Research Paper > Martha McCaskey Case Analysis Final. University of Delaware PHIL MISC.

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Intro: Martha McCaskey found herself faced with a dilemma that would not only test her moral values but her ethical ones as well. McCaskey is forced to decide if she will pursue Phil Devon, the previous VP for a targeted firm, the key informant for proprietary information. Martha found that at her first interview with Devon she was extremely uncomfortable and does not know whether to schedule a second interview. Martha is torn between scheduling a second interview with Devon in order to obtain the information she needs even though, it will violate her moral values or risk losing her job.

Diagnosis: Martha’s dilemma weighed heavy on her being that she not only cares about her job but also greatly upon her moral character. Throughout the case we perceive Martha as a tremendously hardworking, ambitious and successful person. Martha’s success is proven from her undergraduate success at Caltech to her previous consulting projects at Seleris. Martha is well known and recognized as an exceptional analyst not only by her peers but also by the leaders of the division.

Martha’s dilemma over Devon is one that will not only impact her immensely but one that will greatly affect the company. Not only is Martha struggling with the issue of her moral character and the right vs. wrong conflict, Martha is being pressured by several different factors.

The first would be the importance of this client to the company. This client not only represents 20% of IAD’s over all business but has also promised that if the information is obtained the fees will double and 10 more projects just as big will come in. Secondly, as the head of this project Martha feels like she is being crushed by the pressure Malone has placed on her by promising the information to the client without considering what it might entail for Martha to actually obtain

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this information. Malone has also mentioned to her that her colleague Kaufmann will do nearly anything to obtain necessary information. Martha has also heard from others that they as well have felt pressured to act unethically. Thirdly Martha is pressured by time constraints, as time constraints limit the possibility of consulting others, discussing options and reviewing decisions.

Therefore Martha making the wrong decision would prove to be detrimental not only for Malone and the company but essentially for Martha’s entire career. Martha must make a decision that will be correspondent to her moral character yet allow her to complete the project, keeping in mind that, this may not be the last case where she will need to act unethically at this job.

Even though Martha was an ambitious and hardworking person, she was bothered by the ethics of this decision. If she scheduled a second interview with Devon she would not only be continuing to lie to him about her identity so that he would continue to meet with her but would potentially be committing illegal acts. Although Martha is familiar with the concept others use of making borderline wrong actions to obtain proprietary information, this felt too wrong for Martha. Getting the information from Devon under these circumstances would essentially mean committing espionage, since she would be paying Devon to reveal trade secrets.

As an employee of IAD, one of the four divisions of Seleris, Martha was only influenced by the actions and ethics of her division’s leaders since it was so distant from company’s headquarters. Since IAD operated as an autonomous unit in San Francisco it is hard know if the parent company knew of the unethical actions taking place at IAD or if they could even do anything to fix them. Not only was IAD run autonomously from Seleris but also the VP of the division, Richardson, hired his own people. Richardson bringing in his own people was inconsistent with headquarters policy essentially making it impossible to incorporate Seleris normal ethical behaviors and culture. Even though employees of IAD were aware of the

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questionable behavior taking place in there department they did not have access to policies or appropriate resources that could direct them in difficult situations such as Martha’s.

Action Plan: In order for McCaskey to resolve her dilemma she will need to find a way to continuing being the successful determined businesswomen she is without violating her moral and ethical values. Going forward Martha has a couple options. Martha can choose to continue on as planned with Devon and violate her morals to complete the project. This option would entail Martha meeting with Devon for the second time and offering him an increase in pay to gain valuable information. Another option would be to contact upper management and consider resignation in regards to the unethical behavior occurring at IAD. This option could mean exposing the pressures to act unethically in her workplace and potentially losing her job a risk finding a job elsewhere. Lastly Martha could ask Kaufmann to conduct the second interview instead to be able to obtain the necessary information to complete the project. This option would not completely violate Martha’s values as she is not lying or deceiving anyone to obtain information but leaving it up to someone else which is not of her concern.

In Martha’s situation the best option to take would be the last. In order to complete the project and continue her reputation as a determined successful analyst she should ask Kaufmann for his assistance. Although there is still some hesitation as to whether or not Kaufmann may be onto Seleris’ real intentions, it would also be much easier for Martha to obtain the information since Devon is already familiar with Martha. Having Kauffman meet with Devon to obtain the necessary knowledge would not conflict with Martha’s moral character. Martha would not be participating in the unethical behavior but would still be obtaining the necessary information she needs in order to complete the project. Once Silicon 6 is handed off, Martha should reach out to

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Seleris headquarters and express concerns about Seleris’ ethical culture. This would provoke headquarters to look into there departments and ensure that they are acting appropriately. Martha should also develop an action plan for seeking opportunities elsewhere if the threat of unethical behavior ever resurfaces.

Overall Learning: In this case we see that Martha found her self in a situation in which she needed to make a decision that conflicted with her values. Values are core beliefs, morals and principles that we live by. The values that we live by make up our character and serve as guidelines for decision making in every context. Martha placed a high value on her success and responsibilities at work but also placed a high value on honesty and ethical morality. Through Martha we learn that something that affects us heavily and makes us feel uncomfortable is not in correspondence with our values. For Martha honesty and ethical morality conflicted with her ambition in the workplace. This case teaches us that examining our values and becoming aware of them allows us to further develop our character. Martha also teaches us that when faced with difficult decisions we must weigh out all our options and chose the one that corresponds with the values we place of highest importance although it may conflict with our other values. Although this may mean making difficult decisions that come with consequences, in the end we develop a strong moral character that will be a recipe for success in the business industry.

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