Assignment:
Scenario 1
1. One event that comes to mind when speaking about ethics in the workplace includes a time where one of the employees in my workplace was stealing alcohol out of the storage. Management in my workplace does a great job with trusting employees, but with situations like this, it gets tough for management to give that trust to employees. The restaurant is a small family owned business and many family members work in this establishment. The unethical situation involved one of the employees/family member of the business. The alcohol used for the business is stored in a cabinet with a lock on it to ensure that only management or bartenders can access it. The family member/employee was doing deliveries for the business and decided to go into the liquor cabinet and take some of the bottles of alcohol. This was very unethical because the employee did not only steal from the business, but was a family member and set that example to fellow co-workers. The employee was fired and has to reimburse the business for the alcohol that was stolen.
2. The dimension that fits this situation is dimension 1, illegal and unethical (Lehman, DuFrene, Walker, 2017). Stealing from a business can result in that business owner, management, etc. calling the police and filing a claim on the theft.The behavior was also unethical because the employee was not only working for the business, but was part of the family that owned the business. Behavior like this sets an example for other employees. This unethical behavior can make it seem like management does not care what happens within the business, or lets their employees participate in unethical behavior.
3. I think the fact that this employee was part of the family gave him the idea that this action was okay. I believe he thought that because he was family, he could get away with this behavior. The expectation of not getting caught is the biggest cause I can relate this situation to. I do not think the employee expected to get caught like he did. Even if he did get caught, I assume he thought he could get out of the punishment because of being related to the owners and managers.
4. I think the situation was dealt with appropriately. I think the manager made the right decision in letting the employee go and making him reimburse the company. The article I found stated that an important part in dealing with an employee stealing is to evaluate the position of the employee and the extent of the theft (How to handle an employee,2017). I can understand the struggle of being family and not wanting to create fights, tensions, etc. but when an employee is being unethical it is important to react and act appropriately.
Scenario 2
1. An unethical event that occurred in a place where I worked was a former general manager stealing money at the end of the night from the cash register. He had found what he thought was a hole in the point of sale system. He thought he could ring customers up without actually charging them, put the cash in the cash register and take whatever the till was over at the end of the night. Obviously, stealing is unethical and this was a severe example of unethical behavior.
2. Of the four dimensions listed in the book, this example would fall under dimension 1 being that the behavior is illegal and also unethical (Lehman, DuFrene& Walker, 2017). Taking something that isn't yours is an unethical practice. There is a difference between having the ability and the trust to borrow something without asking, but having full intent to return the borrowed item and indeed returning the borrowed item versus taking something because you want it. This proves the action was unethical. In addition, the fact that this action was stealing makes it illegal in addition to unethical.
3. Why people do the things that they do is sometimes a hard question to answer. I would guess that money was the motivation and the ability to have more money without working more hours was intriguing. We all have impulses, the key is the ability to recognize the impulse and determine if this is something that is unethical and or illegal. The ability to control these impulses is critical for success as there are certain actions you know you can't partake in (Kashtan, 2013). Additionally, greed plays a role in these types of situations. If some is good, more would be better. Overall, money is a powerful tool and powerful motivator that can lead to people participating in unethical or illegal actions in order to acquire more money.
4. I believe everyone handled the situation as well as they could have at the time. It was a collection of people sharing different actions they had witnessed that were somewhat strange and didn't really add up. You don't want to come out and accuse a boss of stealing, especially if you don't know why they are doing the things they are doing. Sometimes the person in charge will know why certain actions are taken and the staff could be ignorant to the actions or situation. I think the staff handled the situation appropriately, it was just an unfortunate situation.
Scenario 3
1.)Something I witness in my workplace that was unethical would have to be that in one of our departments, the meat counter associate dropped a whole container of chicken breasts on the floor. Instead of throwing it away, he rinsed off the chicken and threw them back into the chicken counter for customers to buy. When I asked him why didn't he throw them out, he responded with, "It hasn't been the first time as well as it being none of your business". Right away I went to his department manager and told him what had happened.
2.)I would say that it falls under Dimension 3: legal but unethical. It isn't illegal to drop chicken on the floor and rinse it off to put back into a counter for someone to buy, but it is very unethical to do that. I know that when customers purchase foods and take it home, they could possibly drop it on their floor and rinse it off too cook. That isn't illegal by any means. I do know that customers want to buy foods that are clean and ready to eat. Getting food dirty and selling it, is not something that customers would want to buy. I know that I wouldn't have wanted to buy it if I had known he was doing that to the chicken when he dropped it.
3.)I believe that he thought that he would not get caught by someone while doing his wrong doing. Since he worked there for a while, he may have thought he could have gotten away with it, since he is comfortable at the workplace and the management liked him.
4.)I think I handled the situation properly. When I see unethical behavior take place in my work place, and I do not do anything about it, then that makes me included in unethical behavior as well. I take my job serious and I wouldn't want to buy food that was on the floor at a grocery store. The floors are dirty from workers shoes and food that falls on the floor from earlier in the work day. I followed the chain of command. I went to his manager before I went to the General Manager. I let his manager take care of the situation from there. By me asking the worker why he did something he wasn't supposed to do made it known too him that other people are watching.