Subsequently, Andrea's 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. 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 on board. The project was under a tight timeline but was making very good progress, which reflected positively on Andrea and her team. One of Andrea's most loyal and trusted 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 company's gift policies.

Andrea investigated the situation further and discovered that the winning supplier had, in fact, violate

the company's 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 company's 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. Andrea's company, like Andrea, had a stellar reputation for integrity in business practices so strong action seemed like an appropriate path.

However, any disruptions in the 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.

Requirements

$$ Create an introduction to the case

$$ Explain the Ethical principles involved in the above case