Reference no: EM133612955

Ethical Dilemma

Ryan McNamara is called into his manager's office at noon on a Tuesday and told that he is to report to Pryor Sterling Inc.'s Japan office immediately to oversee a crucial project with ties to three of the firm's major international accounts. Ryan has headed up similar projects in the firm's New York office, and he's had some contact with two of the managers in the Japan office. Natalie Berman, Ryan's manager, gives him a file that contains information on the specifics of the project and a timetable for the project's completion. She also impresses upon him how important it is that the project be completed seamlessly so the clients involved will be pleased.

He quickly packs a bag, boards a plane, and covers the material on his flight to Tokyo. Once there, Ryan has great difficulty getting a taxi driver to understand where he needs to go because Ryan doesn't speak any Japanese. When he arrives at the firm's office, he is met by Kaito Ami, a mid-level supervisor also working on the project. Flustered, Ami tells Ryan that Kase Hisa, the executive with whom Ryan is to conference first, hasn't arrived yet. Ryan is immediately grateful but does not notice Ami's discomfort.

Manager Anan Cho joins the men in the conference room to discuss the project. Ryan walks around the table so that the other men can sit nearer the head but doesn't realize that he's left the most senior member, Hisa, sitting closest to the door, a clear insult in Japanese culture.

Ryan launches into his project timeline and his immediate goals, never noticing how his actions have translated to the people upon whom he is going to be dependant. Over the course of the next three days, Ryan is frustrated at each turn when people do not react to him with positive energy. He is unable to get the project accomplished, and Pryor Sterling loses one of the international accounts as a result.

When Darcy Jenkins, COO of Pryor Sterling, demands to know what happened, Kase Hisa explains that McNamara insulted him and his staff at every turn and asks that he be fired. Ryan holds his boss, Natalie, accountable for not giving him any information or time to prepare to understand Japanese business customs. Natalie blames Ryan for not being honest about his limited knowledge of Japanese traditions and ultimately failing to get the job done. Darcy is unsure who to hold accountable but knows something needs to be done to prevent this from every happening again.

Questions:

1. Using consequential, rule-based, and character theories, evaluate Darcy's options.

2. What should Darcy do? Why?