Ethical Issues in Business: Case Study and Ethical Theories Review

This report analyzes a case study involving Michael Vasquez, a product manager facing an ethical dilemma when his boss obtains confidential competitor information unethically. The report explores the ethical issues present, including the misuse of private data and the violation of trust. It examines Michael's options, justifying his decisions through virtue ethics and right ethics theories. The analysis delves into whether Michael's boss is ethical and whether whistleblowing is justified, defining whistleblowing and its motivations. Furthermore, the report highlights four reasons why ethics is relevant to business, emphasizing reputation, moral judgment, customer confidence, and business performance. The conclusion underscores the importance of ethical policies and practices in maintaining a successful and reputable business, while also addressing the implications of unethical actions.

Running head Ethical Issue in Business 0
Ethical issue in Business

Ethical Issue in Business 1
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Ethical issues...................................................................................................................................3
What is the ethical issue in this scenario?....................................................................................3
What should Michael do? Justify your answer using at least two ethical theories......................3
Do you perceive Michael boss to be ethical or unethical? Explain your answer in detail...........4
Should Michael blow the whistle? Define whistleblowing. Explain what motivates whistle-
blowers and under what circumstances whistleblowing is justified?..........................................5
Based on the case study, provide four reasons why ethics is relevant to business?....................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
Reference.........................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
Ethics plays an important role in running the business. Ethics means doing the right
things to meet the challenges without using any wrong path. When the ethical decisions are
taken it should be made on the basis of trust and integrity. As in the case study, Michael
Vasquez is a product manager of a technology startup company, who loves the challenges and
always stays in ethics while doing his job with integrity and honesty. His boss has handed him
over some documents which include the competitor’s confidential information which he hacked
in an unethical manner. Now Michael Vasquez is in a situation whether to use the information or
not as this is against his ethics. In this report, ethical issues will be explained along with the
theories and the report also makes the focus on the concept of the whistleblowing and provides
the reasons why ethics are important to any business.

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Ethical issues
What is the ethical issue in this scenario?
In this case, it is unethical to take the information of another company for the benefit of
your own company. It is the improper mode of attaining the data of the competitive company as
it is an issue of using technology for gathering the private information of the other company
because the private information has been attained by the boss in an illegal manner for misusing
it (Melé, 2009). Michael’s boss hacked the competitive intelligence of the competitor by hacking
through intranet for their own benefit and that may help them in gaining the profit in the future
than a competitor. The other ethical issue is that the company is harming the other company by
using some personal documents which are also against the ethics (Carroll, 2014).
The boss of Michael is also breaking the integrity and trust of other competitor
companies. Michael should take the step against the boss because it is unlawful to grab the
information illegally and misusing it, the same may happen in the future again. Using the
confidential information of the other company may also bring conflicts to the company and can
harm the employees also (Ogbari, Oke, Ajagbe, & Ologbo, 2016). He should not use the
information which his boss has given to him for business benefits as that is against ethics. It is
against the law and the principles that to use personal information as no one has the right to use
any information about the other company without their permission.
What should Michael do? Justify your answer using at least two ethical theories.
In this case, as Michael's boss is forcing him to use the information which is gathered
illegally, he must deny the boss for using the information and the principle of the ethics is to do
justice while making the decision, he must focus on the fair action to be taken against the boss,
so that he will not try to do the same in future also. He can also leave the job as it may cause the
career also, where the unethical work is done by the boss. He should file a complaint to the
respective authorities so that the action will be taken against the boss who is using the others
information and doing unethical work for taking the advantage of the other company (Ogbari,
Oke, Ajagbe, & Ologbo, 2016). As it is against Michael’s ethics who is a challenging person and
who takes the tough decisions in life while doing the job so it is also a big decision of his life
with heavy risk. He should return the documents to the boss which includes the private

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information of the competitor which has been downloaded by the boss through the wrong
manner and without the consent of the company.
Two ethical theories are stated below:
Virtue ethics: In this case, Michael should adopt virtue ethics as this theory of ethics is not
based on the action but on the individual’s mind and character which shows the decision
undertaken by the individual. A person should be ethical which follows all the duties and rules
in the proper way and carry out his actions in the consequence way (Lucas, Van Wee, & Maat,
2016). It is the normative ethics which is based on the moral character that the person should
deal with the morality and honesty in any organization. Michael also should take a step as virtue
ethics, where he has to take the courage to take the action against his boss and resolve the ethical
complexity in the company by being honest and fair. (Bowie, 2004).
Right ethics: The right ethics theory should be adopted as the rights and rules assigned by
society should be considered which helps people to work in the right direction. This theory
claims the rights against the law that it must be obeyed in the organization. As Michael should
also use the ethical right and obey and must claim the right against the company.
Do you perceive Michael boss to be ethical or unethical? Explain your answer in detail
Michael’s boss is unethical in this case, as it is illegal to get the personal information and
documents of the closest competitors via an illegal manner and using the same plans, strategies
in their own business for making the profits and getting into the market with the competitor's
strategy. Michael boss is indulged in hacking the password of the company and has also
obtained the electronic access which is against the ethical work. Michael boss took the access of
the intranet of the competitor’s server and downloaded all the information of the competitive
firm which is the unethical way and also against the law. As Michael boss started the new
business of technology, he followed the wrong path in getting into the market and benefit own
business with the wrong method. The boss of Michael is not fairly playing in the market as he
was using the illegal documents and the information of the other company which is not right
(Bowie N., 2017).
He was taking the competitive advantage of the other company for the benefit of their
own company which is totally against the rules, ethics, and law. He is not following the business

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ethics of keeping the other information private as he is violating the internet policies by hacking
and breaking the password of the competitor’s server and getting the information intentionally
for his own purpose. He has acquired the private strategic documents of the competitor in which
the pricing strategies, their product plans, their personal partnership agreements, and other
confidential documents. By doing such unethical misbehavior in the company the boss of
Michael is also considered such work as the pride instead of gloom.
He was not doing the right things and violating the laws by doing the theft and also
ruining the company’s reputation. He was also breaking the customer's relationship by doing the
unethical work in the company. He was misusing the company personal information which is
against the standard laws so he should be punished for that and strictly actions should be taken
by the senior authorities against and Michael against the unethical issues.
Should Michael blow the whistle? Define whistleblowing. Explain what motivates whistle-
blowers and under what circumstances whistleblowing is justified?
Yes, Michael should blow the whistle as he should expose the activities and information
which is unethical and illegal happening in the organization as he was the challenging and risk-
taking person.
A Whistleblower is a person or the employee which reports the misconducts happening
in the organization (Andrew, 2014). Misconduct can be any fraud, corruption, of breaking the
rules and policies of the firm. If any person does anything illegal or unethically then the person
reports to the senior authorities and exposes all the information and activities which are deemed
incorrect and illegal in the organization.
Whistleblowing is the ethical obligation to employees for raising the voice against the
unethical activities which are happening in the organization. An individual discloses the
information which is unethical at the workplace. The incentives are provided to the individual
who often comes forward and gives the details of the unethical issues and the activities in the
company. It also motivates the employees by protecting the physical and financial wellbeing of
their and also awarded by the large awards of bravery. Many laws and legislation are made
against this which whistleblower which motivates the individual.
Various circumstances when whistleblowing is justified:

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 When the employees in the organization analysis the threat of harm to the customers,
stakeholders, employees and the other state against their moral concern.
 When there is a valid reason which reveals the results of the wrongdoing in the company
are important to remedy the situation.
 When the employees have the evidence of the documents and also prove the facts to the
public by the test of the law.
 When any policy, product or technology is conducting the harm to the public and will
commit the serious damage to the society or the organization.
Based on the case study, provide four reasons why ethics is relevant to business?
 Ethics is important to maintain the reputation of the company as it includes the ethical
guidelines which the company should follow to avoid misconduct and fraud. Reputation
is the most valuable asset of the company which the Michaels Company has lost due to
the unethical issues and activities so the company should maintain its premises with
ethical things.
 Ethics is very important in any business as it helps in making moral judgments about
right and wrong. Ethics works in normative behavior and works in the beliefs and
standards so that the business can run smoothly (Crane & Matten, 2016). As the Michael
business is not running smoothly because they were not following the basic rules of
ethics.
 Ethics is important in the business to attract customers and build confidence in
consumers. By maintaining the ethical behavior the company can boost up their profit
and sales. In the given case study of Michael, the boss of Michael is doing the unethical
things which results to the fall in the company reputation and decline the rate of the sales
which is impacting the profit of the company.
 Ethics are also important as it helps in analyzing the performance of the business
whether it is working effectively and efficiently. If there is any cheating, bullying, and
fraud happening in the company than it can be analyzed by adopting morals and ethics.
In the Michael Company, the boss has made the theft and steals the other company's
relevant documents which affect the operations of the business workings.

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Conclusion
To conclude the report, we can say that ethics plays a major role in business to run the
business smoothly so it should be adopted by every organization. In an organization, policies
and theories of ethics should be adopted so that there should not be any misconduct in business.
In this report, the scenario of the Michaels job is studied through which it is analyzed that due to
unethical works of activities done by the boss may affect the business in every manner, the
company not only losses the profit but also losses the reputation in the market which is very
difficult to rebuild. The importance of whistleblower is stated which motivates the employees to
reveal any unethical information. In the scenario, the confidential information is taken for the
personal advantage which is against ethics. The importance of ethics is stated in the report which
helps in building the reputation and running the business in an effective manner.

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