Ethical dilemma Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ethical dilemma - Case Study Example Some of them may have sound financial backgrounds while others may not have sound financial abilities. In the given case study, Karen Hathaway has to select one person from the list of three to a higher position. All the three persons in consideration have advantages and disadvantages which made Karen’s task extremely difficult. Carmen was an African American widow of age 34 who has one child. She was an average performer and had eight years experience in the industry, out of which four years was with the company. Her child has some medical problems and she was badly in need of more money. Ralph one among the other two competing for the higher position was a white, aged 57 and had three children. Ralph has been with the company for twenty years and in the industry for thirty. He has always been a steady performer, with mostly average ratings. He has denied promotion earlier because of his reluctance to relocate. However, he had no such problems at present and was ready to relo cate. Yingzi was the third candidate under consideration. She was an Asian, single, aged 27 and had only three years experience in the company. Even though she was the junior among the three, she had outstanding track records and management skills. It is evident from the three cases mentioned above that Yingzi had better performance record than the other two even though she was a junior in the company and had less experience than the others. Her track records show that she was ready to go up to any extent if she faces any employment discrimination. Ralph on the other hand was the most experienced person in the company and it is unethical to deny him the promotion since he is approaching his retirement. Carmen was the best friend of Karen and she was badly in need of a promotion because of her poor financial abilities and the necessity of huge money to treat her only child. In short, the problem in this case study is; what should be given more weightage while deciding promotion; perf ormance merit or ethical principles? If Carmen failed to get promotion, employees may consider it as an example of racial discrimination sine she was an African American widower. Karen may face the charges of prejudice and bias if she promotes Carmen since Carmen was one of the better friends of Karen. Ralph’s son was getting married to the vice president’s daughter which means the influence of ralph in the company is going to be increased. Yingzi on the other hand is engaged to the son of one of the upper management individual. Carmen was also supported by some of the upper managers. In short, all the three candidates had great support from different top managers in the company. Since all the three candidates have their own claims, advantages and disadvantages, it is better to analyze the cases and claims one by one. Karen has three choices; 1) consider the influence of the candidates in the organization 2) consider the merits of the candidates 3) consider the ethical claims of the candidates. The major strength of Yingzi is her performance whereas that of Ralph was his experience. Carmen on the other hand had the strength of moral support and better relations with Karen. At the same time Carmen’s better relations with Karen may become a threat to her promotion scopes if Karen decides to boost her image in the organization. All the three candidates had their influence in the organizat