Question

Please read the case and answer the three questions below in specific

A group of bright and entrepreneurial graduates of the American University of Dubai Engineering, Arts and Sciences, and Business colleges has formed an idea generation company called ThinkTank4U. The company is built on an innovative idea itself. In a knowledge economy, new, novel and practical ideas become keenly sought-after ‘goods’. ThinkTank4U offers to its clients ‘ideas’ on a wide range of issues and themes including: how to bring new products to market, how to compete, how to grow, how to improve performance, how to deal successfully with competitors, complementors, customers, suppliers, and own employees. The mission of ThinkTank4U is to help clients with new working ideas that translate into greater performance. The company guarantees its clients the success of its ideas. It shares the revenue generated by its ideas with the client based on a formula agreed in advance by both of them. If no revenue is generated by the company’s ideas, it charges no fees for the assignment completed for the client.

The company is composed of a core group of four self-managed teams of ‘Ideators’ (the term used to describe team members indicating their task as idea generators) and helped by supporting contractual professional staff. Each team has on average seven members and is coordinated rotationally by the Ideator having the most valuable expertise in the basic issue of the assignment at hand. For example, if the client is asking for new advertising campaign ideas for promoting an electronic device, the team will be coordinated by the Ideator who has the most experience in the field of advertising. The company has no ranks in its structure, which is mainly based on teams and committees. The company also has a sophisticated information system that can be accessed by everybody in the core group.

After each assignment is completed, the team members set together for reflection. They make sure that the experience gained from the assignment is extracted, shared, and documented. The team learns how to better structure thinking, manage debate, activate participation, expose hidden assumptions, gain new knowledge, be acquainted with new industries, and so on. They revise their processes and outputs and try to discover weaknesses, gaps, and flaws in their working style, team structure, or relationship with clients. The company has a regular internal electronic publication it calls ‘The Pool’, where team members can present their thought, learned experiences, and ideas to share with the rest of the company.

The company’s strategic decisions are taken in general meetings coordinated by the company’s eldest member. The operational decisions are overseen by the committee of the current team coordinators. There are clear but simple policies and decision rules about how to make operational decisions to maintain consistency and to preserve the precious time of team coordinators. Strategic decisions are made by consensus whenever that is possible. When consensus is difficult to obtain in one session, another session is scheduled where arguments have to be presented, debated and then their merit is evaluated (by all members) using a scoring system from 1 (= weak) to 5 (= strong). The argument with the highest evaluation score will be wholeheartedly adopted by all.

The supporting contractual professional staff has a traditional pay policy unconditional upon the company’s performance. The core group pay, however, is based on performance of each member as evaluated by all members of the team. Each assignment’s revenue is divided into three parts: one third goes to the company’s account, one third is shared equally among the team members, and one third is allocated according to the contribution of each member as evaluated by the whole team.

Performance evaluation of Ideators is done by their teammates. Evaluation components are based on active and positive participation in clients’ assignments and in the running of the company’s affairs. These include skills such as initiative, creativity, debate, refutation, cooperation, knowledge sharing, the impartiality of judgment, and professionalism; and personal traits such as integrity, openness, responsiveness, sympathy, and willpower. There is a very strict exit policy. A team member who ranks last in evaluation in five consecutive times has to leave the company. Ranking last in performance in two consecutive times triggers an immediate inquiry into the reasons behind this ‘fatigue’. It also necessitates conducting what the company calls a ‘climbing’ session by all team members who offer help by sharing their experience and knowledge and by encouraging their teammate to climb back to high performance.

The company’s work culture and evaluation and support system succeed only on the basis of honesty, trust, and sheer candor (straightforwardness), traits that are at the heart of the hiring process of the company in addition to other competencies related to creative thinking and other soft skills. Members also have to possess strong characters to be able to withstand pressures, biases, and negative tendencies. These qualities are not easily found in many of the applicants who dream to join this company. Hiring is done by each team according to its own judgment but with non-binding consultation and coordination with other team coordinators. There is a well-established rule governing team size. When the size of a team exceeds 10 members it splits itself into two teams with each hiring new members if necessary. This is how new teams are formed out of current teams.

One of the company’s teams is currently working on a client’s assignment that requires the generation of ideas about how to increase sales of children’s games after the Eid season. A recently hired member of the team, known for his experience, knowledge, and creativity, has come with the following strategy:

• Make a strong advertisement campaign on TV channels watched widely by children to promote new games (reason: children will solicit promises from their parents to buy them these games in the Eid season).
• Supply limited numbers of these games to children’s toys stores and make available less attractive games (reason: children have to have games in the Eid season and when they cannot find their most desired ones they will ask their parents to buy them alternative games of equal value).
• Run the same strong advertisement campaign again after Eid season (reason: children will desire to have these games more than ever).
• Flood the children’s toy stores with these games (reason: children will remember their parents’ promises and pressure them to buy these games. Parents cannot refuse otherwise they look bad in the eyes of their children for not fulfilling their promises).

Please Answer the three questions below (be specific):

1. Assess the virtuousness of ThinkTank4U Company. (Virtue ethics, the focus on integrity the character not the act).
2. How ethical is the strategy suggested by one of the Ideators on how to increase sales of children’s games after Eid seasons? Base your evaluation on a specific ethical theory. (Choose one of theories: Utilitarian, deontological and justify)
3. How does the recently hired member of the team, who suggested the strategy, fit the culture of ThinkTank4U Company? Explain

Answer 1

· Virtue ethics refers to the character and moral values of the person rather than the action. ThinkTank4U plays a crucial role in helps their clients in developing their new products and bringing them to the market, combat competition, obtain customers, suppliers and employees to be successful in their venture. The mission of ThinkTank4U is to help clients with their new working ideas or concepts and translate it to greater performance. The company guarantees success for its clients. It shares the revenue that is generated by the new ideas/concepts with their clients however it is based on a formula that have been mutually agreed between the company and the client. The important factor to be noted is that ThinkTank4U it does not charge any fees for the project if the client does not generate any revenue. This is fair enough and exhibits the moral character of ThinkTank4U.

· The strategy suggested by one of the Ideators on how to increase sales of children’s games after Eid seasons is highly unethical. The strategy “Supply limited numbers of these games to children’s toys stores and make available less attractive games (reason: children have to have games in the Eid season and when they cannot find their most desired ones they will ask their parents to buy them alternative games of equal value)” is a classic example for being unethical and following unfair trade practices. Making the less attractive games available and supply limited numbers of these games to children’s toy stores is a form of coercion. Coercive action in sales in unethical. Forcing the children to buy the toys by limiting the supply of other toys is an unethical and unfair trade practice. Since the children are unable to find their most desired ones, they are forced to buy these new toys. According to Utilitarian ethical theory, an action is considered morally correct if it does greater good for a greater number of people. In this case, the company’s decision to make available less attractive toys and forcing the children to buy the toys when their desired ones are not available are ethical violations. This compromises on the happiness of the children. Their attitude might change. They might not like the new toy neither they are forced to like the product. This will have significantly negative impact on the behavior of the child thus affecting parents and the society as well. Thus, the act is highly immoral according to the Utilitarian ethical theory.

· The culture of ThinkTank4U is an open culture wherein the company’s strategic decisions are taken in general meetings by the company’s eldest member; operational decisions are overseen the committee of current team members; well-structured simple policies and decision rules to help make effective operational decisions; The company’s work culture and evaluation and support system succeed only on the basis of honesty, trust, and sheer candor (straightforwardness), traits that are at the heart of the hiring process of the company in addition to other competencies related to creative thinking and other soft skills. Thus, the attitude of the newly hired team member does not fit the culture because his traits and thought process does not sync with the work culture of ThinkTank4U.

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