Giving Voice to Values: A Case Study on Ethical Dilemma in Sports

Applied Principle for Responsible
Business Practice

Table of Content
Introduction to the Case Study......................................................................................................................................3
Concept of Giving Voice to Values................................................................................................................................3
The main arguments in the case...................................................................................................................................3
The reasons and Rationalization..................................................................................................................................4
Persons who are at Stake.................................................................................................................................................4
Billy....................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Joseph.................................................................................................................................................................................. 5
Most suitable approach.................................................................................................................................................... 5
The Script................................................................................................................................................................................ 6
References........................................................................................................................................................................... 10

Introduction to the Case Study
Billy is the elected captain of the soccer team and enjoys the love, support and
appreciation of his team mates and coach. Billy and his team have geared up for a
mission, and the mission is to win the National Soccer championship. This is their final
year and the team does not want to leave any lose ends which might come in the way of
their winning. In order to bring discipline in the team and make them focussed towards
the needs of the team, strong rules were laid down for the entire team. Everybody had
to report on the practice ground without any delay, additionally Billy imposed that none
of the team mates would consume alcohol during the entire season. However, much to
the surprise of Billy, his best friend and the best player on the team, Joseph consumed
alcohol and put Billy in a difficult situation. Thus, now Billy has to stand up for the rules
he set for his team and address the situation, additionally he also has to speak with
Joseph and the rest of the team mates and come up with an amicable solution.
Concept of Giving Voice to Values
Giving Voice to Values or GVV is an innovative approach towards leadership
development in business education and at the workplace (Choondassery, 2017). The
curriculum on GVV focuses the ethical implementation and puts across questions: “How
could I be most effective? What if I were going to act on my values? What would I say
and do?” Thus, Billy has to work in accordance to the concept of Giving Voice to Values
and get over this ethical dilemma and do justice to the situation (Pieczka, 2018).
The main arguments in the case
According to the concept of Giving Voice to Values there is No I in the team, and
everybody has a joint responsibility and accountability towards the goals of the
organization. The rules of not drinking were set out for the entire team and it was set to
not get distracted from the main goal of winning the tournament. The action of Joseph
were highly unethical as he did not only jeopardise the entire team, he even put his best
friend Billy in an ethical dilemma.

The reasons and Rationalization
Billy’s leadership style when it comes to resolving a conflict within a team or with the
team members is based on sitting down with the person and discussing the issue face to
face. This is a very practical approach on resolving a conflict and is highly effective.
Thus, it was important for Billy to raise the issue with Joseph and live onto the
expectations of his 30 membered team.
Ethically, if the issues have to be considered specifically Joseph’s action, it can be said
with utmost certainty that he did not cared about the rules neither about his teams. His
action can be seen as highly unethical and immoral. According to the Utilitarianism
theory, a person should do the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
According to this theory, the actions of Joseph were highly unethical and also wrong in
consideration to the ethical theory. One of the most serious implications oh Joseph
action can be that rest of the team mates can also walk in his footsteps, which would
lead to mayhem in the team (Lawrence & Kacmar, 2017). Hence, it is much required
from Billy to stand up to the occasion, keep his relationship with Joseph aside and give
him the punishment as was decided. The ethical dilemma here is that it’s the team’s last
senior year and they want to win the tournament for the school. Joseph is an integral
support to the team and most definitely one of the best players in the team, thus his loss
can prove fatal to the team. Thus, Billy has to really decide what is important for the
team and also decide on what is right and wrong.
Persons who are at Stake
In the case here there are three parties which are at stake, Billy, Joseph and the
entire team. However, within the purview of the case, we will discuss about Billy and
Joseph and their role in the entire process.
Billy
Billy was the elected captain of the team, and the captain who at last wanted to go down
in the books of national soccer championship by winning the title. In a bid to stay
focussed on the goals, Billy acted accordingly and created rules which would ensure
discipline in the team, as well as keep the team focussed on the job. He clearly stated