MORAL CHOICES

FACING
EMPLOYEES
 TOPICS:
•Obligations to the Firm
•Abuse of the official position
•Bribes and Kickbacks
•Gifts and Entertainment
•Conflicting obligations
•Whistle-blowing
•Self Interest and Moral Obligation
 Obligations to the Firm
•The employer contract governs the employer-
employee relationship and provides the
framework for understanding the respective
obligations of between you and your employer.
•It determines what you are supposed to do or
accomplish for your employer and it may cover
other matters ranging from parking privileges to
your dress and department while you are carrying
out your responsibilities.
Who is more loyal?

>The employee who has been with the

company for 20 years and in that time has
learned to do just enough to fly, unseen,
under the performance issues radar or The
employee who has been with the company
for 6 months and believes in firm’s goals,
how he wants to get there and proves it
everyday by his actions?
 Loyalty to the company
•Refers to the employees who are dedicated to the
growth of their company and has a strong feeling
of support or faithfulness. Loyalty is very important
and real value for the employees who are willingly
make sacrifices for the organization above and
beyond their job descriptions.
•Loyalty is a 2 way street and most employees
believe its up to the company to earn and retain
their loyalty
•Loyalty is differ with Prima Facie Obligation (duty
that is binding (obligatory) other things equal.
Duty to tell the truth
Duty to obey the law
Duty to protect people from harm
Keep’s one promises
Obligation to cooperate actively for the
company’s goals
• Loyalty is something above and beyond our
responsibilities such as
defend company if it is maligned
To work overtime when the company needs it
To accept transfer if necessary for the good of
organization
Create customer referrals by encouraging friends and
family members to purchase the product or service.
They tell you when they need to leave.
Display loyalty through integrity.
They generate discussions others will not.
Advantage of having loyal employees
Loyal employees contribute greatly to boost
productivity of the organization
Customer satisfaction becomes their primarily
goals.
Helps developing a progressive image of the
company
They help achieving company’s goals in short time
span.
 CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
• Is a set of circumstances that creates a risk that professional
judgement or actions regarding primary interest will be unduly
influenced by a secondary interest.
• A situation in which the concerns or aims of two different parties
are incompatible, or a person in a position derive personal benefit
from actions or decisions made in their official capacity.
• It arises when employees at any level have special or private
interests that are substantial enough to interfere with their job
duties- that is, when their personal interests lead them to make
decisions or to act in ways that are detrimental to the employer’s
interest.
 FINANCIAL INVESTMENTS
•Conflicts of interest may exist when
employees have financial investments in
suppliers, customers or distributors with
whom their organizations do business.
ABUSE OF OFFICIAL POSITION
• The use of one’s position for personal gain always raises moral
concerns and questions because of the likelihood that is one
violating one’s obligations to the firm of organization
• Examples
Misusing expense accounts to billing the company for
unnecessary travel
Using subordinates for non-organization related work
Using official car for personal needs
Confiscates a pirated/ fake product to start using it for
himself.
Insider Trading
•Is the buying or selling of stocks (or other financial
securities) by business “insiders” on the basis of
information that has not yet been made public and
is likely to affect the price of the stock.
•The illegal practice of trading on the stock
exchange to one’s own advantage through having
access to confidential information.
PROPRIETARY DATA
• Companies guard information that can affect their
competitive standing with all the zealousness of a bulldog
guarding a ham bone.
• Are organization’s classified or secret information.
Increasingly, problems arise as employees in high-tech
occupations with access to sensitive information and trade
secrets quit and take jobs with competitors.
• Proprietary data issues pose a conflict between two legitimate
rights: the right of employers to keep certain information
secret and right of individuals to work where they choose.
Trade Secrets
•When novel information is patented or copyrighted,
it is legally protected but not secret. Others may
have access to the information, but they are
forbidden to use it (without permission) for the life
of the patent or copyright.
•Trade secrets is any formula, pattern, device or
compilation of information which is used in one’s
business and which gives him an opportunity to
obtain an advantage over competitors who do not
know or use it.
•Trade secret is information that:
Is not generally known to the public
Confers economic benefit on its holder
because the information is not publicly
known
Is the subject of reasonable efforts by the
holder to maintain its secrecy.
 3 arguments for legally protecting trade
secrets
1.Trade secrets are the intellectual property
of the company
2.The theft of trade secrets is unfair
competition
3.Employees who disclose the trade secrets
violate the confidentiality owed to the
employers
Employees who join the Competitor
•Employees who leave the company are often privy
to confidential or proprietary information, which
their employer can sometimes take unfair
advantage of it.
•Sometimes companies require employees to sign
contracts restricting their ability to get a job with or
start a competing company within a certain
geographical radius or for certain time. Because
they can conflict with freedom of employment.
BRIBES AND KICKBACKS
•To bribe someone is to pay( thing of value) the
person to violate his or her official duties; that is to
perform an action that is inconsistent with the
person’s work contract or job responsibilities or with
the nature of the work the person has hired to do.
•Offering a bribe is wrong because it is an inducement
to act dishonestly, to disregard one’s duties or to
betray a trust.
 KICKBACK
•A percentage payment to a person able to
influence or control a source of income.
•It is a form of negotiated bribery in which a
commission is paid to the bribe-taker in
exchange for services rendered.