Iris called the company’s security hotline. The hotline is an anonymous way to report suspi- cious activity or abuse of company policy, although Iris chose to identify herself. The next morning, she was called to a meeting with an investigator from corporate security, which led to more meetings with others from corporate security and then with the director of human resources and Gladys Williams, the CIO of SLS.

Discussion Questions

1. Should Iris have approached Henry directly, or was the hotline the most effective way to take action? Why do you think so?

2. Should Gladys call the legal authorities? Which agency should she call?

3. Do you think this matter needs to be communicated elsewhere inside the company? Who should be informed and how? How about outside the company?

Ethical Decision Making

It seems obvious that Henry is doing something wrong. Do you think Henry acted in an ethical manner? Did Iris act in an ethical manner by determining the owner of the flash drive? Assuming that this incident took place in the United States, what law or laws has Henry violated? Suppose Iris had placed the flash drive back at the coffee station and forgotten the whole thing. Explain why her action would have been ethical or unethical.

Answer 1 :

if Iris had approached Henry, it might had become a personal matter rather than professional. Following the proper protocol is the best way to report in any organization.

Answer 2 :

Yes, Gladys should call the legal authorities. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the best agency to file a complaint prevention of corruption within a company.

Answer 3 :

Yes, she should have followed her chain of command because that is one of the many questions that an investigator will ask is if she reported it to her supervisor and human resources. Somehow in companies they use that term when it is somewhat of a legal issue. Internally if she knew the IT director and the security office she could have gone to them along with human resources. Outside I would say start with her local police department and they may have directed her to the proper channel.

Answer 4 :

What Henry did was not ethical even in the slightest. He used the flash drive without permission from the company, he knew he shouldn’t have, but he did it anyway. It is acted in a complete ethical way. If Iris had left this in a coffee station and forgot about it, then it would have been unethical behavior because she knew about it but didn’t whistle blow. There are security laws that get violated in this issue which is why it is unethical and troublesome.