CASE ATUDY Kwaku Mensah was proud of his job as a new product manager for a technol he loved the challenges, risks and tough decisions that went along with the in his office after a long day, he was troubled, struggling over what had happ day and the information he now knows. Just before lunch, Kwaku's boss h pile of private strategic documents from their closest competitor. It wa intelligence gold mine - product plans, pricing strategies, partnership agred documents, most clearly marked 'private and confidential'. When Kwaku documents came from, his boss told him with a touch of pride that he had off the competing firm's server. 'I got into a private section of their intranet everything that looked interesting,' he said. Later, realizing Kwaku was sus would say only that he had obtained 'electronic accesses via a colleag personally broken any passwords. Maybe not, Kwaku thought to himself, wouldn't pass the 60 Minutes test. If word of this acquisition of a competi data ever got out to the press, the company's reputation would be ruined. K good about using these materials. He spent the afternoon searching for dilemma, but found no clear company policies or regulations that offered a
CASE ATUDY Kwaku Mensah was proud of his job as a new product manager for a technol he loved the challenges, risks and tough decisions that went along with the in his office after a long day, he was troubled, struggling over what had happ day and the information he now knows. Just before lunch, Kwaku's boss h pile of private strategic documents from their closest competitor. It wa intelligence gold mine - product plans, pricing strategies, partnership agred documents, most clearly marked 'private and confidential'. When Kwaku documents came from, his boss told him with a touch of pride that he had off the competing firm's server. 'I got into a private section of their intranet everything that looked interesting,' he said. Later, realizing Kwaku was sus would say only that he had obtained 'electronic accesses via a colleag personally broken any passwords. Maybe not, Kwaku thought to himself, wouldn't pass the 60 Minutes test. If word of this acquisition of a competi data ever got out to the press, the company's reputation would be ruined. K good about using these materials. He spent the afternoon searching for dilemma, but found no clear company policies or regulations that offered a
Chapter1: Taking Risks And Making Profits Within The Dynamic Business Environment
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 1CE
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Transcribed Image Text:CASE ATUDY
Kwaku Mensah was proud of his job as a new product manager for a technology start-up, and
he loved the challenges, risks and tough decisions that went along with the job. But as he sat
in his office after a long day, he was troubled, struggling over what had happened earlier that
day and the information he now knows. Just before lunch, Kwaku's boss had handed him a
pile of private strategic documents from their closest competitor. It was a competitive
intelligence gold mine - product plans, pricing strategies, partnership agreements and other
documents, most clearly marked 'private and confidential'. When Kwaku asked where the
documents came from, his boss told him with a touch of pride that he had taken them right
off the competing firm's server. 'I got into a private section of their intranet and downloaded
everything that looked interesting,' he said. Later, realizing Kwaku was suspicious, the boss
would say only that he had obtained 'electronic accesses via a colleague and had not
personally broken any passwords. Maybe not, Kwaku thought to himself, but this situation
wouldn't pass the 60 Minutes test. If word of this acquisition of a competitor's confidential
data ever got out to the press, the company's reputation would be ruined. Kwaku didn't feel
good about using these materials. He spent the afternoon searching for answers to his
dilemma, but found no clear company policies or regulations that offered any guidance. His
sense of fair play told him that to use the information was unethical, if not downright illegal.
What bothered him even more was the knowledge that this kind of thing might happen again.
Using this confidential information would certainly give him and his company a competitive
advantage, but Kwaku wasn't sure he wanted to work for a firm that would stoop to such
tactics.
Questions
1. What is the ethical issue in this scenario?
2. What should Kwaku do? Justify your answer using two ethical theories
3. Do you perceive Kwaku's boss to be ethical or unethical? Explain your answer
4. Based on the case study, provide two reasons why ethics is relevant in business?
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