CASE STUDIES The written case study paper shall be 3 pages in length in APA format. The case study shall be based on a real-world ethical situation you have personally encountered and about which you,

Running Head: PRIME DAY SHOPPING WHILE AT WORK 0

Prime Day Shopping While at Work

Amazon, the online retail giant, has been around for a while now. On July 15, 2015, Amazon ran its first ever Prime day to celebrate Prime members on its 20th birthday (Staff, 2019). According to the blog posted in Aboutamazon.com (2019) Amazon started this shopping event with only one goal that is to offer a volume of deals greater than Black Friday, exclusively for Prime members (Staff, 2019). I have been a Prime member since 2011 and have been enjoying the comfort of online shopping ever since. In 2019, the company offered Prime Day for two days on July 15 and 16. There were so many good deals going on that I could not help myself from browsing and shopping while at work.

I had a list of things I wanted to purchase and was planning to be quick. But Amazon had set a clock on sale items. Many of the items on sale had expired, some were going on and some were yet to come so I kept on constantly checking the site. There were all kinds of electronics, house appliances, and even groceries on sale. I kept on switching back and forth between work and Amazon.com trying to catch as many deals as I could.

Ethical Problem

At the end of the day, I had to log in my work hours before leaving for the day. I was about to log my hours as usual but then realized I had spent almost three hours surfing the internet. I was not behind any of my projects and had not missed any deadlines. I had two choices to pick from: (1) Log in five work hours and three hours vacation time. or, (2) Log in the whole day’s work and not talk about how I spent my day.

Possible Solutions

If I chose my first option, then I would have to give up three vacation hours. I might have to explain myself to my manager on why I logged three hours of vacation time despite being in the office for the whole day. If I said I was surfing and doing Prime Day shopping, then it could send a wrong signal that may lead to my manager distrusting me. On the other hand, it could be a good thing to be honest about the situation. My manager might appreciate my integrity and thank me for explaining the situation.

If I chose the second option and logged eight hours of work, then there would not be a fuss about anything. I did not have to give up three hours of vacation time and did not have to explain myself to my manager. I did not think my manager was aware of what I was doing during the day. I was not behind on any of my projects and have had a steady performance. But what if someone had seen me browsing an unrelated website and had reported to my manager. I might have to face disciplinary action and might end up losing my job trying to cheat on three work hours.

Resolution

I decided to go on with my first option and logged five work hours and three vacation hours. I went into my manager’s office and told her everything. She was glad that I did the right thing. She said she was herself checking on some of the deals and was going to log vacation hours for the time she spent surfing. She also told me that she was about to send a memo to all our team members to remind them of charging time correctly. I am glad to know that I wasn’t not the only crazy lady cutting coupons and chasing deals. After all, who does not like lightning deals that comes with worry-free experience and hassle-free returns.

Conclusion

I learnt a valuable lesson that day. Mischarging is unethical and can lead to serious consequences if substantiated. While talking with my manager that day, she made me aware of security measures that were in place to review computer incidents and badge records if complaints were filed against any employees. She also mentioned that the company had to disclose the incident to stakeholders and would have to reimburse for any time that was mischarged. I had thought it was just three hours and might not have been a big deal but knowing what I know now, I am glad I didn’t mischarge and will never do it.

Reference

Staff, D. (2019, June 25). The history of Prime Day. Retrieved July 15, 2020, from https://blog.aboutamazon.com/shopping/the-history-of-prime-day