1. Decision Making, Creativity, and Ethics
Chapter 12:
Decision Making, Creativity, and Ethics
Organizational Behaviour
5th Canadian Edition
Langton / Robbins / Judge
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

2. Chapter Outline How Should Decisions Be Made?
How Do Individuals Actually Make Decisions?
Improving Decision Making Through Knowledge Management
Group Decision Making
Creativity in Organizational Decision Making
What About Ethics in Decision Making?
Corporate Social Responsibility
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

3. Decision Making, Creativity, and Ethics
Is there a right way to make decisions?
How do people actually make decisions?
How can knowledge management improve decision making?
What factors affect group decision making?
How can we get more creative decisions?
What is ethics, and how can it be used for better decision making?
What is corporate social responsibility?
This material is found at the beginning of the chapter.
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

4. How Should Decisions Be Made?
Rational Decision-Making
The “perfect world” model assumes complete information, all options known, and maximum payoff.
Six step decision-making process
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “How Should Decisions Be Made?”
It’s likely that decision makers identify and select problems that are visible to people in power in organizations, and for which they will receive some acknowledgment and reward for having done work on solving problems.
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

5. Exhibit 12-1 Steps in the Rational Decision-Making Model
Making a Decision
Define the
problem
Identify the
criteria
Develop
alternatives
Allocate weights
to the criteria
Evaluate the
Select the
best alternative 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “How Should Decisions Be Made?”
This model assumes that the problem is clear and unambiguous, that the decision maker has complete information; that the decision maker can identify all relevant criteria; that there will be clear and constant preferences among the criteria and alternatives, that there are no time or cost constraints; and that the rational decision maker will choose the alternative with maximum payoff.
A brief discussion with students will lead them to realize that these conditions are rarely, if ever, fully met! You might want to get them to consider how they chose their college major, or what school to attend after high school.
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

6. Assumptions of the Rational Decision-Making Model
Problem clarity
The problem is clear and unambiguous.
Known options
The decision maker can identify all relevant criteria and viable alternatives.
Clear preferences
Rationality assumes that the criteria and alternatives can be ranked and weighted.
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “How Should Decisions Be Made?”
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

7. Assumptions of the Rational Decision-Making Model
Constant preferences
Specific decision criteria are constant and the weights assigned to them are stable over time.
No time or cost constraints
Full information is available because there are no time or cost constraints.
Maximum payoff
The choice alternative will yield the highest perceived value.
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “How Should Decisions Be Made?”
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

8. How Do Individuals Actually Make Decisions?
Bounded Rationality
Limitations on one’s ability to interpret, process, and act on information.
Satisficing
Identifying a solution that is “good enough.”
Intuition
A non-conscious process created from distilled experience that results in quick decisions
Relies on holistic associations
Affectively charged – engaging the emotions
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “How Do Individuals Actually Make Decisions?”
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

9. Common Biases in Decision Making
Overconfidence Bias
Believing too much in our own ability to make good decisions – especially when outside of own expertise
Anchoring Bias
Using early, first received information as the basis for making subsequent judgments
Confirmation Bias
Selecting and using only facts that support our decision
Availability Bias
Emphasizing information that is most readily at hand
Recent
Vivid
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “How Do Individuals Actually Make Decisions?”
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

10. More Common Biases in Decision Making
Escalation of Commitment
Increasing commitment to a decision in spite of evidence that it is wrong – especially if responsible for the decision!
Randomness Error
Creating meaning out of random events - superstitions
Winner’s Curse
Highest bidder pays too much due to value overestimation
Likelihood increases with the number of people in auction
Hindsight Bias
After an outcome is already known, believing it could have been accurately predicted beforehand
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “How Do Individuals Actually Make Decisions?”
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

11. Knowledge Management
The process of organizing and distributing an organization’s collective wisdom so the right information gets to the right people at the right time.
Why it’s important:
Organizations can use it to “outsmart” their competition.
Baby boomers are taking their knowledge with them when leaving the workforce.
A well-designed KM system reduces redundancy and makes the organization more efficient.
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “Improving Decision Making Through Knowledge Management.”
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

12. Knowledge Management Recording knowledge and expertise:
Develop computer databases of pertinent information that employees can readily access.
Create a culture that promotes, values, and rewards sharing knowledge.
Develop mechanisms that allow employees who have built up valuable expertise and insights to share them with others.
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “Improving Decision Making Through Knowledge Management.”
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

13. Group Decision Making Strengths of Group Decision Making
More complete information and knowledge.
Increased diversity of views.
Generates higher-quality decisions.
Leads to increased acceptance of a solution.
Weaknesses of Group Decision Making
More time consuming.
Conformity pressures in groups.
Discussion can be dominated by one or a few members.
Decisions suffer from ambiguous responsibility.
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “Group Decision Making.”
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

14. Exhibit 12-2 Group vs. Individual Decision Making
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “Group Decision Making.”
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

15. Effectiveness and Efficiency
Measures of Effectiveness
Accuracy
Speed
Creativity
Acceptance
Efficiency
groups almost always stack up as a poor second to the individual decision maker
With few exceptions, group decision making consumes more work hours than if an individual were to tackle the same problem alone.
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “Group Decision Making.”
Accuracy: group decisions are generally more accurate than the decisions of the average individual in a group, but they are less accurate than the judgments of the most accurate group member.
Speed; individuals are superior.
Creativity: groups tend to be more effective than individuals.
Acceptance: the nod again goes to the group.
But effectiveness cannot be considered without also assessing efficiency.
In terms of efficiency, groups almost always stack up as a poor second to the individual decision maker. With few exceptions, group decision making consumes more work hours than if an individual were to tackle the same problem alone. The exceptions tend to be the instances in which, to achieve comparable quantities of diverse input, the single decision maker must spend a great deal of time reviewing files and talking to people. Because groups can include members from diverse areas, the time spent searching for information can be reduced. However, as we noted, these advantages in efficiency tend to be the exception.
Groups are generally less efficient than individuals. In deciding whether to use groups, then, consideration should be given to assessing whether increases in effectiveness are more than enough to offset the reductions in efficiency.
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

16. Groupthink and Groupshift
Phenomenon in which the norm for consensus overrides the realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action.
Groupshift
Phenomenon in which the initial positions of individual members of a group are exaggerated toward a more extreme position.
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “Group Decision Making.”
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

17. Symptoms of Groupthink
Illusion of invulnerability
Assumption of morality
Rationalized resistance
Peer pressure
Minimized doubts
Illusion of unanimity
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “Group Decision Making.”
Rationalized Resistance: Group members rationalize any resistance to the assumptions they have made. No matter how strongly the evidence may contradict their basic assumptions, members behave so as to reinforce those assumptions continually.
Peer Pressure: Members apply direct pressures on those who momentarily express doubts about any of the group’s shared views or who question the validity of arguments supporting the alternative favoured by the majority.
Minimized Doubts: Those members who have doubts or hold differing points of view seek to avoid deviating from what appears to be group consensus by keeping silent about misgivings and even minimizing to themselves the importance of their doubts.
Illusion of Unanimity: There appears to be an illusion of unanimity. If someone doesn’t speak, it’s assumed that he or she is in full accord. In other words, abstention becomes viewed as a “Yes” vote.
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

18. Minimizing Groupthink
Encourage group leaders to play an impartial role.
Appoint one group member to play the role of devil’s advocate.
Stimulate active discussion of diverse alternatives.
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “Group Decision Making.”
Encourage group leaders to play an impartial role. Leaders should actively seek input from all members and avoid expressing their own opinions, especially in the early stages of deliberation.
Appoint one group member to play the role of devil’s advocate. This member’s role is to overtly challenge the majority position and offer divergent perspectives.
Stimulate active discussion of diverse alternatives to encourage dissenting views and more objective evaluations.
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

19. What Causes Groupshift?
Discussion creates familiarization among group members.
Group discussion motivates individuals to take risks.
Group diffuses responsibility.
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “Group Decision Making.”
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

20. Group Decision-Making Techniques
Interacting Groups
Brainstorming
Nominal Group Technique
Electronic Meetings
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “Group Decision Making.”
Interacting Groups: Members meet face-to-face and rely on both verbal and nonverbal interaction to communicate with each other.
Brainstorming: An idea-generation process that specifically encourages any and all alternatives, while withholding any criticism of those alternatives.
Nominal Group Technique: A group decision-making method in which individual members meet face-to-face to pool their judgments in a systematic but independent fashion.
Electronic Meeting: A meeting where members interact on computers, allowing for anonymity of comments and aggregating of votes.
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

21. Exhibit 12-3 Nominal Group Technique
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “Group Decision Making.”
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

22. Exhibit 12-4 Evaluating Group Effectiveness
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “Group Decision Making.”
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

23. Creativity in Organizational Decision Making
The process of creating products, ideas, or procedures that are novel or original, and are potentially relevant or useful to an organization.
Creativity is important because
It allows the decision maker to more fully understand and appraise the problem
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “Creativity in Organizational Decision Making.”
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

24. Creative Potential Who has the greatest creative potential?
Those who score high in Openness to Experience
People who are intelligent, independent, self-confident, risk-taking, have an internal locus-of-control, tolerant of ambiguity, low need for structure, and who persevere in the face of frustration
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “Creativity in Organizational Decision Making.”
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

25. Exhibit 12-5 The Three Components of Creativity
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “Creativity in Organizational Decision Making.”
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

26. Creativity Blocks Expected evaluation Surveillance External motivators
Competition
Constrained choice
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “Creativity in Organizational Decision Making.”
Expected Evaluation: Focusing on how your work will be evaluated rather than focusing on the purpose of your work.
Surveillance: Being watched while you are working.
External Motivators: Emphasizing external, tangible rewards rather than intrinsic rewards.
Competition: Facing a win-lose situation with other people rather than being able to simply do your best.
Constrained Choice: Being given limits on how you can do your work rather than being encouraged to do your very best work.
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

27. Four Criterion for Making Ethical Choices
Utilitarian criterion
A decision focused on outcomes or consequences that emphasize the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
Rights criterion
Decisions consistent with fundamental liberties and privileges as set forth in documents like the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Justice criterion
Decisions that impose and enforce rules fairly and impartially so there is an equitable distribution of benefits and costs.
Care criterion
Decisions “…that expresses care in protecting the special relationships that individuals have with each other.”
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “What About Ethics in Decision Making?”
Three Ethical Decision Criteria that one can use include:
Utilitarianism, in which decisions are made solely on the basis of their outcomes or consequences;
Rights, which calls on individuals to make decisions consistent with fundamental liberties and privileges; and
Justice, which requires individuals to impose and enforce rules fairly and impartially so there is an equitable distribution of benefits and costs.
These criteria should be helpful in resolving ethical dimensions of decision making in an organized manner, but it should be recognized that each has advantages and liabilities.
A good discussion can stem from posing the question: “Suppose a manager knows she will have to get some workers to do overtime on the weekend. Describe the decision-making process based on utilitarianism, rights, and justice.”
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

28. Exhibit 12-6 Factors Affecting Ethical Decision-Making Behaviour
Stage of moral
development
Ethical
Organization
environment
decision-making
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “What About Ethics in Decision Making?”
behaviour
Locus of
control
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

29. Exhibit 12-7 Stages of Moral Development
Principled 6.
Following self-chosen ethical
principles even if they violate
the law. 5.
Valuing rights of others and
upholding absolute values
Conventional
and rights regardless of the
majority’
s opinion. 4.
Maintaining conventional
order by fulfilling
obligations to which
you have agreed. 3.
Living up to what is
expected by people close
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “What About Ethics in Decision Making?”
Preconventional
to you. 2.
Following rules only
when doing so is in your
immediate interest. 1.
Sticking to rules to avoid
physical punishment.
Source: Based on L. Kohlberg, “Moral Stages and Moralization: The Cognitive-Developmental Approach,” in Moral Development and Behaviour: Theory, Research, and Social Issues, ed. T. Lickona (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1976), pp
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

30. Exhibit 12-8 Is a Decision Ethical?
Unethical
Ethical o N s e Y
Does the decision
respect the rights of the individuals affected?
Is the decision
motivated by
self-serving
interests?
fair and
equitable?
Question 1
Question 2
Question 3
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “What About Ethics in Decision Making?”
This is a simple framework for helping one determine whether a decision is ethical.
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

31. Organizational Response to Demands for Ethical Behaviour
Explosion in demand for more ethical behaviour:
Ethics specialists
Ethics officers
Codes of ethics
Ethics auditors
In addition, many companies are creating mechanisms that encourage employees to speak up when they see wrongdoing
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “What About Ethics in Decision Making?”
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

32. Developing a Meaningful Code of Ethics
Clearly state basic principles and expectations.
Realistically focus on potential ethical dilemmas that employees face.
Distribute the code to all employees.
Enforce violations of the code.
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “What About Ethics in Decision Making?”
Source: Based on W. E. Stead, D. L. Worrell, and J. G. Stead, “An Integrative Model for Understanding and Managing Ethical Behavior in Business Organizations,” Journal of Business Ethics 9, no. 3 (March 1990), pp
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

33. Corporate Social Responsibility
An organization’s responsibility to consider the impact of its decisions on society.
Material pertinent to this illustration is found under “What About Ethics in Decision Making?”
Economist Milton Friedman remarked in Capitalism and Freedom that “few trends could so thoroughly undermine the very foundations of our free society as the acceptance by corporate officials of a social responsibility other than to make as much money for their stockholders as possible.”
Joel Bakan, professor of law at the University of British Columbia, author of The Corporation, and co-director of the documentary of the same name, finds that current laws support troubling corporate behaviour. Bakan suggests that today’s corporations have many of the same characteristics as a psychopathic personality (e.g., self-interested, lacking empathy, manipulative, and reckless in their disregard of others).
MBA response to CSR:
At the start of their program, 40 percent reported that one of the primary responsibilities of a company is to produce useful, high quality goods and services.
By the time the students graduated, only 30 percent of them thought this was a valuable corporate goal; 75 percent suggested that a company’s primary responsibility was to maximize shareholder value.
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

34. Summary and Implications
Is there a right way to make decisions?
The rational decision making model describes six steps: define the problem, identify the criteria, allocate weights to the criteria, develop alternatives, evaluate alternatives, select the best alternative.
How do people actually make decisions?
Decision makers may rely on bounded rationality, satisficing, and intuition. There are also shortcuts that are used.
How can knowledge management improve decision making?
By electronically storing information that employees have, organizations make it possible to share collective wisdom.
What factors affect group decision making?
Group decisions are time-consuming, lead to conformity pressures, can be dominated by one or few members, and suffer from ambiguous responsibility.
Material pertinent to this discussion is found at the end of the chapter.
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

35. Summary and Implications
How can we get more creative decisions?
Employees are more creative when they are motivated by intrinsic interest, challenge, task satisfaction, and self-set goals.
What is ethics and how can it be used for better decision making?
Ethics is the study of moral value or principles that guide our behaviour and inform us whether actions are right or wrong.
What is corporate responsibility?
Is defined as an organization’s responsibility to consider the impact of its decision on society.
Material pertinent to this discussion is found at the end of the chapter.
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

36. OB at Work
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

37. For Review
What is the rational decision-making model? Under what conditions is it applicable?
Describe organizational factors that might constrain decision makers.
What role does intuition play in effective decision making?
What is groupthink? What is its effect on decision-making quality?
Material pertinent to this discussion is found at the end of the chapter.
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

38. For Review
What is groupshift? What is its effect on decision-making quality?
Identify five organizational factors that block creativity at work.
Describe the four criteria that individuals can use in making ethical decisions.
Are unethical decisions more a function of the individual decision maker or the decision maker’s work environment? Explain.
Material pertinent to this discussion is found at the end of the chapter.
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

39. For Critical Thinking
1. “For the most part, individual decision making in organizations is an irrational process.” Do you agree or disagree? Discuss.
What factors do you think differentiate good decision makers from poor ones? Relate your answer to the six-step rational decision-making model.
3. Have you ever increased your commitment to a failed course of action? If so, analyze the follow-up decision to increase your commitment and explain why you behaved as you did.
4. If group decisions are of consistently better quality than individual decisions, how did the phrase “a camel is a horse designed by a committee” become so popular and ingrained in our culture?
Material pertinent to this discussion is found at the end of the chapter.
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

40. Breakout Group Exercises
Form small groups to discuss the following:
1. Apply the rational decision-making model to deciding where your group might eat dinner this evening. How closely were you able to follow the rational model in making this decision?
2. The company that makes your favourite snack product has been accused of being weak in its social responsibility efforts. What impact will this have on your purchase of any more products from that company?
3. You’ve seen a classmate cheat on an exam or an assignment. Do you do something about this or ignore it?
Material pertinent to this discussion is found at the end of the chapter.
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

41. Ethical Dilemmas: What Would You Do?
You are negotiating a contract with a potentially very large customer whose representative has hinted that you could almost certainly be assured of getting his business if you gave him and his wife an all-expenses-paid cruise to the Caribbean. You know the representative’s employer would not approve of such a “payoff,” but you have the discretion to authorize such an expenditure. What would you do?
Material pertinent to this discussion is found at the end of the chapter.
Discussion: This size of a gift is clearly a bribe, and most corporations have specific policies limiting such behaviour. In Canada, in general, such lavish “gifts” are not seen as appropriate. In other countries, however, a great deal of business gets greased by lavish gifts.
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

42. Ethical Dilemmas: What Would You Do?
You have the opportunity to steal $ from your company with absolute certainty that you would not be detected or caught. Would you do it?
Material pertinent to this discussion is found at the end of the chapter. .
Discussion: No! This is a moral as well as a legal and ethical dilemma. Students should conclude that stealing is illegal, immoral, and highly unethical.
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

43. Ethical Dilemmas: What Would You Do?
Your company policy on reimbursement for meals while travelling on company business is that you will be repaid for your out-of-pocket costs, which are not to exceed $50 a day. You don’t need receipts for these expenses—the company will take your word. When travelling, you tend to eat at fast-food places and rarely spend in excess of $15 a day. Most of your colleagues submit reimbursement requests in the range of $40 to $45 a day regardless of what their actual expenses are. How much would you request for your meal reimbursements?
Material pertinent to this discussion is found at the end of the chapter.
Discussion: The actual cost of the meals should probably be put in for reimbursement. In some corporations, however, the accounting and travel reimbursement personnel do not want the traveller to request amounts that vary from the standard $50. The per diem rate simplifies the amount of accounting transactions and is thus considered more effective for company practices. It is also possible that your company’s culture may allow the full amount to compensate for various incidental expenses that are not explicitly covered by the policy.
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

44. Ethical Dilemmas: What Would You Do?
Assume that you’re the manager at a gaming company, and you’re responsible for hiring a group to outsource the production of a highly anticipated new game. Because your company is a giant in the industry, numerous companies are trying to get the bid. One of them offers you some kickbacks if you give that firm the bid, but ultimately, it is up to your bosses to decide on the company. You don’t mention the incentive, but you push upper management to give the bid to the company that offered you the kickback. Is withholding the truth as bad as lying? Why or why not?
Material pertinent to this discussion is found at the end of the chapter.
Discussion: It is tempting for students to feel that a little bit of equivocation is nothing like lying. The question that they must ask themselves is why are they pushing the product and why keep it a secret if there is nothing wrong with the practice?.
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada

45. Ethical Dilemmas: What Would You Do?
You have discovered that one of your closest friends at work has stolen a large sum of money from the company. Would you do nothing? Go directly to an executive to report the incident before talking about it with the offender? Confront the individual before taking action? Make contact with the individual with the goal of persuading that person to return the money?
Material pertinent to this discussion is found at the end of the chapter.
Discussion: Arguments can be made for almost all of the listed options except the “do nothing” option. If you believe that the employee would accept responsibility for correcting his or her own action, everyone might be best served by your going to him or her. If you believe that the employee would threaten you or in some way further harm the company, you would probably want to go to an executive.
Source: Several of these ethical dilemma scenarios are based on D. R. Altany, “Torn Between Halo and Horns,” IndustryWeek, March 15, 1993, pp
Langton, Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Cdn. Ed.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education Canada