Ethics Game Dilemmas Essay

After completing the ethics games and answering the questions regarding two different dilemma faced by the company G-BioSports, I have compiled this report to present the issues that were brought up in both scenarios. The situations were taken from the point of view of the Associate Director of Operations if the company and the goal was to enforce the company policies, keep the company safe from any lawsuits, act fairly, and come up with the best solution for all parties involved. It is well known that what is legal may or may not be ethical (Trevino, 2011). According to Loyola Marymount University, there is a three-step strategy to resolve ethical problems. Step one is to analyze the consequences, step two analyze the actions, and step three to make a decision. (Loyola, 2009) Mysterious Blogger The ethical dilemma faced by G-BioSports is that one of the employees has been posting blogs regarding company products and safety procedures. However, none of the blog posts were particularl y harmful to the company. This issue is ranked one of the â€Å"ten issues raised by IT capabilities.† The issue is privacy: does information’s availability justify its use? (techrepublic.com, 2006) The subsequent issue involved an anonymous email sent by an IT employee named Jamal Moore. He bypassed company security procedures to illegally access company intranet and track blogging from a home PC, as well as sending an anonymous email to expose the blogger. After further review of all email documents, the next step was to determine what company policies had been undermined by these actions. In regards to the anonymous email sent by Jamal, company policy states that â€Å"email transmissions sent outside of our intranet raise confidentiality concerns.† As well as, â€Å"There is a legitimate concern about the security of external email.† Jamal is therefore breaking the company code of conduct for using company resources on his home computer, as well as bypassing security protocols due to his IT knowledge. Aaron also violated the company’s Confidential Information section of policy which reads, â€Å"Also, employees may not discuss the company’s business, information, or prospects in any chat room, or web log (blog), regardless of whether t hey use their own name or a pseudonym.† These policies show that Aaron’s actions violate the contractual agreement forbidding him to expose company information, even if it is for a non-threatening purpose. Both cases should result in some form of disciplinary action. In order to fairly justify the disciplinary action  performed all parties involved must be identified, ranking them from highest to lowest impact. After analyzing the effects on all people involved, diagnosing and comparing possible solutions to disciplinary measures must be tackled. The final step would be in implementing the best course of action which meets all goals and would best suite our company and its values. It was helpful when reviewing each solution, to choose an ethical perspective or lens to identify the best course of action from a non-personal standpoint. When evaluating the situation, I examined each of the different perspectives of each ethical lens and how our company’s values could be incorporated into each lens. The Rights and Responsibility lens best fit our company’s overall position on ethical issues (Trevino, 2011). Veiled ID The second ethical simulation examines different aspects of diversity and corporate ethical standards. The incident involved a former employee break-in to company premises and assaulting a current employee who was hospitalized. New security measures need to be implemented in order to prevent any future security breaches. The decision was made to create security measures that will require all employees to carry a photo ID badge to grant access into company facilities. Aisha Mullah, a valued employee for many years, has an ethical inquiry about the photo ID system. Aisha practices the Muslim faith and it is a strict religious requirement that her face must be covered at all times, including in photos. The ethical issue at hand is how to develop a security policy that protects the safety of our employees and accommodates anyone with special needs similar to hers. G-BioSports new security measures should improve employee safety as well as create a good work environment for success. The first step in the decision making process is determining the ethical issue or dilemma. In Aisha’s case, the implementation of photo ID’s for security purposes will create a problem due to her religious beliefs. G-BioSports code of ethics guidelines states, Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity that, â€Å"Promoting diversity within our workforce is important†. It also states â€Å"G-BioSports strictly prohibits discrimination or harassment on the basis of gender, gender identity, race, color, veteran status, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, mental, or physical disability†. After thorough evaluation of all possible ethical perspectives and issues, I believe the  relationship lens is the correct procedure to follow. This lens would tell us that because our relationship with our employees is necessary to maintain a safe, productive, and morally structured environment we need to take special needs of employees in consideration. This employee needs leniency on the security policy in order to maintain her religious views, but the rest of the company would still follow the ID policy. This way the group as a whole will benefit from the security measures and the relationship with the employee with special needs will be satisfied. Any future ethical problems that arise can be handled in a similar way and employees will feel comfortab le presenting issues they are experiencing with management. Personal Relation The ethical issues that were discussed related to my company in that many employees of my company are from different cultural backgrounds, religions, and have different sexual preferences. Discrimination is definitely something that could be a major problem with the group of individuals that work for the company but the accepting policies and procedures allow for everyone to fit in and feel comfortable. There is no need to hide anything about our personal background in order to get the job or to keep your current without being discriminated against. References Loyola Marymount University. (2009). Resolving an ethical dilemma. Retrieved from http://www.lmu.edu/Page27945.aspx Techrepublic.com. (August 15, 2006. 10 ethical issues confronting IT managers. Retrieved from http://www.techrepublic.com/article/10-ethical-issues-confronting-it-managers/6105942 Trevino, L.K. & Nelson, K.A. (2011). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.