Activities

Activity #1:
Rank in order from Least Ethical (6) down to Most Ethical (1). Rank each individual. Do not use a number more than once. After you have completed the ranking, write 1-2 paragraphs that explains your choice for most ethical. Next, write 1-2 paragraphs that explains your choice for least ethical.

Jenni 1_____
Sam 2______
Barb 4______
Katie 6____
Dave 5_____
Jean 3______

I feel out of these individuals that Jenni is probably the most ethical. She is the human resources manager and should understand the code of ethics the best out of everyone as it is her job to teach it. She does do things that seem to be in conflict of the code of ethics but when it comes to her children I think there is a fine line there. I do not care what anyone says, your children’s own safety is top priority. All the hours she works and the extra days she puts in I do not see the problem with her feeling she needs to take time out of her day to make sure her kids got home safely since she cannot be there to make sure of this. Also the description tends to leave out certain details. She does call from work, but it does not state if she takes a break out of her day and uses her cell phone or if she uses her office phone. Yet for me it shouldn’t make a difference.

Katie and Dave are the least ethical in these scenarios in my opinion. Katie more so then Dave, yet they are very close together. Katie is stealing from work. I believe that out weighs using computers for personal use by a bit. They both would be fired in a typical setting, and I believe attention would probably be given more to Dave then Katie due to the nature of his acts. If he is watching porno at home that is ok, but when he brings that to work and others may be subject to seeing what he is interested in that is not allowable. They are both stealing in a sense, Katie is physically stealing goods where as Dave is stealing company time to look at pornographic material. They are both a close tie for least ethical, as if I owned the business or was in management I would view them both in the same light.
Activity #2:
Answer the following questions.

• Should anyone be fired?
Katie should be fired and definitely Dave should be fired. The others could probably get away with a warning of some sort, but stealing and using your computer to look up porn is not excusable.

• Would you feel differently if this were a large firm?
I would not feel any differently no matter the size of the firm. Stealing is stealing and watching porn at work is doing something you should be doing in private to begin with. The others used there companies computers or phones for outside business and if this is not repeated then I could see them being warned, and that type of corrective action I would see being equal at a firm of any size.

• Would you feel differently if you owned this company?
I would not feel any differently if I owned the company. The issue with stealing and watching porn would not fly. I could see letting the other issues slide, especially if it was done during breaks or lunches.

• Would you feel differently if the company did not have a code of ethics?
I would not feel differently if the company did not have a code of ethics because basically a code of ethics is just common sense and you do not need one written down just to remind people of things they should already know. The severity of corrective action to me would be the same regardless if there was a code of ethics or not.

• What did you learn from this exercise about your personal value system?
I understand the way I feel when it comes to ethics at work and what you can and cannot do, or what you should not do. Some of these things I just don’t see being that big a deal, but I understand the way companies feel about it especially when it comes to stealing company equipment or time.