Ethics and Integrity in Business: Navigating Ethical Risks and Transgressions in the Workplace Case D

Case D: Appropriateness of Business Gifts

Subsequently, Andreas team and responsibilities grew. She was given another promotion, becoming a new product and technology manager. In her new position, she oversaw 45 people working on multiple projects. One of those projects was in a critical new growth area for the company and involved numerous employees from various disciplines. The project was worth millions of dollars to the company if successful, and it involved the participation of several suppliers and technology partners.

As critical as this project was, it was but one of several projects for which Andrea had responsibility, so she had to allocate her time and attention efficiently. Even though she knew she was completely accountable for all elements of the project, she had to make tough decisions about where to spend her time. As a result, Andrea left most of the supplier negotiations and sourcing decisions for this project to two of her most capable employees, Jeff and Christine were relatively recent hires out of college, and thus new to the company, but they both had been on the project for several weeks already and were instrumental in helping Andrea come up to speed in her new role managing this and other projects.

Four weeks later, all suppliers were sourced and onboard. The project was under a tight timeline but was making very good progress, which reflected positively on Andrea and make her one of Andreas most loyal suppliers, who had lost a bid to work on this project, told her that the supplier who had won the bid had done much soft-selling of her team and may also have broken her companys gift policies.

Andrea investigated the situation further and discovered that the winning supplier had, in fact, violated the companys gift policies. Additionally, she found that both Jeff and Christine had accepted gifts deemed inappropriate by her company. Andrea was faced with a difficult dilemma: Jeff and Christine may not have known about the companys policies, so this oversight seemed excusable. After all, they were somewhat new to the company and may not have been aware of all the rules. They were also the most long-standing members of this critical project and had knowledge that would be very challenging to replace, given the tight timeline and complex nature of the project.

Andrea then thought about the situation from a different perspective. Andreas company, like Andrea, had a stellar reputation for integrity in business practices so strong action seemed like an appropriate path. However, any disruptions in this project would be extremely difficult to manage and could result in failure to meet its objectives, costing the company millions of dollars. Andrea struggled to determine the right course of action.

QUESTION:

As a manager, critically examine and analyze the case study and give recommendation if applicable