Reference no: EM132862788

In Borland International's beginning, the former CEO used deception to gain the edge the company needed to become a multimillion-dollar software company. Phillipe Kahn hired additional workers and developed a fake marketing plan to convince a magazine salesman to provide credit for an ad. Leading to record-breaking sales and set Borland on the path to brilliance.

Our Human Relations textbook discusses the Four Levels of Ethical Issues. They are as follows; Societal: the ethics on a community level, Stakeholder: the ethics for those connected to the corporation, Internal Policy: ethics between the company and employees, and Personal: the ethics between individuals in a corporation (Human Resources, n.d.) The Borland case doesn't have much societal impact, but it does touch on the other three levels. If Kahn's deception hadn't garnered enough income to pay off the credit, his stakeholders would have paid that bill. Since a significant profit was made, the stakeholders may have taken an "ignorance is bliss" approach. The internal level could have been affected by the additional workers Kahn hired to make Borland seem busy; where was the money to pay them coming from? Did they know the reason for their employment? As for the personal level, it is two-fold. This operation damages Kahn's credibility, but also the relationship between him and the Byte salesman. You must have good relationships with your vendors to have a successful business.

I believe Kahn's actions are both deception and shrewd business. In the social climate of the 1980s, Kahn would have seen his actions as shrewd business. In today's society, these behaviors would be seen as deception and potentially fraud. Regulations on businesses and what you could get away with have changed drastically since this occurred, and you need to take that into account when assessing Kahn's actions.

Winning doesn't necessarily make a behavior ethical. If business hadn't expanded and Kahn couldn't pay back his credit terms, what kind of risk did he place on the salesman? At the very least, Kahn's credibility is damaged by his choices; it doesn't matter how it turned out in the end.

The personal fudge factor, as discussed by Dan Ariely in his Ted Talk, is the level of unethical behavior an individual can participate in and still feel good about themselves (Ariely, 2009). Never having been in this situation and knowing fudge factors can be situationally defined, I'm not sure if this would violate mine. It would depend on how desperate I am to succeed, my chances of success, and the level of passion I have for that project. I don't know that I would take it quite as far as Kahn, the fake marketing plan seemed far-fetched, but I might do everything in my power to make my company look industrious.

Kahn could have significantly improved the ethics of this marketing plan in two ways. First, he could have explained the company's situation to the salesman, stressing the product's superiority and setting up good credit terms through interpersonal relationships. This would have removed the majority of the issues on each of the ethical levels. There still may have been a stakeholder issue if the ad didn't work, or the salesman disagreed, but it would have come from an honest place. Or, Kahn could have petitioned his stakeholders for additional marketing funding. He could have found outside investors to supply the funds he needed to place the ad. Again, this would resolve all issues except for stakeholders.

-Clearly identify similarities or differences in your posts.

-Support and defend your position.

-Identify and discuss, from Chapter 1 reading, which shadow(s) Kahn exhibited and how do those shadows affect one of the stakeholders identified in the above study material.Chapter 1 outlines common shadows cast by leaders: abuse of power and privilege, mismanagement of information, misplaced and broken loyalties, inconsistency, and irresponsibility.

4. Incorporate at least one scholarly source in addition to the textbook to support your conclusions and ideas, as well as the possible biblical application.