Ethical Decision-Making in Management: Huawei Company Scandal Analysis

This report analyzes the Huawei company scandal, focusing on ethical issues and concerns related to fraud, theft, and breaches of international sanctions. It examines the allegations against Huawei by the Western Australian government, including potential trade embargo impacts and scrutiny from the US Justice Department. The report identifies key ethical issues such as defrauding banks, violating US sanctions against Iran, money laundering, and stealing trade secrets. It assesses the ethical decision-making process, including stakeholder involvement and consideration of alternative actions, and evaluates the consequences of unethical practices on the company's brand image and reputation. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of ethical decision-making for maintaining customer trust and reducing security breaches, offering a comprehensive overview of the scandal's impact on management and business ethics.

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Management
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Introduction
The article helps in the analysis of the scandal of Huawei Company which has gained
various allegations relating to fraud, theft along with breaches of the international sanction.
The main aim and purpose of the article are connected to the analysis of the different ethical
issue which has been faced by the organization Huawei that has been done by them for the
Western Australian government.
Summarizing the Arguments in the Article
There was an announcement from Western Australian government relating to the
reviewing of the contract with Huawei as there are different allegations relating to the theft
and another breach of the various agreements which have been done by Huawei. These
activities of Huawei came into the limelight as there was release from US prosecutors
(Abc.net.au 2019). Last July in 2018, Huawei won the contract which helped them in
building and maintaining a digital network of 4G radio aspects for Perth Train System as it
will improve the handheld radios.
From the article, it was seen that there were different allegations against the
organization by the United States Justice Department which led to the high type of scrutiny of
the Chinese tech giant performing business. It was being noticed that the government of
Australia is trying to investigate the overall impact of the potential trade embargo as they
require to review the order and contract with Huawei mobile organization.
Key Ethical Issues and Concerns Raised in the Article
The involvement of Huawei for Western Australian government was a huge problem
in which it was being noticed that there were different allegations faced by Huawei which led
to overall scrutiny of the various activities which are being performed by them. There were
multiple allegations which were being put forth about Huawei organization by the Australian

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government which included the defrauding banks as to violate the sanctions of the United
States against Iran along with money laundering issues which were faced by the company.
The unethical other problems included the stealing of the trade secrets which has intensified
the business and trade between China and the United States.
The other ethical issues which were being faced by Huawei were related to the offering of
bonuses to the employees who stole information from the other companies which were
examined by the government of Australia and these allegations affected the business and
review the contract. The agencies had discussed the deal for the different scrutiny risks, and it
was difficult for managing the business ethics. The significant involvement of Huawei was
the main problem which affected the overall certainty of the business, and it impacted their
business negatively.
Analysis of whether Ethical Decision has been taken
After the overall analysis of the different ethical issues faced by Huawei
Organization, The Western Australian Government tried in setting up various committees by
considering the Federal government agencies in reviewing the contract appropriately. The
agencies decided to set up the team which analyzed the different security-related risks as to
investigate whether they can perform the business with Huawei Company.
However, after the scrutiny, it was being noticed that there was no such report on the
cybersecurity breaches and it did not involve any highly sensitive data. From the story, it was
being found that the primary issue which affected the Huawei organization's reputation is that
no other companies have the potential to perform the business with Huawei as they were
scared of the allegations that can affect their operations and it can change the brand image of
the company.

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Ethical Decision-Making Process
The ethical decision-making process which can be aligned to the opinion regarding
the case scenario is as follows:
Stating the ethical issues and identifying the facts related to the problem is the first
step which is required to be managed as it will help in determining the overall scenario and
the moral values included in the same. In the case of the Huawei case, the ethical issue was
related to security threats and money laundering (Wittmer 2016).
Determining the different ranks of the relevant values which are involved in the
second issue wherein it is inclusive of both ethical and non-ethical values such as
trustworthiness, fairness along with safety and security and there is no such breach of the data
which will be beneficial in making the decisions (Ferrell and Fraedrich 2015). In the case of
Huawei, the central unethical practices were inclusive of providing bonuses to the individuals
who were indulged in breaching of the different activities.
Identification of the significant resources which can be assisting in evaluating the
issue is essential such as the inclusion of the trusted subordinates and trusted consultants play
a significant role in the business. In the case of Huawei, it can be noticed that the government
played a vital role in understanding the unethical practices which have breached the activities.
Identifying the key stakeholders are inclusive of investors, government, business
owners and customers who are involved in the process. In the case of the respective case, the
major stakeholders are the customers, government officials and communities who are
included in the case of an unethical business (Martinez and Wueste 2016).
Considering the reasonable alternatives is the other aspect which is inclusive of
realistic options that were inclusive of managing the situation effectively. In the case of
Huawei, it was being seen that there was a committee which was being set as to understand

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the overall issue such as the allegations and it could have led to the cyber breach issues. Due
to the same, it provided the government to think over whether to continue their association
with Huawei.
Evaluation of the consequences of the different decision alternatives is the other
aspect wherein it will help in understanding the harm which can be caused due to the same
unethical practices (Schwartz 2016). In the case of the Huawei case, the real damage was felt
by the government of Western Australia as it led to the overall unsustainability practices
which affected the growth.
Making the ethical decision and review is the last step wherein WA government set
up the team, and it was noticed that there was no such cybersecurity breach and they thought
of continuing the business with the company in future.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that the unethical issues can affect the brand image of
the company negatively as the customers lose trust in them and their sales and profitability
percentage decreases. The decision-making process which is ethical is required to be adopted
appropriately as it will improve the situation and it will reduce the security breach of data.

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References
Abc.net.au 2019 Huawei's 4G contract for Perth trains is under scrutiny but does WA have
anything to fear? (online) Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-31/huawei-
and-a-200m-wa-rail-communications-project-explained/10764686 [Accessed on 31 January
2019]
Ferrell, O.C. and Fraedrich, J., 2015. Business ethics: Ethical decision making & cases.
Nelson Education.
Martinez, N. and Wueste, D., 2016. Balancing theory and practicality: engaging non-ethicists
in ethical decision making related to radiological protection. Journal of Radiological
Protection, 36(4), p.832.
Schwartz, M.S., 2016. Ethical decision-making theory: An integrated approach. Journal of
Business Ethics, 139(4), pp.755-776.
Wittmer, D.P., 2016. Developing a behavioral model for ethical decision making in
organizations: Conceptual and empirical research. In Ethics in public management (pp. 57-
77). Routledge.