An Ethical Dillema

Ethical Dilemma With John

In this situation, both Ed and John are in an ethical dilemma. Ed's ethical dilemma stems from the fact that he is operating based upon an old set of rules. The rules regarding business operations with procurement agents have changed, but Ed continues to operate as though the old rules are still in place. In addition, Ed is in an ethical dilemma because he recognizes that things around the office are not quite right, but he is not working toward resolving the issues. As Ed said to John, "…this is the way we do tings around here, and they don't like changes to the system. We have a saying in the company that a blind eye goes a long way to getting business done." Ed seems to have made a conscious decision to try to walk the line between legal business operations and illegal business operations, rather than trying to encourage the company he works for to make the adjustments necessary to ensure the business they are doing is legal.

For John, the ethical considerations are a little different than they are for Ed. While Ed seems to have made his decision as to how he will operate, John is new to the company. John is still in training with this company and has to decide how he will operate. At this point in his training, John's ethical dilemma is based on a decision to sign an expense report that he knows is falsified. Ed went behind John and adjusted John's numbers, and he wants John to sign it. This is an ethical dilemma for John because he did not generate the numbers himself, and he knows the numbers are not accurate based on the Certificate of Procurement Integrity, which states that agents are forbidden from giving procurement officials anything resembling a tip. Ed admits that the adjustments he made to John's numbers are for tips, so John knows the numbers are wrong. John also has to deal with the problem that Ed never dealt with. John has to consider more than just the situation directly in front of him. He also has to consider his long-term career at D&S. If John is to have any sort of longevity at D&S, he has to address the problem of how the company does business.

The ethical conflict in the immediate situation is between Ed and John. Ed wants John to simply comply with the way things are done at D&S so that he can be available for a potential promotion. Ed admits that Dryer may soon create a Vice President position that he expects to receive. This causes a conflict because Ed will most likely not sign off on John's having finished the training if John refuses to sign the document with the revised numbers. But if John signs the document, enabling the advancement of Ed's career, he will operate against what he should do from an ethical standpoint.

John's decisions have a number of important implications. John has already done the wrong thing for himself when he turned in another expense report without first confronting the situation with his trainer and his company. His failure to discuss and resolve the situation before the final trip to Washington, DC has led him to the ethical quandary he is in now. John had to have known that giving Ed an expense report that did not match the policy Ed trained John to follow would lead Ed to addressing the issue. John also knew Ed's position on the dealings of the company as they already had the "blind eye" conversation. For John, it was virtually pointless to submit the expense report that did not follow Ed's interpretation of D&S policy.