Question

Max started working for a large company, NextGen that specialises in development of
phone apps. Max is very excited to work for NextGen as he has many ideas about
developing commercially viable phone apps. After a few weeks of starting his manager
asked Max to analyse data for their clients and app users. Max creates a comprehensive
database of users, their personal details (such as age, gender, and preferences), internet
usage and including how they reacted to certain advertisements in free versions of phone
apps. Max’s manager Jack is very happy and tells him that the database is very valuable and
NextGen could sell it to market research companies that target advertising and mailouts
about various products and offers. Max disagrees with this plan. However, the final decision
would be taken by directors who have decided to engage an ethics consultancy, ProEthics
who would present their recommendations to the board within a month. Analyse this case
and work out any ethical issues that may arise. Students are encouraged to read relevant
course materials (lecture, tutorial, and book chapter). Actual questions will be asked during
assessment.
Question:
Work through the steps of the ethical decision-making model and evaluate what NextGen
should decide and what it should do.

Answer 1

Ethics is a system of principles that helps us tell right from wrong, good from bad. Business ethics are the moral ethics that arise in business environment and ethics are important for a business. Business ethics can be referred as codes of moral, values, and principles. It is important for a business to follow the basic ethics which are mainly; honesty, courage, compassion, generosity, tolerance, love, fidelity, integrity, fairness, self-control, and prudence. Business ethics compromises of all these values and principles and helps in guiding the behavior in the organizations. Businesses should have a balance between the needs of the stakeholders and their desire to make profits.

Ethics are different from the law. Ethics are moral value of a person/business whereas law are made by the government which are essential to follow. To follow ethics or not is totally depens upon the business or the person but it is necessary to follow the laws.

In a business ethical decision making is very important. As a business can survive by following the ethics only. A business without ethics is not going to survive in long run. Following are the types of business ethics:

• Personal responsibility.
• Representative or official responsibility.
• Personal loyalties.
• Corporate responsibilities.
• Organizational loyalties.
• Economic responsibilities.
• Technical morality.
• Legal responsibility.

In the above mentioned question NextGen has to make a decision between expanding their business and earning more profits or to follow the personal loyalties ethics. In the above situation Max has provided manager with all the personal information of their users, now manager is talking about that they could sell it to market research companies that target advertising and mailouts about various products and offers, by doing this they will make good profit. But on the other hand, if they sell the personal data of their users to the other companies then it is against the ethical responsibilities of a business. They are going against the integrity they promised to their customers. By selling their customer's personal data they will be responsible for disturbing the personal space of their customer.

Further in the future customer will feel hestitated before entering their data in NextGen application. There is a possibility that even people will spread negative words about the company that their data has been sold by them which will lead to the negative marketing of their product and competitors will take benefit from this situation.

NextGen should consider all the factors before taking final decision. They must take into account all the impacts of decision both in positive and negative manner. NextGen must go with the integrity value towards its customers, it must follow the personal loyalities ethics towards their customers. If a business can be loyal for its customers then only customers can be loyal to a business, and to grow and survive in long run it is essential for a business to retain customers and keep them happy.