When preparing for your discussion post on this case, it is recommended that you read through it several times.
Read through it the first time to familiarize yourself with the case.
On the second reading, consider your assigned role in the situation, and let that guide your perspective. Look deeper at the details: facts, problems, organizational goals, objectives, policies, strategies.
Next, consider the concepts, theories, tools and research you need to use to address the issues presented.
Then, complete any research, analysis, calculations, or graphing to support your decisions and make recommendations.
Background Information
There is no shortage of difficult dilemmas facing organizations today. These dilemmas may relate to issues such as environmental concerns, government regulations, diversity in the workplace, employee safety, and labor practices. At any given moment, a leader may be confronted with a multitude of dilemmas. When a person faces a dilemma they process the facts through a set of beliefs. Their decisions are based on their beliefs. Here is an example: Some people are terrified of snakes. Those who fear snakes immediately want to take action when they see one – kill it or run away. In reality, most snakes are more afraid of you than you them. There are far more non-venomous snakes than venomous. But often when we see a snake, our belief is that snakes are bad, and our action is to run or fight. Leaders face those same kinds of issue. Leaders are experience. They have formed opinions or beliefs about their past experiences. Their actions reflect the beliefs formed by what they have experienced.
Discussion Prompt
In this scenario, you are the manager of a laboratory in a small town. The decision to close this laboratory has been made, but not communicated to anyone, and the lab is going to relocate to the corporate office several states away. The employees will be laid off. The company is waiting to see the latest financial results before making an announcement to the employees or the public.
One night you are bowling with some of your employees. One of them tells you that he is going to buy a house that he and his wife have seen. With the overtime that he has been earning they can afford to make the purchase. You are relatively certain that his job will be eliminated in the next six to eight weeks. Do you tell him about the laboratory’s relocation that night, or do you keep silent due to your obligation as a manager of the company? Justify your decision in a fully-developed explanation that relates to ethics.
Tasks
- Describe a decision about divulging confidential information about a company’s future.
- Justify the decision to divulge, or not divulge, confidential information about a company’s future. Relate the justification to ethics.
M7D1: Dealing with Dilemmas
The selected case scenario focuses on an ethical dilemma of whether or not to divulge confidential information about the laboratory’s relocation to employees. On the one hand, disclosing the news to my employees would prepare them adequately for the anticipated retrenchment. On the other hand, divulging this information would breach confidentiality because of my obligation as the company’s manager. However, taking the business ethic of duty of confidence into consideration, my leadership position as the firm’s manager, and the organization’s non-public structure, I would choose not to divulge confidential information about its future.
My decision not to divulge confidential information about its future is based on three critical factors; business ethics, leadership position, and organizational structure. As the literature suggests, confidentiality is a vital business ethic that employees should hold regarding confidential information entrusted to them by the company (“Code of business,” n.d.). In this scenario, I am a worker despite my senior leadership position in the entity. Therefore, in compliance with the business ethics of confidentiality and the information entrusted to me as the firm’s employee, I would choose not to divulge confidential information about its future.
Moreover, my decision would be influenced by the firm’s organizational structure. Notably, the company is likely not publicly listed, which explains why its closure is not communicated to the public before the latest financial results are analyzed. Based on this premise, it is valid to argue that the firm’s information must be treated as a trade secret or a proprietary that can only be disclosed with top management authorization. Arguably, disclosing information to some of my employees may be akin to insider trading of data unavailable to others. Therefore, in compliance with proprietary information and trade secrets’ policies, I would choose not to divulge information about the company’s future.
References
“Code of business conduct and ethics” (n.d.). SEC.GOV. Retrieved from https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1297401/000119312511045757/dex14.htm
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