Discussion and Reply to a Statement

REPLY TO BOTH THE DISCUSSION AND STATEMENT

DISCUSSION

• Think back to a time when you had a supervisor or coworker who you believe made an unethical decision or exhibited unethical behavior. List at least two reasons why you think people are tempted to act unethically. Describe the most effective safe guards that you believe an organization can put into place to prevent unethical behavior within the organization.

STATEMENT

• Think back to a time when you had a supervisor or coworker who you believe made an unethical decision or exhibited unethical behavior. List at least two reasons why you think people are tempted to act unethically. Describe the most effective safe guards that you believe an organization can put into place to prevent unethical behavior within the organization.

The situation that comes to mind that a coworker exhibited unethical decision making was when I first joined the sales team that I am currently on.  The coworker offered the client the option to update their equipment that offered a promotional discount.  Instead of disclosing their cost line by line, he bundled our upsell items that paid out a premium to the sales commission for my coworker.  After this transaction was processed I had the conversation with him asking why he behaved in this manner and why they believed it wouldn't come back to them in a negative way.  He waved the conversation off and said he did it all of the time.  Later that week the customer received the equipment and saw a commercial for the same items and was so upset thinking they were taken advantage of.  They wound up returning all of the equipment and we lost the account and the employee had to give the commission back to the company and was disciplined.

The reasons for this behavior, in my opinion first is that individuals without a core level of integrity find ways around the system thinking that eyes are not on them.  They get away with this and find it somewhat energizing that they avoided accountability.  The other driving force is that there are financial benefits.  The employee was paid a high rate for the transaction they completed and money in a sales role is or should be one of the main motivators as why they get into the industry.

An effective safeguard for an organization is to complete audits and do so in a public manner.  The risk of getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar and being held accountable is a risk most people would care to avoid.  Decisions are made by weighing the consequences and if the risk outweighs the reward, the unethical behavior has the potential to seize or stop all together.