March 28, 2012

Facebook reveals love triangle

There are two people in a relationship; let’s call them Kristi and Peter.  I’m really good friends with both.  One weekend night, Peter used my laptop to play a bunch of new songs he found.  As a college student obsessed with social networking, he checked his Facebook account while using my laptop.  The next morning I noticed that he had neglected to log out of his account.  At that moment, a girl messaged him, saying “I love you babe! So excited for you to visit me next week.”

This girl was not Kristi. I clicked her account and saw that this mystery girl goes to Penn State University and that their messaging stretched back over a year.  Peter is obviously involved in a relationship with this girl, while also dating Kristi.  My dilemma is whether to tell Kristi about this.  Telling her would damage my friendship with Peter and reveal that I read his personal messages.  Not telling her would damage my friendship with Kristi and allow her to stay in a relationship with someone who is cheating on her.

Contributed by Anonymous.

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Posted by on March 28, 2012 in Personal relationships and tagged , .

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March 28, 2012

Witness to shoplifting

I happened to see a customer steal a mobile phone charger from a retail store.  She was not caught because she hurried through the sensors at the door simultaneously with another customer, who was detained by a security guard and released after a personal search.

I followed the thief outside and saw her rushing to her car.  I approached the car to have a few words with her.  However, she had already plugged in her phone charger and was talking excitedly on the phone.  I listened long enough to learn that she was talking to a friend of her son, who told her that her son was on the way to the hospital in an ambulance.   I had no reason to doubt the legitimacy of the conversation.

Would it have been best to report the crime, or show some compassion and keep my mouth shut?

Contributed by Anonymous.

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Posted by on March 28, 2012 in Other dilemmas and tagged , .

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March 28, 2012

When everyone else is cheating

You have never cheated before but you realize that everyone in your class is cheating except for you. You are about to fail the class, even though you know the material really well. Since everyone else is cheating they have caused your grade to go down due to the curve. You will fail the class if you do not cheat like everyone else. What do you do?

Contributed by Anonymous.

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Posted by on March 28, 2012 in Ethics at school and tagged , .

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March 28, 2012

Giving to child beggars

In some countries, begging rings raise money by putting captive children on the street to beg from strangers.  The children are usually orphans and may have been deliberately disabled or mutilated to arouse pity.  If you are a typical person on the street and encounter one of these children, should you give them money?

If you give money, you support the begging ring.  If you don’t, the child may be punished for collecting too little money.  Assume that calling the police or seeking help from government officials will be ineffective.

Contributed by Anonymous.

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Posted by on March 28, 2012 in Other dilemmas and tagged , .

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April 6, 2011

Promote employee with school plans?

I am a manager in a large corporation, and a new phase of promotions are on the table. One of my employees (say, AB) is obviously intelligent, a hard worker, and has generated quality work for my group for over a year.  I am allowed to promote 10 people from a list of 15.  Of these, 10 candidates (including AB) have been with the company over a year, and 5 are new hires who have been with the company for less than 4 months.

A few months ago, I spoke to AB about future plans, and AB mentioned the possibility of going to business school to get an MBA but wasn’t sure. Is it ethical for me to exclude AB from the promotion pool and promote a new hire, solely due to the possibility that AB may attend business school in a few months?

Contributed by BP.

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Posted by on April 6, 2011 in Ethics on the job and tagged , .

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April 5, 2011

Sharing interview questions

At my business school, we have the habit of sharing interview questions with classmates who are scheduled to interview after us. Is this ethical?

Contributed by Mmoatame.

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Posted by on April 5, 2011 in Job search ethics and tagged , .

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April 5, 2011

Sponsored student seeks another job

I am a corporate sponsored student from Japan. My sponsor covers my tuition and I am obligated to work for the sponsor at least 5 years. Before leaving Japan, I met my HR manager and signed an informal contract that states my obligation last for 5 years unless I pay back all the cost to study here in the US.

I believe the contract is based on mutual agreement between the sponsor and myself, and it actually allows me to quit the current job as long as I can pay back all the cost.

Since we have a mutual agreement, is it still ethical for me to search for a new job?

I feel that this would fail the generalization test, because if everyone decided to seek a new job, then companies would stop sponsoring their employees to study abroad, and therefore I would not have opportunities to study abroad with sponsorship.

Contributed by HH.

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Posted by on April 5, 2011 in Ethics at school, Ethics on the job, Job search ethics and tagged , .

6 Comments

April 5, 2011

Financial bailouts

Are financial bailouts ethical?

Contributed by TS.

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Posted by on April 5, 2011 in Ethics on the job and tagged , , , .

4 Comments