Description
Identify and briefly describe an ethical issue that you are facing now in your own life. If you are not facing an ethical issue now, choose one you have faced within the last year. It can be related to your employment, a class situation, organized sports, a religious organization, etc. Be clear about the facts of the situation but keep your description of the dilemma brief. Your score is based largely on your analysis, not your storytelling. Use the limited space you must analyze your dilemma based on the material you read and listened to for this assignment. (Note: If your dilemma is unrelated to white-collar crime, you do not need to reference the audio you listened to in your Paper.) Using what you learned from the reading and audio, analyze your situation and dilemma.
For example, consider the following:
Are you facing an ethical dilemma or a moral temptation? if it is a moral temptation, find an ethical dilemma to analyze.
Are you using rationalizations in dealing with the ethical issue you are facing?
How would you apply perspective-taking in your situation?
Is there someone you should talk with about the situation? If so, who is it and why did you choose this person? Have you talked with this person yet? If so, what came of the conversation?
What can you do to protect yourself once you’ve decided to speak up about a potentially unethical situation?
What is the best course of action to follow to deal with your ethical issue? What makes this the best course of action? What makes other courses of action less appealing?
What have you learned that might change the way you would approach a similar ethical issue in the future?
Required In This Paper
Identify and briefly describe an ethical issue that you are facing now in your own life. (If you are
not facing an ethical issue now, choose one you have faced within the last year.)
Explicitly state your ethical dilemma.
Be clear about the facts of the situation but keep your description of the dilemma brief. Most of
your space in this paper must be used for your analysis of your ethical dilemma.
Consider the ideas presented in the reading and audio. Use the tools and techniques presented
to analyze your ethical dilemma. Your analysis must demonstrate your learning from the
materials and your ability to apply that learning.
Demonstrate that you have developed your understanding of your ethical dilemma by analyzing
your own behavior, including your thought process, decision-making, and actions.
If your dilemma is one you faced within the last year but is resolved now, explain how you would
handle it today, including what you would do differently with your new insight.
MUST be 350 – 450 words.
Objectives
Develop and support critical thinking.
Drive exploration and analysis of ideas and course themes.
Organize your thoughts and structure your paper to communicate effectively.
Develop communication skills for business.
Provide structure and focus for class preparation that will support a good discussion in class.
Demonstrate ethical awareness (the ability to identify moral or ethical issues and the inclination to apply moral reasoning and do something about them).
Materials
Reading: “How to Speak Up About Ethical Issues at Work”
Audio: “The Psychology Behind White-collar Crime
Unformatted Attachment Preview
Personal Ethics
How
to
Speak
Up
About
Ethical
Issues
at
Work
by Amy Gallo
June 04, 2015
Sometimes you sense that something isn’t right at work. You
suspect that your finance colleague might be fudging numbers,
your boss isn’t telling his manager the truth about an important
project, or your co-worker is skipping out of the office early but
leaving her computer on so it looks like she’s just down the hall.
How do you know when it’s worth speaking up or not? Can you
you protect yourself from potential consequences of calling out
bad behavior? And when you do decide to say something, what do
you say and to whom?
What the Experts Say
“Most of us don’t face a billion-dollar fraud or an issue where
someone’s going to die tomorrow,” says James Detert, a
management professor at Cornell University’s Samuel Curtis
Johnson Graduate School of Management and author of “Why
Employees Are Afraid to Speak.” But even minor issues can have
serious consequences. “Ethical situations at work can be cause for
alarm, and are also a normal part of doing business,” says Detert.
The key is to not let either of those realities prevent you from
making a rational decision. “When it comes to ethics, we think it’s
a test of our moral identity, which makes us more emotional, less
effective, and vulnerable to self-deluding,” says Mary Gentile,
author of Giving Voice to Values and director of a program by the
same name at Babson College. That’s why it’s important to not
only know how to recognize an ethical issue but how to raise it —
especially one that may be more of a gray area, she says. “There is
no one strategy or answer for all situations,” she says. “The key is
to practice ahead of time, before a situation arrives so you’re
ready when it does.” Here are some tips on what to do if you find
yourself in a sticky situation.
Watch for rationalizations
“If something happens and you get that feeling in your gut that
something’s dodgy, a lot of preemptive rationalizations come in,”
says Gentile. That’s because fear takes over. “Studies show that
people are likely to overestimate how awful the confrontation will
be, how terrible the retaliation will be, and how long the
retaliation will last. You build up all the personal horrible
consequences and find ways to avoid the harm or loss,” says
Detert. The most common rationalizations include: It’s not a big
deal. I don’t have all the information. This is someone else’s
responsibility. This must be the way these things are done (at our
company, in this region, in our industry, etc). “Statements like
these allow us to recognize the problem and still feel not feel bad
about not doing anything about it,” says Detert. “It’s not that these
statements are false,” says Gentile, “they’re just not the whole
truth.” If you find yourself rationalizing in this way, question your
underlying assumption. For example, “think about how many
times someone says ‘no big deal’ when it’s actually a big deal,”
says Detert.
Consider what’s really at risk
You also want to be clear with yourself about what’s happening. If
your coworker is leaving early every day, is it worth doing
something about? One could make the argument that she’s
stealing time from the company and therefore taking money
that’s not hers. But if she gets her work done, does it really
matter? Gentile suggests asking yourself: What is the value that’s
being violated here? Why is this troubling me? Detert says to
consider whether it’s important to just you personally or to the
larger group, either your team or the organization. Being clear
about the issue will help you accurately weigh the pros and cons
of addressing it.
Understand why people are acting the way they are
A useful skill when it comes to ethical situations is perspectivetaking. Rather than casting your colleague as bad, seek to
understand the reasons behind her actions. Typically, people
have an understandable (if not defensible) motivation. Your
finance colleague may be fudging the numbers because he wants
to make his boss look good or he’s afraid of losing his job. Put
yourself in your colleague’s shoes and try to understand what
she’s trying to achieve. Gentile gives the example of someone she
knows who was asked by her boss to hide the firm’s
underperformance over the previous year. “Her boss wanted her
to find a different benchmark that would make it look like the
firm had done OK,” says Gentile. The woman thought about her
boss’s goal in this scenario and “decided that he wasn’t invested in
being unethical but he wanted to get through a tough
conversation with a client that afternoon.” This information
helped the woman decide how to respond to his request because
she now understood “what was at risk for him” and instead of
doing what he asked, she could provide him with information
that would help him get through the conversation.
Weigh the pros and cons
“Only each of us individually can decide which issues we’re
willing to lay it on the line for,” says Detert. So consider your
situation carefully. What would be the benefit of speaking up?
What would the consequences be if you didn’t? One of the biggest
pros of saying something is that you might help the business,
especially if the unethical behavior puts the company at risk of a
lawsuit, damaging an important customer relationship, or losing
money. You might also feel better about yourself if you don’t stay
silent. Detert says that research has shown that people regret
inaction more than they do actions that didn’t go well. The cons
will be very situational but might include the fact that the
situation is unlikely to change or you are the sole earner in your
household and can’t risk losing your job. “There may be
consequences and there may be times that you don’t speak up
because the positives don’t outweigh the negatives,” says Gentile.
Detert adds: “We live in a society where most of us are dependent
on employers for salary and benefits and we don’t have the power
that allows us to be free moral agents. None of us will be able to
speak up about every problematic ethical issue. We are all
compromisers in that regard.”
Talk to the perpetrator first
Detert and Gentile agree that when you suspect someone is acting
unethically, in most cases, you should talk to him first. You might
be tempted to go to your boss or your colleague’s boss, but it’s
often better to give the person the benefit of the doubt and
assume that, when he sees how his behavior is perceived, he’ll
change. Give him the opportunity to correct his ways or to at least
explain himself before you escalate. That said, if the violation is a
particularly serious one, with potentially grave consequences, you
may need to go to your boss, speak to HR, or call your company’s
ethics hotline immediately.
Rehearse
If you decide to say something to your colleague, don’t go in cold.
“Spend some time with a trusted peer, your spouse, or a good
friend — someone you can talk the situation through with in a
non-defensive, open way – to test your reasoning and develop an
action plan,” advises Gentile. If you build confidence by
rehearsing, then you’ll have more energy to engage in the
conversation. And “you won’t have to rehearse as much in the
future, when the same type of issues come up over and over,” adds
Gentile.
Ask questions, don’t accuse
Broaching the subject by saying, “I think what you’re doing is
wrong,” or giving a lecture on morality is likely to backfire. “That
leads the other person to shut down and get defensive — not
because they’re unethical but because they’re human,” says
Gentile. “A better place to start would be to ask questions instead
of making assertions,” Detert explains. Use phrases like: “Can you
help me understand…” or “Can you help me see why you’re not
worried…” Detert points to two reasons why this approach works.
First, he says, “there’s a possibility that the person isn’t aware
they’re doing something wrong and your questioning might allow
them to see the problem.” Second, asking questions is “a
reasonably safe way to determine if the target is going to be open
to discussing this issue or whether you need to pursue another
avenue.”
In the best-case scenario, your colleague may respond by saying,
“Wow, I haven’t thought about it that way,” and change his
behavior. Problem solved. Or he may start to rationalize his
actions: “This is always how we’ve done it.” “You’re not seeing the
big picture.” In this case, you want to align yourself so he doesn’t
feel accused. Detert suggests saying something like “I just asked
because I’m concerned about you and I wouldn’t want you to get
in trouble” Or “I know we share the same overall goals, I just
wanted to help make sure we were on track” or “I wanted to be
sure we protect the organization’s reputation.” If your colleague
believes you’re on his side, he’s more likely to be open to changing
his mind about his behavior.
Escalate when necessary
It’s also possible that your colleague will react negatively to your
questioning and say something like “Let’s not talk about it
anymore” or “Mind your own business.” If that happens, the next
step is to ask yourself: Do I want to talk to someone else about this?
Or do I let it lie? “Only you can decide,” says Detert. If you want to
pursue it, you might schedule a meeting with your boss and again
treat it as information gathering. You can say, “I want to share
what I’m seeing. I’m uncomfortable with it and I wanted to get
your perspective.” If your boss doesn’t care, you’ll need to decide
if it’s worth escalating further. At each step of the way, be open to
what you’re hearing. “You may see that you weren’t aware of what
was going on and once you have further information, your own
perspective might change,” says Detert.
Protect yourself
“We know enough about whistleblowers to know that retaliation
is real,” says Detert. You’ll probably never be in a situation where
it’s 100% safe to speak up so “think about how you might protect
yourself,” says Gentile. She suggests keeping a record of relevant
conversations and enlisting allies to support you if things go
sideways.
Principles to Remember
Do:
Seek to understand your colleague’s perspective — why is
she acting the way she is?
Consider the benefits of speaking up against the potential
consequences
Rehearse what you’re going to say before calling out
unethical behavior
Don’t:
Rationalize the behavior just because you’re afraid of having
a tough conversation
Go straight to your boss or HR unless the situation is severe
— try talking directly to your colleague first
Make moral accusations — ask questions and treat the
initial conversation as information-gathering
Case Study #1: Test the waters before speaking up
Sharon Fritz* had been in her role as legal counsel at a software
company for two months when she suspected a vice president was
trying to deceive a new customer. Sharon and the vice president,
Kim*, had had a conference call with the customer’s lawyer about
the terms of a contract. “Because I was new, I didn’t follow
everything that was said,” Sharon recalls. As a result, she followed
Kim’s suggestions on how to draft the language. But when they
were finalizing it, Sharon realized that one of the clauses was
vague and open to interpretation, in a way favorable to their
company. She decided to email Kim about the issue, then ask her
about it at their next meeting. “Is this what you meant to do?” she
asked. Kim told her yes; she had wanted the language to be vague.
“She said it in a way that made me think she wasn’t open to
hearing anything more about it,” Sharon explains. Afraid that an
unpleasant confrontation would harm her new working
relationship with Kim, she didn’t go any further. “It was clear
what she wanted to do, and I didn’t think I was going to change
her mind.”
But Sharon was worried that when the customer got the first
invoice, things would blow up, and she was right. A month after
the contract was signed, the CEO called her into his office and
explained that the customer was upset about the invoice and felt
deceived. Sharon explained what had happened. The CEO told
her that wasn’t how their organization did business and asked her
to push back in the future. “He knew that [Kim] was tough and
understood why I hadn’t stood up to her,” Sharon says. But she
still felt as if her reputation had been damaged and regretted not
saying anything. “It was valuable lesson for me. If the same thing
happened now, I would just tell her, ‘We can’t do that’ and give her
alternatives,” she says.
Case Study #2: Stand your ground when necessary
As an HR director at a large global company, Carla Santos* was
often privy to sensitive information about employees. So, when
one of the company’s executives became severely ill, she wasn’t
completely surprised when a relative reached out to explain the
situation. Unfortunately, however, this put her in a tough
position. “I possessed medical information which typically an
employer doesn’t have access to,” she explains. “The executive
team realized that the family had confided in me and they were
very interested in finding out the extent and gravity of the
illness,” she says. But she didn’t feel comfortable violating the
family’s trust by sharing the information. She knew that keeping
quiet might negatively affect how her bosses perceived her, but
that was a risk she felt was worth taking.
“I put my foot down and simply said that I would only share my
own observations as a bystander,” she says. The decision was
driven not only by her personal values but also her concern that
the organization could be sued should the private information
have any impact on the employee’s salary, benefits, promotion
potential, or future employment.
As she suspected, her stance did have consequences. Her boss and
one member of the executive team “became much more guarded”
with her. But she still has no regrets: “I knew I was doing the
ethical and legally correct thing.”
*Names and details have been changed.
Amy Gallo is a contributing editor at Harvard
Business Review, cohost of the Women at Work
podcast, and the author of two books: Getting
Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult
People) and the HBR Guide to Dealing with
Conflict. She writes and speaks about workplace
dynamics. Watch her TEDx talk on conflict and
follow her on LinkedIn.
@amyegallo
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