Question

When in college, many students have difficulty relating to the idea of ethical dilemmas in business, probably because the ethical meltdowns featured in news stories seem so clear-cut: unscrupulous managers clearly did the wrong thing. But real-world ethical dilemmas are usually not so obvious; all too often there is no resolution that will not harm some party involved in the issue. This discussion question is designed to explore the gray areas, and by doing so, to help you clarify your individual ethical principles.

Scenario: You’ve just done a great job on a recent project at your company. Your boss has been very vocal about acknowledging your work and the increased revenue that resulted from it. Privately, she said that you clearly earned a bonus of at least 10%, but due to company politics, she was unable to secure the bonus for you. She also implied that if you were to submit inflated expense reports for the next few months, she would look the other way, and you could pocket the extra cash as well-deserved compensation for your contributions.

What should you do? Why? Think about what you should do and answer these questions thoughtfully and thoroughly.

Answer 1

This is definitely an ethical dilemma whether to take the advantage of the hint given by the boss and pocket the money which is anyway due to me , or stick to the ethical ground.

However, I am very clear on my choice of conduct. I shall not compromise on ethical and professional conduct aspects and will not submit any inflated expense.

I shall simply ask my boss to keep in my achievements , present those achievements in the proper forum and consider all those during performance apprisal process. I shall definitely get the reward some day in a bigger way when I perform consistently.

I shall not compromise on my professional integrity and act in an way that is harmful to the company and sets a wrong precedence . If I act with professionalism and with integrity , I shall lose the bonsus amount temporarily , but win the confidence of my boss and the Management and I am confident that will help me in the long term in my future professional developments in the company.

So I shall act ethically and that will be good not only for the company , but for me as well in the long run.