BUSM3199 Ethics And Governance - Case Study:A Hiring Decision

Case study : A hiring decision

Butterfield, KD, Trevino, LK & Weaver, GR 2000, 'Moral awareness in business organizations: Influences of issue- related and social context factors', Human Relations, vol. 53, no. 7, pp. 981-1018. “Pat Sneed is a manager for Johnson Company, a large, diversified company. Pat has just returned from a meeting in which Taylor Wright, a Vice President and Pat's boss, announced that Johnson's competitors in electronic components are increasing their market share, while Johnson's market share and profitability are suffering. Pat and the other managers were disheartened by this news because Johnson Company has always taken great pride in being the market leader in all of its businesses. Feeling somewhat exhausted after the meeting, Pat sank into a chair with the day's third cup of coffee, and started to plough through an overstuffed in-basket. Toward the top of the pile, a memo that had been flagged with a Post-it note by Pat's assistant immediately caught Pat's eye. The memo was from the controller's office, urging Pat and the other managers to cut their overhead, especially salaries, telephone bills, and travel expenses. Just as Pat began to concentrate on other pressing matters, Taylor Wright barged into Pat's office.

Taylor: Sorry for the interruption, this is important.
Pat: [frustrated] Isn't everything?
Taylor: As you recall, late last month Brett Caldwell resigned from the position of sales representative for District 8. Since that time, customers haven't gotten the service they deserve. That's why I'm anxious to fill the position immediately.
Pat: OK, so what would you like me to do?
Taylor. Human resources has narrowed the prospects down to two applicants and has outlined their qualifications. I'd like you to look at them. [Taylor hands the sheet of paper depicted in Figure Al to Pat.] Mike Gibson Age: 32
Sales experience: Men’s department Supervisor, 3 years 9while in college); travel agency sales 4 years; electronic equipment sales, 5 years.
Work experience: Bright’s Department Store, 3 years, Harold’s World of Travel, 4 years; Monroe Business Machines, 5 years.
Education: BA Marketing
References: Excellent – learns quickly, personable, good sales record.

Joe Armstrong
Age: 30
Sales experience: Automobile sales, 4 years; electronic equipment sales, 5 years.
Work experience: Wingate Chevrolet, 4 years; Techtronics, Inc., 5 years.
Education: BA Management
References: Very good – hard worker, ambitious, good sales record.

Figure A1 Summary of candidates’ qualifications
Pat: [pausing to consider the two candidates] Well, at first glance, they seem fairly equal. But sometimes I wonder why we bother spending so much time on these decisions. We haven't had much luck lately getting good people.
Taylor: It's our job to get good people. You should also know that both candidates did well in their interviews, and so I think either one could handle the job. But, there is one potentially important difference, although I'm hesitant to bring it up because I know you're busy'. Joe Armstrong has past sales experience in a similar position with Techtronics, Inc., who, as you know, is a small company, but is one of our primary competitors in the electronic components market. In fact, the R&D people are encouraging me to hire him. They say that he has valuable information about a new product being designed at Techtronics. It's similar to something our own R&D group has been working on. But our people have run into a problem they can't solve. Joe has told me he is willing to share the information he has if we hire him and promise not to divulge the source of the information.
Pat: Having that information would be nice. Is there anything else I should know?
Taylor. Maybe just one more thing. Some of our people have said they're certain that this information could give us an edge by allowing us to solve our technical problem, which would win over some of Techtronics' customers. I've run some numbers, and I think that, with this information, we could put Techtronics out of business. The only downside I can see is, if this gets out, a few people might think a bit less of us. At any rate, I'd like your input as soon as possible so that we can fill this position by the end of the week. My only concern is whether this will help our bottom line - I'm just not sure that this will help.”

Q5. How would you rate the moral intensity of the issue Pat is facing?