Ethical dilemmas in business
In a business context, ethical dilemmas may emerge when a person’s self-image is inflated to a point that he or she feels entitled to cut corners.
“Under certain circumstances, we give ourselves license to play a little faster and looser than we normally would. And we don’t realize how much the last decision we made can affect the next decisions we make.”
Examine the following scenario: A homeowner wants to get the some work done on their home and hires a contractor to build an extension on their house. In the process of tearing down a wall, the contractor finds $80,000 in old bills. What decision(s) might they make?
A. Place yourself in the shoes of the contractor: who do you tell about the money? Should the money be split? What’s a fair deal?
B. Place yourself in the shoes of the homeowner?
Who are the stakeholders in this example?
What considerations might we take in to account?
What assumptions might we make or be making about participants in this scenario?
Who gets the money?
Sample Solution
A Kantar study found that across all age groups, Millennials and Generation Z have the highest expectations for firms to be transparent about their values, with 68 percent of US consumers holding this belief. However, Kantar’s “2021 Media Trends and Predictions” research issues a warning since lack of authenticity in this area may drive away customers. According to the survey, “brands like Patagonia, Veja, and The Beauty Counter have fundamental reasons for existing, but other corporations’ marketing can be seen as opportunistic or disingenuous.” Pepsi is a perfect illustration of a company that bungled its way onto a social issue and failed miserably. In 2017, the business experienced severe controversy following a Kendall Jenner-starring advertisement that was accused of trivializing the Black Lives Matter movement.
