Question

Mr. A has been in a top position in a multinational Insurance Company for ten years. He was well respected by his staff and top management for his impressive performance. To make it big, he applied for and was hired into a Strategic Business Consultant position at the company’s headquarters. This position is intended for high talented employees such as him, intended to engage employees with insurance field experience to work on long term strategic issues facing the company.

Success in this position demands the creation of clear, concise reports and presentation of issues and recommendations. Mr. A took coaching classes in these areas as part of his early training for the job. After a recent presentation, he received feedback that although his analysis was good, his report and presentation materials were irrelevant and confusing. His boss clearly told him to solve this problem, for future success depends upon his ability to communicate effectively and convincingly.

There is another presentation coming up next week. Mr. A feels incapable to improve in so short a time, so he hires Mr. B to write the report and presentation for him. He uses company funds to pay Mr. B, calling the expense ‘skill development’.

Questions

1. Was Mr.A doing anything unethical? Why or why not?

2. Which of Mr. A’s values might be at odds with one another?

3. What are the risks to his reputation by hiring and not hiring Mr. B to do the work? Which in your opinion poses the more serious risk?

Answer 1

1. Yes, Mr A was doing unethical work by hiring Mr B. He hired Mr B for presentation next week without informing the company or without company’s knowledge about such hiring, i.e- he was personally using Mr B for his assignment next week. Apart from this he was also using company’s fund to pay Mr B, which was not to be done as Mr B was not directly hired by the company or by MR. A with clear information to the company. He was also showing such funds used as “skill development” which meant that development of skill of any employee existing in the company. Such funds were used unethically by Mr A since he had power. He cannot use company’s fund for his personal use, i.e- personally hiring Mr B for presentation. He was violating the ethical standards and rules and regulations through which company operates.
2. Mr. A’s value of Integrity, competence and communication were very odd with the company. As Mr A should have interacted with his company with honesty sharing information on hiring Mr B. As company showed trust on Mr A by hiring him to the position of Strategic Business Consultant. He should have maintained his integrity and loyalty towards the company. He was found competent enough with his skills, knowledge and abilities for being hired for the position of Strategic Business Consultant. Any company’s aim is to hire competent employees so that they achieve high level of customer satisfaction. He showed that he was not competent enough with his work while hiring other skill person personally without any information to the company. Apart from this, an effective communication between management and employees helps the company to grow as each and every information is shared between the two- be it problems regarding a project, problem with company’s standard, etc. Communication also helps in building better relationship between an employee and organisation. Both the organisation and its employees should be honest and open-minded while communicating with each other. By not communicating this major fact of hiring Mr B for an assignment he was dishonest with the organisation which could lead to breaking the trust the management or company showed over him at the time if hiring.
3. The risks to his reputation by hiring Mr. B to do the work are-

1. If the company comes to know about the fact that he had hired Mr. B for his presentation without giving any knowledge to the company and paying him out of company’s fund while stating it to be a “skill development” expense, the company would-
   1. Loose trust on him for further operations
   2. Other employees would bad-bitch about him
   3. The management will always feel that he is dishonest
   4. His act would lead him suspicious in everyone’s eyes with any future projects or presentation
   5. He could be fired instantly for being non-competent, dishonest and fraud
   6. The management can also release his character certificate stating him as fraud and dishonest

In my opinion, if the management issues a bad character certificate, which would state that he was dishonest, fraud, non-competent it would be of highest risk for Mr A. It would affect if he would opt for new job. As according to me, with the incidence what happened, either the company would fire him or he would resign. On way to searching a new job, if he shows this character certificate no organisation would hire him.