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Business Ethics Reflection When asked to describe an ethical dilemma that I have faced at work really made me go over many different situations throughout my life. I kept being drawn to a particular time when I was a manager and I figured out some friends, who was employees, were stealing money. After I had proof that they were stealing money from the company I had a few moral issues to deal with, do I tell and possibly get them fired or do I say nothing and live with the guilt. If I made the decision to tell, I had to think about how would it affect my family.
When I began to notice money was not equal to the amount that the company was bringing in. I began to check all the records and it led me to a few employees, who I thought that were also friends. I first had to question myself and question if I should just tell them to stop what they was doing. I knew this was ethically wrong in so many ways. The further I investigated the issue the more people I uncovered in the whole scam. It was a group of individual that did everything together and one was a manager at the same level as me.
As I began to decide what I should do I had to base my decision on all my values such as integrity, honesty, self-discipline, and responsibility. It wasn’t a decision after I thought about my values and I knew what I had to do. I had to make sure that I had all the proof possible and take it to the vice president of the company. When I began to tell the vice president, it was as if he didn’t believe me at first. After giving many details and a long history of a paper trail to prove all the transactions, he began to sit in disbelief and became very angry.
After overcoming his anger and looking over all the details, he began to talk about how he had trusted the manager and employees with so much. It was the vice presidents decision to hire the manager and a couple of the employees, so had a personal connection to them as well. Now that it was decided they all needed to be fired, we started to go over the steps that was needed to make sure everything was done correct. Over the next few days the vice president got his own proof and had it all in writing. After the employees were called in and fired, they all knew that the information came from me and it was very tough situation.
I was almost made to be the bad in the whole thing even though everyone knew what I did was morally correct. One of the guys had just had a baby and he even asked me how I could do this to him and I didn’t have to fire him. The social pressure from everyone was very difficult to deal with because I knew I didn’t do anything wrong. Part of the problem was that everyone didn’t know what really went on and they just thought they got fired because of me. They even began to question my family and ask if I thought about their families when I made that decision.
The great part about that is that all my family backed my decision and respected me for the decision I made. That was very rewarding and gave me great confidence in the decision I made. If I was faced with the same dilemma, there is no doubt that I would make the same decision over again. As soon as I made the decision, I knew it was the right one and it was what I had to do. When you have to integrity, honesty and responsibility, it makes the decision a lot easier to make and live with. It a person is going to lie, cheat and steal, they have made the decision that they might be fired for their actions when they are caught.
If one is put in this situation, you need to make sure that you have proof of what has happened and it help to have either in writing or by camera. When you first give the information, it is as if you are the person in wrong and you have to prove your allegations. Make sure when you start to go to either a boss or a person higher, it is person that you can trust. You have to be strong if it is a group of people, because at first they will turn it against you and act as if you are the bad guy. It helps to have a great family that understands what is ethical and stands behind you when you make the right decision.