaking this information would be a legal violation. Secondly, if I were on the opposite side, I would still adhere to the organization's best interest and the rule of law. Thirdly, there is no better alternative than letting HR do the official communications related to the layoff. Lastly, a trusted advisor would agree since the act aligns with the law for the need to protect email confidentiality. Similarly, co-workers would also agree since law violation is immoral in all domains.

Dilemma 2: Resume

Decision: Avoid deception

Analysis:

The best approach would be to avoid deception and present my actual credential. From a legal point of view, deception is illegal under federal law, and one can be charged on the ground of fraud. I would still avoid engaging in grade manipulation to gain an undue advantage if I were on the opposite side. The most appropriate alternative would be to present my grades as originally as they are. This would be supported by both trusted advisors and close family members. From an ethical point of view, the consequences of my action would result in others losing their chances. Thus, the best option would be to avoid violating the laws as stipulated by the federal and state statutes and adhere to the tenets of transparency and accountability. Hence, the decision to avoid engaging in deceptive acts is driven by the need to avoid breaching the provision of the law, gain support from a family member and a trusted advisor.

Dilemma 3: Presentation

Decision: I'll use the Graphics

Analysis:

Based on the decision-making model, from a legal point of view, using the information in the public domain is not a violation of legal laws. In essence, information in the public domain is not protected by intellectual property laws. Therefore, there is no other alternative than aligning with the fair use policies concerning alternatives. A trusted advisor who understands the fair use policy would agree with my decision, and so are the co-workers. In essence, the graphics are not protected by law and can be quoted multiple times. Thus, in the current situation, the decision to use the graphics is legal, acceptable and no other alternative exists to bypass the fair use policies. Hence, my decision to use the material for the presentation would be ethical and adhere to the decision-making framework stipulated by Guffey & Loewy (2018). In this case, my decision is right and would attain a common good of making the required presentations.

Dilemma 4: Sales Report

Decision: Decline the leader’s request

Analysis:

Inflating sales reports is part of the channel stuffing where the company inflates the sales. In this case, based on Guffey & Loewy's (2018) decision-making approach, from a legal perspective, the act would be illegal and clouded by acts of dishonesty. Therefore, I would seek legitimate means to increase sales and meet the quarterly reports from the other perspective. Similarly, a trusted advisor would not agree with such a decision of engaging in the act of dishonesty. Co-workers and family members would also disagree with such an act and perceive it as greed. In essence, the decisions to align with the leader's suggestion are driven by greed and the desire to gain financial benefits without actually doing the required work. Besides, such an act would mislead the investors, which is also unethical. Hence, the most viable and ethical decision would be to avoid inflating the sales and seek other options to improve sales and achieve the bonuses fairly.

Reference

Guffey, M.E. & Loewy, D. (2018). Business communication: Process & product (8th ed.). Boston, M.A.: Cengage Learning.