21._Case_Studies.presentation 1234567890

Case study

1. Professional Ethics:
Case Studies
Prof. Kumar Neeraj Sachdev
6168-F
Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences

2. Case Study – The Idea
•Case study is a description of a real-life or imagined
situation depicting the conduct of a professional.
•The description of the case study may be used to
reflect upon and analyze the moral aspects of the
conduct to arrive at a judgment with the help of
relevant topic of study like whistle-blowing and a
theoretical frame like utilitarian theory.
•It may be used as a
 tool for learning to apply topic of
study and theoretical frame of ethics in real life
situations.
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3. Case Study
The Director of Research in a large aerospace firm recently
promoted a woman to head an engineering team charged
with designing a critical component for a new plane. She was
tapped for the job because of her superior knowledge of the
engineering aspects of the project, but the men under her
direction have been expressing resentment at working for a
woman by subtly sabotaging the work of her team. The
director believes that it is unfair to deprive the woman of
advancement merely because of the prejudice of her male
colleagues, but quick completion of the designs and the
building of a prototype are vital to the success of the
company. Should he remove the woman as head of the
engineering team?
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4. Case Study
Ashima had never seen Prateek so angry. It was past 7:30 on a Friday evening, and both were
tired from a long day. The December sales report had been due at four o’clock, but Ashima’s
assistant, Reema, had taken the last two days off to be with her ten-year-old daughter, who had
undergone emergency surgery to remove an abdominal obstruction. Ashima had attempted to
pull the figures together herself but was slowed by her unfamiliarity with the new computerized
sales-reporting system. As the regional sales director, the report was her responsibility, but she
generally relied on others to generate the numbers. Just before lunch, she asked Prateek, one of
three district sales managers, to help out until the job was finished. As he dropped the completed
report on her desk, he slumped down in a chair and began to complain calmly at first and then
with increasing agitation.
“Don’t get me wrong, “he said,” I’m willing to do my part, and it’s great that Reema was able to
spend this time with her daughter. Many employers are not as caring as we are here. But every
time someone in this office gets time off to care for a family member, one of us single people
takes up the slack. I feel that I’m doing my own job and a bit of everyone else’s. If you recall, I
spent half the day on Diwali straightening out a billing problem for Naresh, so that he wouldn’t
have to disrupt his family’s plans. Many people in the office jealously guard their time, leaving at
five sharp in order to attend a son’s annual day function at his school or get their children to a
birthday party.
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5. Case Study (Contd.)
“This is a very family-friendly place but what about those of us without
families? It’s as if we’re expected to be married to the company. No one
considers that we have a life to lead too. Also, no one wanted to be
transferred to the office in Kerala, but Shiva was selected to go because he
had no family to relocate. He’s been transferred three times while most
people with families have managed to stay put. And most of the fringe
benefits are for families, so we lose out yet again. We’ve got a great child-
care center but no workout room. It’s unfair. This company is discriminating
against single people and childless couples, and a lot of us are beginning to
resent the unequal treatment.”
As Ashima heard Prateek out, she sympathized with his complaints and
wondered what could be done. She supported the family-friendly programs
for which the company had received national recognition. Was Prateek
describing the inevitable trade-off, or could the company treat everyone
fairly and yet differently?
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6. Case Study
•Ms. Aneeta Sharma, an engineer for Samsung, discovered a
flaw in the design of one of Samsung’s products. Ms. Sharma
had good evidence that the flaw would cause harm to the
buyers of the product. She went to her supervisor and told
her of the flaw. She waved Ms. Sharma and her evidence
away by saying, “It is too late. The product is already in the
market.” Ms. Sharma went over her head to the general
manager. The general manager agreed with Ms. Sharma
about the problem. He pulled the product from the market
and fired Ms. Sharma’s supervisor. When Ms. Sharma was
asked why she went over her supervisor’s head, Ms. Sharma
responded, “I was just following the rules.” Does Kant’s
emphasis on obedience to the law of the categorical
imperative have any bearing on Ms. Sharma’s response?
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7. Case Study
•Govind, a fresh MBA from the Badami Institute of Management, was
recruited by a well-known company, which had come to the institute for
campus recruitment for the first time. The company’s President
Manishankar had heard of the Institute’s course on ethics and was keen
to get a band of younger managers who would stand by ethics. Govind
had expected to start his career with the glamorous task of preparing
grand marketing strategies. Instead, he was thrown into the field
competing with ‘crooks’ as he called them. He was given a tough target
for the first year. On the last day of the year when he was desperately
trying to inch across, he met his immediate boss George, an old timer of
the company, who told him that he could give him a tip that would enable
him to cross the magic figure, provided Govind paid him Rs 50, 000. This
was 50 per cent of the bonus Govind would get if he could achieve the
annual target. Should he accept George’s proposal?
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8. Case Study
•Ram Kumar, a sales executive, had the best record for
sales in HIPRO. He was very good at demonstrating his
company’s computers. He waxed eloquent on their ethical
policies and their record of being the first computer
company in technical standards. But he didn’t tell the
clients that spare parts of their computers were non-
standard and available only with them. Their systems also
did not match others in the field. Consequently, other
service companies could not carry out their repair jobs.
HIPRO’s own service department had therefore a
monopoly. Were Ram Kumar and HIPRO ethically
consistent and impartial?
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9. Thank you.
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