Reference no: EM132810682

Ethical Dilemma:

Miguel Vasquez was proud of his job as a new product manager for a biotechnology start-up, and he loved the high stakes and tough decisions that went along with the job. But as he sat in his living room after a long day, he was troubled, struggling over what had happened earlier that day and the information that his new possessed.

Just before lunch, Miguel's boss had handed him a stack of private strategic documents from the company's closest competitor. The information was a CI gold mine - product plans, pricing strategies, partnership agreements, and other documents, most of them clearly marked "proprietary and confidential." When Miguel 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 that Miguel was suspicious, the boss would say only that he had obtained "electronic access" via a colleague and had not personally broken any passwords. Maybe not, Miguel thought to himself, but this acquisition of the competitor's confidential data ever got out to the press, the company's reputation would be ruined.

Miguel did not 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 using 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 Miguel was not sure that he wanted to work for a firm that would stoop to such tactics.

What would you do? (Choose your dilemma solution below and then justify why you have chosen the solution.

1. Go ahead and use the documents for the company's benefit, but make clear to your boss that you do not want him passing confidential information to you in the future. If he threatens to fire you, threaten to leak the news to the press.

2. Confront your boss privately and let him know that you are uncomfortable with how the documents were obtained and what possession of them says bout the company's culture. In addition to the question of legality of using the information, point out that it is a public relations nightmare waiting to happen.

3. Talk to the company's legal counsel and contact the Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals for guidance. Then, with their opinions and facts to back you up, go to your boss.