John Cannon's ethical dilemma: funding Dr. Rombach's research for market access

International medical Laboratories, acronymed as IML, is one of the largest manufacturers of biomedical equipments. The unique selling point of IML is completing heart surgeries using high class equipments. John Cannon is the man behind the structure of the German section of the company (Morris, 1997). John now aims to increase his market reach by approaching surgeons based in Germany. He targets all the clinics and hospitals of this area. John is also the marketing manager of this line of product so it is his responsibility to increase yhe company's reach in international lands. As John plans to expand the company's reach, he will need to address issues of quality, reliability and economic nationalism (Morris, 1997).

In order to establish the credibility of IML, John sets up a meeting with the known cardiovascular surgeon of the region, Dr. Hans Rombach. John is sure that if Mr. Rombach agrees to go with the product line of IML then the product will get accepted in the market (Morris, 1997). John convinced the doctor on the basis of the positive points of the product and the doctor does see the positive effects of using the product. He eventually agrees to go with equipments of IML.

The main reason for agreement of Dr. Rombach is that he thinks with the help of this equipment, he will be able to make further progress in his own research work (Morris, 1997). Mr. Rombach however, puts a condition in front of John for agreeing to use his equipment line. The doctor needs some contribution for his own research work and demands $25,000 for accepting the proposal. The ball is in John's court and he is supposed to go for a particular option. There are several questions that John needs be answered before he can decide on giving $25,000 from cash fund of $100,000 of IML (Morris, 1997). John needs to think whether the situation will fall under the purview of bribery? Is it worth to spend $25,000 for the deal? What will be the returns of such an investment? Are there any kinds of risks involved? Will Mr. Rombach bring in so much credibility to the whole IML's product line that the product line will get an instant recognition amongst public? Will anyone anytime be able to dig deep and find out the actual truth? Will this deal lead to some kind of legal problems for the company and John himself?

Points worth addressing

If the problem is dissected properly, ethics would be the centre point of it all. It is unethical to take/give bribe in some nations. In some countries it is also unethical to incorporate any changes in the technology related to research work of stem-cell and bio-engineering (Dych and Neubert, 2008-page 139). However one fact cannot be negated that ethics changes on the basis of changes happening in society. Moreover, how does John fit into this whole ethical dilemma? Is it ethical to shell out $25,000 for the contract? The answer is that it is a manager's responsibility to address such ethical issues and take decisions on the basis of ethical guidelines mentioned in the company's guidelines that John is working in. John represents IML and should know the fact that his morals, represents company's morals (Dyck and Neuburt, 2008-page 139).

Manager's decisions are very important and it should not be led by personal greed and gains, as in case of Enron and Worldcom's managers (Dyck and Neuburt, 2008-page 139). There were many unethical decisions made by managers in past, and the above is one such example. Every kind of organization has at one time or other seen such unethical decisions taken. Educational organizations, government organizations and religious set-up, nobody is indifferent from unethical behaviors. These examples show the importance of ethical knowledge one should have. When faced with tough situations, managers should be able to take right decisions and not unethical decisions (Dyck and Neuburt, 2008-page 139). Researches done by centre of creative leadership has proven one fact that any kid of unethical decision can put a manager's long-term career on stake.

Ethics however is a personal opinion and not a universal one. Not every person will share same view point as far as ethical decisions are concerned. Any situation could be ethical and non-ethical depending upon the person who sees it (Dyck and Neuburt, 2008-page 143). Similarly, various managers will have different viewpoints as far as ethical decisions are to be made (Dyck and Neuburt, 2008-page 139).

Conclusion

As far as ethical decision is concerned, John should decide not to give money to Dr. Hans. The main job of John is to promote the product and he should concentrate his efforts in doing that totally ethically (writer's thought). For a start, he can try to increase his reach by looking for other options to sell off his product. He can enter into the whole market of Western Europe. Also trying too much to make things happen often does not give expected results, so John should let the results just flow for the promotion already done. There are so many good things about the product like latest features, low cost and other doctor's support, except that from Dr. Hand Rombach (Writer's thought). For any company it is all about it's brand image and any kind of unethical move like bribery could damage the brand name of the company. It will also disappoint the existing customers of company. Customer value is very important for IML and before deciding upon anything, John should adhere to all those company values (Writer's thought). All the principles and values are important for IML and these principles actually make IML. A small step like bribing a doctor with $25,000 could damage IML's reputation badly. It looks unworthy to give $25,000 for approval of just one doctor, where the company can find reliable and high ranking doctors who would accept the product without a bribe (Writer's thought). Why not take some extra pain and do a bit more promotional activity to place the product correctly in the market? This is the only option where prominence will uphold true.

"References"

1) Morris, T. (1997). The Prominent Dr. Rombach. Case Research Journal, 117-121. (Case Study File Provided By Customer)

2) Dyck, B., & Neubert, M. (2008). Management: Current Practices and New Directions. Cengage Learning.

3) Writer Thoughts

4) Williams, J. (n.d.). Business Ethics Policies & Procedures. Retrieved February 18, 2015, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/business-ethics-policies-procedures-2728.html

5) Amico, S. (n.d.). Workplace Ethics & Behavior. Retrieved February 18, 2015, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/workplace-ethics-behavior-5239.html