Question

It seems workplace lying has become business as usual.  According to one survey, one-quarter of working adults in the United States said that they had been asked to do something illegal or unethical on the job.  Four in 10 did what they were told. Another survey of more than 2,000 secretaries showed that many employees face ethical dilemmas in their day-to-day work.

Discuss ways in which you would respond to the following ethical dilemmas.  Try to determine the specific factors that influence different responses.

1. Would you lie about your supervisor’s whereabouts to someone on the phone?  Would it depend on what the supervisor was doing?
2. Would you inflate sales and revenue data on official company accounting statements to increase stock value? Would you do so if your boss ordered it?
3. Would you say that you witnessed a signature when you did not if you were acting in the role of a notary?
4. Would you keep silent if you knew that the official minute of a corporate meeting had been changed?  Would the nature of the change matter?
5. Would you destroy or remove information that could hurt your company if it fell into the wrong hands?

Answer 1

Would you lie about your supervisor’s whereabouts to someone on the phone?  Would it depend on what the supervisor was doing?

Yes, I would lie about my supervisor's whereabouts. Many times, supervisors get pestered by calls that are not related to work. The supervisor may want to ignore these calls to concentrate on his job. Therefore, if he asks me to, I would lie about his whereabouts to help him in performing his duties efficiently.

Also, it depends on what the supervisor is doing. If he is working and doesn't want to attend unimportant calls, I may help him. but if he is ineffective at his job duties and not performing them, I will not  cover-up for him if an important work-related call comes up.