Diego Villa 02/24/2015 Linda Treviño MGMT 451W Ethical Dilemma Analysis: I Diego Fernando Villa affirm that I have no and will not give or receive, nor have I witnessed unauthorized aid on this deliverable and I have completed this work honestly and according to the professor’s guidelines.

My Ethical Dilemma: When I was going into my senior year of high school I was faced with an ethical dilemma that could have either ruined my father’s business or a friendship I have had since I was five years old. During the summer of 2010 I began working for my father at his Italian restaurant where he was the chef. After about a month of working with pretty good pay my friends started asking me if they could also pick up a job. When I noticed that a dish washer position was available I immediately told my friend of about twelve years and he began working with me five times a week. The weekdays at the job were good because the restaurant was not as busy but when the weekend started it became apparent that my friend was not fit to work such an intense and fast paced job. After about a month of my dad observing my friend and seeing if he could develop

into an efficient dish washer for the restaurant he realized that he just was not cut out for this kind of job. This was when my father told me that it was my job to make a decision about whether to keep him or to let him go. It was my responsibility to fire my friend to better the efficiency of the restaurant but it was holding me back because of how much I care about him. When looking at my personal values, I have always held my friends and family to a standard that required me to always be loyal to them. Having a Colombian background has really molded me to always care the most about the people who are closest to me which really made this ethical dilemma a tough one in my life. At the end of my issue I decided to tell my friend that it was not working out and he ended up getting upset at me for a month or so and after that month we continued being good friends. Consequentialist Throughout this process I noticed a lot of consequences that would occur from each potential identified option. The first option meant that I wouldn’t fire my friend and I would continue allowing this sector of my fathers business to be hindered by the lack of efficiency that is needed for this job. The stakeholders identified if this were the circumstance would be my father because it's his kitchen and his name is being put on the line for everybody to see, also the other employee washing dishes who will have to take on the extra load if my friend continues working, the waiters who are going to have to wait for dishes to be washed (which could lead to a lesser tip) and finally the customers who could possibly have to wait longer to receive food because of the lack of efficiency when washing dishes. This consequentialist attitude could really have an effect on my fathers overall business and could lead to an unhappy workforce and customer base

which is the heart of the restaurants business. The next option would be to fire my friend and look for another employee that will be willing to work this tough part of the restaurant. The stakeholders in this option is my friend because he will be the one getting fired, his family because they will have to start using their money to pay for him to do certain things, me because it could possibly effect the relationship I have with him in the future, the next employee that will be replacing him because he will now have an income, my father because he will now have a well run business, the waiters because they will not have to worry about a lack of efficiency in the kitchen, and finally the other dishwasher because he won’t have to do all the work when washing the dishes for customers. When analyzing my calculation about my mentality about the entire situation is that, I have come to realize in this sort of ideology that the best decision is the one that effects society the least. In this situation firing my friend might briefly take a toll on our relationship but this will serve as a benefit for my father, his co workers and the entire customer base. This decision would really not have an effect on society besides himself and his family but I knew that he would rise up from this and find a job that is suitable for him. To get a much more detailed response about the harms and benefits of each option please take a look at the matrix created in the appendix. Deontological In this situation, many factors effect my decision. The ones that apply to me the most are my values and duties. My duty to uphold universal principles of friendship are key in this kind of situation and my value of honesty to my friend, respect for him and more importantly a promise that we would be working together all summer is something that really made this ethical decision

a tough one. The golden rule states that, “one should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself.” That is why if this situation applied this rule it would tell me to keep trying to work with my friend and allow him to prove himself to my father and all the other stakeholders. Personally, I would be pretty upset if my friend were to fire me from a job which is why in this situation I should not be firing him in anyway. When thinking about Kant’s categorical imperative, the best way to analyze this is universally. If a law was created that allowed people to fire their friends (if needed) would this have an effect on the society as a whole? I do not think it would which ties back to the idea of universal law. This situation does not really apply to this ethical dilemma because it is not the most serious circumstance(ex. killing someone) but if I had to make a decision using Kant’s imperative it would be to fire my friend. According to the John Rawls he states that, “no one knows, his place in society, his class position or social status; nor does he know his fortune in the distribution of natural asset and abilities, his intelligence and strength.” The fact that if I put myself behind a veil of ignorance will make my decision pretty clear; fire my friend. This is because if I shy away from my personal biases, prejudices and friendships then it would not matter if I fired him.

Virtue Ethics My motivations and intentions in this situation were to provide my friend with his first job and to help him learn about the importance of working in our everyday society. I do not believe that any of my intentions were ones that should have been changed but maybe I should have let my friend

know about the stress that this job entails because if so, then maybe he would not have attempted to work for my father in one of the busiest restaurants in Westchester, New York. My relevant moral community represents a community that holds me to the highest ethical standard. This is a bit more complex in this situation because my father is the one telling me to fire him (a part of my relevant moral community) but my family as a whole (my entire relevant moral community) would tell me to be loyal to my friend and to never betray him. If I am a business person of integrity and I took all these factors into account then I believe I would go ahead and let my friend go while still helping him find a job that is suitable for his needs. The reason I say this is because I am not completely betraying my friend by actually helping him find a job but at the same time I am functioning like a business person by still putting my fathers stakeholders at the forefront of such a childish decision. The disclosure rule basically evaluates how the decision maker would feel if his or her decisions were openly broadcasted. In this situation I do not believe that I would fire my friend because hypothetically speaking the headline would read “terrible manager fires friend from job,” which is something that would produce a lot of controversy among our society. My harshest moral critic in my life is my mother. I think that if I fired my friend she would be extremely upset at me not only because she has known him my entire life but also because I put business ahead of my long term relationships. Although she knows the importance of a business she would replace all the money in the world for healthy long term relationships which is part of my latino background. Cognitive, psychological, and managerial influences

The four influences I chose to talk about were relativism/idealism, emotion, cognitive moral development and ethical awareness and its influences. The reason these all related to my situation is because they had a lot to do with peoples ethical principles while still tying back the cognitive and psychological influences made in this decision. The reason I did not choose the others were simply because my decision had more to do with cognitive and psychological influences vs those that are effected managerially. Relativism really does relate to my situation because it has to do with a person being able to emphasize ethical principles being dependent on certain situations. In this case it was important that I took this into account when finally deciding to fire my friend because if I didn’t then it would have had a drastic change on the restaurant as a whole if I remained loyal to my friend of so many years. Idealism also related because I was concerned with the welfare of all the stakeholders this would effect if I didn’t fire my friend (my dad, waiters, customers etc). Emotion also served as a huge influence when I was making my decision. I had to put my emotion aside to make the right decision for my fathers business which ended up leading to a lot of distress when my friend decided to not speak to me for such a long time. This was a psychological influence that I needed to put aside when making my choice. The ethical judgement process begins by identifying that a situation raises ethical concern. As soon as my father told me that I needed to fire my friend, I immediately recognized that this would create an ethical dilemma. The influences that made me become aware were the constant complaints made from my father prior to the actual termination and also the lack of capability my friend showed during the weekend nights at the restaurant. The levels of Cognitive Moral Development that I showed was pretty clear cut throughout the process of termination. The pre conventional stage included my obedience to listen to my father when telling me to fire my

friend and when it took me longer then anticipated to actually tell him it was the instrumental purpose and exchange portion of this stage (where I only wanted to listen to things he told me that benefitted me). The next part was the conventional level where I fulfilled the duties and obligations that were given to me by my father directly and the stakeholders indirectly and I fired my friend. The principled stage included me continuing to work and upholding the rules that my father had in place for me since he was the boss. Conclusion One thing I learned in class was the fact that we must focus on integrity and that building character is a never-ending process. This relates to my analysis because although it was at a very young age, it taught me about the importance of building character in certain situations and allowed me to grow significantly from when I was seventeen years old. This analysis taught me to understand and realize that I will be constantly put in positions that will have me make decisions that sometimes are not the most popular or loyal but it is up to me to make sure I hold myself to an ethical standard inside and outside of work. This frameworks did not raise new issues or considerations for me but they did allow me to further analyze my situation in a much more organized manor. I think what I did was the right choice and I would not have changed anything in the future because I was able to keep my dads restaurant at a stable place while still keeping a close relationship with my friend from home.

Appendix Figure A:

Stakeholders

Termination: Benefit

Termination: Harm

No Termination: Benefit

No Termination: Harm

Owner: My Father

- This would allow - The relationship - The relationship - The business the restaurant to between my function like it father and my did before my friend would not friend became be the same. the dish washer. - My father and - Normalcy of day my friends to day functions family would restored. also have an awkward relationship. between my would take father and friend some serious would stay the hits and it would same. not be as - My father and profitable. friend would not - My father would have an have to take on awkward more relationship. responsibilities.

My Friend: Edgar

- He will have

- He will not have

- He will have the money to sustain his spending habits in the summer. - Our relationship would stay the same.

- He would constantly have to hear my fathers screaming in the kitchen when things aren't being done. - Not allowing his natural abilities to shine in a job that he enjoys. not receive good tips and less efficient service since the dishes aren’t finished at an appropriate time. - The cooks and the other dish washer would be annoyed that the plates aren't being cleaned and served at an appropriate time.

more free time a job to sustain in the summer his spending to do what he habits in the wants. summer. - He will have the - He would not time to look for a have the same job that show relationship with his natural skills. me like he did before.

Employees

- All the waiters

- The need to

- The relationship - The waiters will

will receive good have to build a with my friend tips and more relationship with and the efficient service a new employee employees will if the restaurant can always be a continue and finds a better hard one. their would be - They don’t have dish washer. no need to - The cooks and someone to help create new the other dish them translate relationships. - My friend will washer would words into be happy to english that my still be able to know that plates friend did help the other are cleaned/ frequently workers with being served at throughout the english an appropriate work day. translations. manor.

Edgar’s Family

- My friend will be - My friend’s able to spend more time with his family. - My friend could take care of his brothers while his parents are at work.

- He will continue family will be to pay for his upset that one personal of his best expenditures friends fired him. which will mean - My friends less spending family will feel on his parents. awkward in front - His parents will of mine. be happy that he is working instead of doing nothing with his friends. - He can still help the customers with orders when they need an english speaker. - Relationships with customers are sustained.

- His family will have no one to take care of his brothers. - Less time spent with my friend before he goes to college.

Customers

- Customers will

- My friend was receive food/ one of the only drink orders at a people in the much quicker kitchen that pace. spoke english - Customers will which is a huge not have to positive for worry about the customers. dishes not being - Relationships properly my friend built washed. with customers is now diminished.

- Customers will receive food/ drink orders at a much slower pace. - Customers now need to worry about the dished being washed properly.