Case Study: Ethical Dilemma in a Professional Setting

This case study examines an ethical dilemma within the fictional company, Fabio, involving an employee named Harry who developed an antivirus program. Harry attempts to sell his program to the company, facing resistance from the head of IT security, Jill. He then releases the software under a different name, leading to his firing. The case study analyzes the situation, isolates the ethical dilemma, and applies ethical frameworks like consequentialism, rights and duties, and Kant's Categorical Imperative. The analysis considers the stakeholders, including Fabio, Harry, Jill, and the manager Brockley, and concludes with a recommendation for Fabio to offer Harry a position, emphasizing reconciliation and addressing past issues. The case highlights issues of professional ethics, intellectual property, and decision-making in a business context.

Running head: ETHICS IN A PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENT
Ethics in a Professional Environment
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

1ETHICS IN A PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENT
Table of Contents
Answer 1).........................................................................................................................................2
Answer 2).........................................................................................................................................2
Step I. Understand the situation...................................................................................................2
Step II) Isolate the major ethical dilemma...................................................................................3
Step III) Ethical Analysis.............................................................................................................3
Step IV) Making a decision.........................................................................................................4
References:......................................................................................................................................5

2ETHICS IN A PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENT
Answer 1)
Harry has created an anti-virus program and he wants to sell it to his company at FABIO
at a discounted price. The ethical dilemma is created by the fact that the head of IT security does
not want to purchase it (Chakraborty 2017). However, Harry went a step forward and brought it
out in the market under name of Safe-T and the consultation name was given Lock Smith.
Answer 2)
Step I. Understand the situation
The relevant facts are:-
a)1) Harry developing an anti-virus program with special features.
2) Jill refusing to purchase it and expressing strong misgivings.
3) Harry secretly published it by the name of Safe T and it got consulted by the name of Lock
Smith.
4) Harry took up the role of a consultant over the internet and a program was released on the
Bulletin Board System.
5) Brockley, manager of Jill supported the decision of firing Harry and asked for no further
enquiry.
6) The owner of Iris Bigg sent a mail asking to quickly find Lock Smith and offer him a position
and use his expertise at the services of Fabio.

3ETHICS IN A PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENT
b) The ethical issue is raised by the fact that Harry has used another name to sell his anti-virus
program to the market which Jill, the head of IT security did not want to purchase initially. Jill
fired Harry when she came to know about it. Even Brockley, the manager of Jill did not go
against the decision and did not ask for any additional enquiry about the decision. The company
have lost out on a talented employee and the anti-virus program could have been used for freeing
the office computers of any infection (Michaelson et al.,2014).
c) The stake holders involved is the company Fabio that could have made profits on purchasing
the anti-virus software program. His own company is not recognizing the talent of Harry.
Step II) Isolate the major ethical dilemma
The major ethical dilemma is created by the fact that though the manager, Jill and
Brooklyn were against Harry yet his software program was applauded by Iris Bigg who is the
owner of the Fabio company. Iris wanted Brockley to find this person and use the expertise of
this person for the profitability of the company (Shukla et al.,2014).
Step III) Ethical Analysis
Consequentialism
If Brockley does not find out this innovative developer by the name of Lock Smith then
Iris Bigg will start having a negative impression about him. If Harry is again asked to come on
board then he may reveal his previous experiences and that will prove to be detrimental for both
Jill and Harry.
Rights and Duties

4ETHICS IN A PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENT
The company should have undergone a review regarding the firing of Harry and the
manager Brockley should have made an enquiry of the review made by Jill.
Kant’s Categorical Imperative
If the company again reinstates Harry then Jill and Brockley would be viewed with
disrespect as they were the ones one who were responsible for sacking Harry in the first place.
Step IV) Making a decision
As instructed by the head, Iris Bigg Lock Smith alias Harry should be immediately called
for and offered a position in Fabio. A big meeting can be called where all the employees would
be present and the past differences should be resolved to bring about reconciliation (Trevino &
Nelson, 2016).

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References:
Chakraborty, S. (2017). A Comparison study of Computer Virus and Detection
Techniques. Research Journal of Engineering and Technology, 8(1), 49-52.
Michaelson, C., Pratt, M. G., Grant, A. M., & Dunn, C. P. (2014). Meaningful work: Connecting
business ethics and organization studies. Journal of Business Ethics, 121(1), 77-90.
Shukla, J. B., Singh, G., Shukla, P., & Tripathi, A. (2014). Modeling and analysis of the effects
of antivirus software on an infected computer network. Applied Mathematics and
Computation, 227, 11-18.
Trevino, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2016). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do
it right. John Wiley & Sons.