Ethical Dilemmas in Business: A Case Study and Analysis

The assignment content discusses the scenario of Borries, an employee who is faced with a dilemma to cancel his holiday plans or complete the project assigned by his manager. He decides to cancel the holiday to fulfill his duty and reputation of his manager and stakeholders, demonstrating Deontological behavior. However, this decision affects his personal relationships and may lead to future conflicts. The content also highlights the importance of interpersonal and team-working skills in resolving ethical dilemmas.

Running Head: Business Management and Strategic Management
Applied Business Ethics

Running Head: Business Management and Strategic Management
Table of Contents
Part A: Ethical Dilemma Essay..................................................................................................3
Introduction:...........................................................................................................................3
Ethical Dilemma Description.............................................................................................3
Discussion:.............................................................................................................................4
Justification why it is an ethical dilemma in a business situation........................................4
Ethical solutions proposed to this dilemma........................................................................5
Conclusion:............................................................................................................................7
Part B: Portfolio of Evidence Contents......................................................................................8
Appendix A: The Ethical Leadership Debate........................................................................8
Appendix B: The Seminar Case...........................................................................................10
Appendix C: Interpersonal and Team-working skills..........................................................11
References:...............................................................................................................................13

Running Head: Business Management and Strategic Management
Part A: Ethical Dilemma Essay
Introduction:
The dilemma with respect to the morality is the ethical dilemma. It is the situation when an
individual has to make a choice between two options and neither of the two options to be
chosen is the ethical solution. In these types of situations, the personal or societal frameworks
do not provide any satisfactory result in front of the individual (Mann, 2017). One such
situation in the business environment has been discussed in this essay.
Ethical Dilemma Description
Ethics is the decision-making process that can be aligned with the individual sense of right or
wrong and must be abided by the law. In the business environment of the modern time, there
are many such situations where an individual faces the ethical dilemma. It is very difficult for
an individual to make a choice between moral and immoral decisions in some situations. The
business organizations have to provide proper training to make the employees be able to
make right and correct decisions. In marketing and sales practices there can be many
situations where the ethical dilemma has to be faced by the sales or marketing personnel.
Michael has joined in a branch office of one of the most reputed insurance companies as a
marketing executive. The business of the branch in which Michael was working was not
going well, and that made the executives be in high pressure to increase business. He has
been given a target to be achieved in a month to save his job. He has been asked deliberately
by his senior to provide some false commitments to make insurance policies attractive so as
to increase the sales. Michael was confused initially as he could think of selling the products
on unethical grounds. He has been left with two options either to sale the products honestly
that might jeopardize his career, or he can indulge in the unethical selling of insurance to

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customers based on his own needs and not on the basis of what customers required. Like
Michael, there can be any individual who does face ethical dilemmas in their professional
life. Ethical dilemmas are commonly found in many of the business organizations.
Discussion:
Justification why it is an ethical dilemma in a business situation
The case of ethical dilemma that has been faced by Michael can happen to any other
employee. This situation can be referred to as ethical dilemma as there Michael has been
pressured by his senior to perform an unethical action for the sake of the profit earning of the
organization. Michael has been left with two choices. In the first choice, he could provide
wrong information or could commit some incorrect returns to the customers just to increase
the number of policies sold. In the second choice, he could follow his ethical beliefs, and that
might jeopardize his job. These two choices are not the proper solution to the situation.
Michael has to choose any one of the choices, but in both cases, he could satisfy his own
needs. If Michael has been an honest and ethical person than he could never go by what his
senior asked him to do and that might put a question on his job as the business of the
company's branch was not doing well. If he does choose the unethical choice, then he could
have saved his job but could never be mentally satisfied. He might always feel guilty of his
decisions. Moreover, he is supposed to abide by the norms or laws of his profession.
Keeping these things in mind in these situations it is very difficult to choose an option. The
case of Michael is a common case of the ethical dilemma. In the business organizations of the
modern time, these type ethical dilemmas are found where the employees of the companies
have to face some sort of ethical dilemmas. There are many employees like Michael who
have to face situations where they have to face a choice between ethical and unethical choices
(Lopen, 2017).

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In any business situation, the ethics are one of the most important aspects of the employees
and the organizations. The case of ethical dilemma that has been discussed in this essay is a
very common situation that can be counted among numerous incidents of ethical dilemmas
being faced by the employees in their career. It is very common for almost every individual
to have faced situations of ethical dilemmas. These situations can arise when the employees
get undue pressure from their seniors to indulge in unethical practices. There are many
business organizations to which the profit is the bottom line of the business. The members of
such business organizations can go any extent to achieve their targets and to make the
organizations profitable unethically. The pressure of losing the job is also many times exerted
on the employees to make them involved in unethical practices for the sake of profitability
and achievements of targets. There the honest and ethical employees face the ethical
dilemmas. The balance between the ethical and unethical choices has to be maintained in the
business environment. The ethical and moral imperatives are the biggest challenges for the
ones who have to make the decisions in any particular situation. The ethical dilemmas can
make an individual be in huge difficulties where they have to make choices. The case of
Michael has been an example of ethical dilemma where the moral and ethical judgment of an
employee like Michael is important for the ethical solution to the dilemmas (Giovanniello,
2017).
Ethical solutions proposed to this dilemma
The ethical dilemma can be solved by consulting the code of ethics of the company for
structural guidance, and this is one of the simplest ways of solving the ethical dilemmas. The
positive and negative aspects of any business decision can be weighed through the code of
ethics. The clear image of the decision can be observed if the code of ethics is aligned with
the decision. The ethical dilemma can be solved by sharing it with the senior or with anyone
whose experiences in similar situations can be used for the solution. It is the responsibility of

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the seniors to guide the employees with the right code of ethics that the business
organizations hold. The seniors sometimes show the right ways of getting the issues resolved.
The ethical dilemma can also be shared with the other members or executives of the
organizations or with any top management personnel. The decisions provided by the top
management personnel or the executives carry the value, and they could also add some extra
challenges to the decisions regarding the solution of the ethical dilemmas. Michael being an
executive must be able to show his abilities to solve the issues on his own. He could take the
help of other executives if he could not take the right decisions on his own. He could have
also taken the help of the senior, but his immediate senior has asked him to be dishonest so he
could not take his support to arrive at the right solution. He could have consulted with the top
management personnel. The other executives of the company can also be the right ones to be
providing him the confidence in his decision (Ingram, 2017).
Theoretically, the ethical dilemma that Michael has faced could be solved with the help of
either consequentialism or deontological model. According to consequentialism the results or
the consequences of any decision or result is focused. It is an aspect of utilitarianism where
the satisfaction of happiness obtained from any work or action is considered to be ethical. If
Michael listens to his boss in selling the insurance policies then he might become successful
in saving his job. In that case, it can be ethical if he gets some utility from his decision of
action. The decision in this respect provides utility not only to him or his boss who wants to
achieve the targets but also the company as a whole which needs on increasing profitability.
On the other hand, it is the duty of a professional to follow the moral rules then the entire
action will be considered to be ethical. If Michael follows the rule or norm of not being
unethical even if that might make himself to lose his job then it is his duty which will judge
his action to be good. This is the main focus of deontological model which says that there is
always some actions that are good and ethical. In this respect it can be said Michael must be

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ethical and following the moral and ethical norms he must not sell the insurance policies on
unethical grounds and even if he loses his job he will get another place where there will be no
unethical actions to be encouraged (TANNER, MEDIN, & ILIEV, 2007).
Conclusion:
The ethical dilemma that has been discussed in the essay has been one of the common
dilemmas in the workplace. The analysis of the ethical dilemma has been done. The
justification has also been given for considering the case to be an ethical dilemma. The
proposed solution has also been provided which says that it is always ethical to follow the
code of business ethics in the workplace.

Running Head: Business Management and Strategic Management
Part B: Portfolio of Evidence Contents
Appendix A: The Ethical Leadership Debate
From the analysis, it can be understood that Mike happens to be a person who believes in
consequentialism. He is also a believer in Utilitarianism. This is because he is a member of
the Greenpeace. He has the experience of working with students in a business school, and he
is deeply passionate about his subject. Therefore he disagreed with the proposed question. He
believed that it was the company that turned his daughter into behaving that particular way as
she had never behaved in a similar manner before. The major argument that Mike entered
into was with Deshi and Mike was clear about his discontent about the students in the modern
business schools. Therefore, it is fair to put Mike in the sixth level of Kohlberg's Moral
Development Theory. This is because the model teaches individuals in respecting the dignity
of the other persons that should be the basic quality of a person (McLeod, 2013).
It is evident from the analysis that Jan is a person believing in non-consequentialism. She is
staunch observed by virtue ethics. This is because she always wishes to emphasize that it is
always benevolent and charitable activities for a person to help another in time of need
(Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2017). This evident from the act of Jan where she
dedicated 1020 days in charitable works along with offering educational services in
Guatemala. Apart from this she also rewarded her investors. Thus, there is less possibility for
her to generate a high ROI for the shareholders of the organization. In respect of this case, it
can be seen that the number of shareholders is the least that implies that they are not in the
search for achieving fast and high ROIs. Therefore, it is plausible to place Jan at stage five of
Kohlberg's Model (McLeod, Level 3 - Post-conventional morality, 2013). Therefore, Jan
would tend to agree with Mike’s observations and therefore argue against the debate as she

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holds the view that ethical leadership is very much possible in an economy that is focused on
the shareholders.
Mei-Hua also happens to be an individual that believes in non-consequentialism and thereby
firmly voices the ethics of duty or Deontology because she always acts on the basis of what is
ethical and desirable irrespective of its good or bad consequences (BBC, 2014). It has been
learned that Mei-Hua has been the person who has been mostly criticized for her actions
which were within the legal purview but were considered to be unethical. Although, she is a
firm believer in the ethical codes of conduct and desires that the business school should
always keep on teaching ethics to its students, yet she has often been alleged of several
schemes related to tax avoidance that is unethical. She agreed to the debate motion as she
portrayed that her main aim of business was to benefit herself and this was clearly evident in
the debate when the issue of the tax avoidance scheme was brought against her and the
organization she worked for. But, the shareholders were happy as her policy brought
substantial profitability. She can be placed at Stage Three of Kohlberg's Model as she lived
up to the expectations of her colleagues. Therefore, she argued against the debate as she
believed in ethics but failed to display it in the workplace.
In case of Deshi, it can be observed that he is a person that wants to pursue his desires and
has a strong ambition of starting his career as well as the family that reflects his egoistic
nature. This can be linked to wealth hankering motive as per Adam Smith's Theory as he is
focused on achieving what he desires (Coase, n.d.).
In conclusion, I firmly believe that ethical leadership can thrive well in a shareholder-focused
economy. In order to support this debate, the concept of virtue ethics can be utilized most
effectively as it is the duty of every employee to work for the wellbeing of the stakeholders of
the organization.

Running Head: Business Management and Strategic Management
Appendix B: The Seminar Case
It has been observed from the case study that Borries happens to be a consequentialist whose
acts and behaviours can be related to Bentham’s Theory of Utilitarianism which states that
every action can be morally justified to be ethical if it brings the maximum possible amount
of good for the largest possible amount of people those are affected by such reason. The
principle is referred to as Greatest Happiness Principle (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
2017). This theory is reflected in Borries's decision of canceling his holiday for the purpose
of the product launch even though he had the option of taking a holiday without any sanctions
from his manager. This places Borries in the fifth stage of The Cognitive Moral Development
Model that upholds the going beyond the identification with the expectations of the other
persons and determining what is right or wrong as per the observance of the basic moral
rights and values of the society (Sincero, 2017).
In respect of the work-life dilemma of Borries, it can be understood that the clients of Borries
are dependent stakeholders those lack power in spite of having legal, ethical and urgent
claims. The clients are mainly the expectant stakeholders. It should follow that the
commitment level between the managers and the expected stakeholders should be more than
that of the latent stakeholders. The manager brought to notice the significance of Borries's
work and the importance of the client. It was also understood that if the launching of the
product was successful, then the business would be able to develop various further contracts
that would result in enhanced profits. Borries is an employee that is determined to observe his
ethical principles and sense of duty for which he will finish off the entire project for the
reputation of his manager and the stakeholders that shows Deontological behavior. It upholds
that an individual that observes duty-based ethics will do the right thing even if the final
result is bad.

Running Head: Business Management and Strategic Management
As Borries canceled the holiday with Swee Lan that might affect his future relationship with
her. From this perspective, Borries can be considered as an egoist. From the perspective of
Swee Lan, it can be said that Borries has behaved as an egoist by not taking care of the needs
of his girlfriend. Borries has decided to do what he thought to be morally right. Borries's
decisions had led to him being pressurized from Marcus and some of his other peers in the
organization. This has affected his future relationships with them as their trust and confidence
on Borries has decreased, and they felt that Borries might undertake similar activities in
future. As Borries did not decline the manager's proposal of working in the project instead of
going for a holiday, his peers feared that in future they would also be forced to sacrifice their
holidays for official work or else that might agitate the manager or draw a comparison with
Borries.
On a concluding note to the scenario, it can be said that it had been prudent if Borries has
sought for the suggestion of his manager that whether he really needed to cancel his holiday
or any other employee could have managed his tasks for those days when he would be on
leave. But, Borries assumed that he needed to cancel his plans. This was not a prudent way to
behave and was unfair on the part of his girlfriend Swee Lan and his friends.
Appendix C: Interpersonal and Team-working skills
In this particular module, I had the opportunity of implementing my interpersonal and team-
working skills. This is because, in the task of analyzing the concept of ethical dilemmas in the
debate on ethical leadership. For this debate, I had to interact with many of my peers,
subordinates, and seniors within the organization. The debate was a perfect platform for
showcasing my interpersonal skills. I had to discuss with some of my peers those were in my
team about how to start the conversation in the debate, then coordinating with them as to
what point to raise at the next opportunity and whether to support a particular point in the

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debate or not. Therefore, team-working played a crucial role while we were jotting down the
main points on the ethical dilemma those were raised by the opponent team members. I
played the role of the team leader in the debate, and I generally initiated the conversation or
discussed the main points. I also guided my team members and told them how to raise
personal views in the debate.
I had to interact with the opponent team members also and had to portray my observations
and views on the issue. Interpersonal skills become extremely important in communicating
effectively and also in showing confidence when trying to put forward a personal
observation. This module offered me the opportunity to participate in this debate on ethical
dilemmas that helped me to learn the various aspects of ethical dilemma and how to exercise
control, restraint, leadership, teamwork and communication skills while voicing for one's
own observations, ideas, and morals in life. It was an extremely important learning phase for
me as it helped me to understand the essence of ethical dilemmas in professional and personal
lives. It also provided me with the scope of exercising my abilities to work in a team,
interacting with members from my own team and other teams and also implements leadership
in some aspects (Doyle, 2017).

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References:
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/duty_1.shtml
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Doyle, A. (2017). List of Leadership Skills. Retrieved from
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23439.html
McLeod, S. (2013). Kohlberg. Retrieved from simplypsychology:
https://www.simplypsychology.org/kohlberg.html
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TANNER, C., MEDIN, D. L., & ILIEV, R. (2007). Influence of deontological versus
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