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Ethical Dilemma: What would you do?
Posted by irtiza104 • 7/27/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: ethics, making decisions
Here you’ll find a common situation which will make you think. You’ll have to make some ethical decisions now which will help you to have a better understanding of the ethics you believe in. I hope you will also develop your reasoning skill through this.
*******Here is your first ethical dilemma:*******
Suppose you are doing a project outside of your work. The project will need paper, pens and other materials available at work. You have noticed other employees taking home such materials. You are thinking about doing the same. What is the problem in this situation? What are your alternatives? What are the consequences of each alternative? Which alternative will you choose? Is your choice ethical?
You can also give an answer on the main post: lifeasiknowit22.blogspot.com/2009/07/ethical-dilemma-part-1.html
User Comments
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- There is no ethical dilemma for me. I don't steal and that's that.
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I would only use the materials that have the companies name on it. That way they get some advertising. ; )-
LOL
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How much do pens and paper cost you? Like $5 right? Why would you steal something worth $5 and risk tarnishing your image at work or risk getting you fired? $5, that's like the price of a hamburger at a fast food joint. Take a sandwich to work and buy some pens and paper for god's sake!-
I doubt his image will be at risk, as others are also doing the same thing.
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referring back to the excellent movie "Election (1999)" ...
Isn't this a moral issue? not an ethical one?-
Actually--your point is correct. This IS a moral issue (Kohlberg, anyone?).
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Take what you need but don't get caught!
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Well, if the answers here are representative, it's not difficult to see why the world's economy is in such a hole. If the majority of us believe it is OK to "take what you need but don't get caught" or think the reason not to steal is limited to tarnishing one's image (as opposed to the simple concept of right vs wrong) or it is OK to steal as long as the victim might get some benefit from it, or it is OK because other people are doing it---if this is how a significant portion of us think...and what we teach our children by our example...it is not surprising that the people who run our governments and financial institutions are corrupt!
No matter what some of you think, the ends do not justify the means, large numbers of people doing bad things does not make it ok, and if you wouldn't steal a $5 bill out of your employer's desk, why is it OK to steal a $5 pen from him? And if you would steal the $5 bill, then you need to do some very serious thinking about your honesty and ethical underpinnings.
I am with TT---there is no dilemma here, ethical or otherwise. Except in life-and-death situations, stealing is wrong.-
I once returned a 100 dollar bill to a desk worker at a company, then I turned around and when I looked back they put the 100 dollar bill in their pocket. It's not a black and white world. -
It doesn't matter. That the desk worker did the wrong thing doesn't mean it would have been OK for you to do the same.
This is how corrupt cultures get started...somebody does the right thing but observes others doing wrong and begins to think "well, if they can do it, why shouldn't I?" The answer is simple: because it is wrong. -
Sure. I did the right thing. She did the wrong thing. And I'm sure there have been other similar consequences around me, this is no way an isolated incident.
People love to think of the world as a right/wrong place. But even though I did the "right" thing it really didn't matter. And one way or another, it didn't really shake up anything that much. Someone lost 100 dollars, I returned it to someone who should have been trustworthy, she stole the money.
I was simply trying to point out that over-simplifying the world doesn't make the world simple. -
And trying to complicate it doesn't make the concept "it is wrong to steal" complicated.
Besides, do you know that the person who pocketed the $100 didn't later put it in its rightful place? And how does the fact that she apparently did something wrong make the simple matter of refraining from stealing a complicated issue?
The world is not black and white, but stealing from your employer is: if you don't have permission to take for your own use things that belong to your employer, it is stealing and it is wrong.
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I have taken pens from work - CONSTANTLY ---- I am - and will forever be a PEN thief.
It's not conscious - and I don't mean to do it.
I'll be writing something and get interrupted and then I have to go somewhere and the pen is in my hand - and I'll put it in my pocket - and then I can't find it...
And then when I go to do laundry - there it is - IN MY POCKET.
AGGGGGG!!!
I'm also a lighter thief.
I don't mean to do that either - but if I pick up a lighter it goes in my pocket.
I've come home from clubbing with over 10 lighters before...
But - other than pens and lighters - I don't think taking anything from ANYONE without their permission is acceptable.
I try to return the pens... The lighters - on the other hand - uhmmmm well - I dunno - they are now imminent domain. LOL!
Also - just so you know - I CAN NEVER EVER EVER find a pen when I need one.
I don't think it's ok to take the pens - and I do try to return them.
I don't think it's ok to use your work's property to do your OWN stuff. Your work does NOT pay you to do your things - nor should they buy your supplies.
If you are doing work for YOUR WORK that has been approved - that is a different story.
But if you don't have permission you shouldn't be touching it.
And you shouldn't even be thinking that it's ok.
What you take - paper, supplies, etc... That comes out of a budget. And that budget IS NOT from YOUR pocket.
And it's not cool.-
I have the same pen problem! I would try to return them, but most of the time I find them in my purse with no idea how they got there.
I just settle for hoping there's pen karma. Most of those pens I end up lending to someone to jot something down, and they forget to return it to me. -
I also have this PEN problem. can be a little frustrating sometimes.
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It is one thing to take a pen because you need to have a pen to carry it around with you maybe to carry it around with you at work and other places and another to deliberately take home a large amount of supplies. People carry around company computers but they have permission. Also, a pen is a functional item much like a business card, you use it all the time both inside work and outside work. Of course you are also expected to bring back the pen to work and not keep it at home. People will notice large amounts of supplies and it is a wrong thing to do. Small amounts of money quickly add up to larger amounts of money. Also small transgressions lead to larger transgressions.-
@wehireu
It is one thing to take a pen because you need to have a pen to carry it around with you maybe to carry it around with you at work and other places and another to deliberately take home a large amount of supplies. How so? It's one thing to carry a company pen from your desk to the accounting department to the purchasing department and then back to your desk...that is what the pen is for. It is a whole other thing to pick up a pen and carry it home and put it in your desk there or to order a cool purple glittery gel pen on the office supplies budget and put it in your pocket or bag and carry it home.
Small amounts of money quickly add up to larger amounts of money. Yes...like 20 or 50 or 200 employees each taking home just one Uniball pen...it adds up.
Also small transgressions lead to larger transgressions. True...like taking whole packets of Post-its to go with the pens... -
Just on the side here - like I said I end up taking pens home with me. But - I do bring them back. (I won't say 100% of the time - because sometimes they get lost.)
And on the side - I often buy my own set of pens - because I like the GEL pens - and my work won't stock them - and they seem to dissappear also LOL - methinks folks are walking away with them.
But - overall - I don't think taking ANYTHING - on purpose - is good. -
Pens are considered a "consumable" in the office both because they run out of ink and must be replaced, and because they often grow legs and walk off. We are all guilty of inadvertently occasionally walking off with things like pens.
But the OP is talking about intentionally taking things that your employer paid for, and taking them for your own personal use. That is stealing and, with rare exception, it is wrong. -
@SV--in the OP's original dilemna--there is absolutely no doubt that this would be stealing.
Lifting a pen from work is not the same thing. Everyone has done that. Taking material home from work to work on a project--completely wrong.
PetLvr made a good point though--this is not an ethical decision so much as a moral one. There's a difference.
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the first problem with your question is this line.
"You are thinking about doing the same."
I wouldn't even think that.
"Suppose you are doing a project outside of your work. The project will need paper, pens and other materials available at work"
There are a number of ways to support a project, either ask around for supplies, buy them myself, seek a small grant or ask work if they would like to sponsor it and donate supplies. -
If I could work on the project at work then yes I would use the materials from work (they would tell me to use it if I asked.) Would I bring the materials home? No. If I asked for a couple pens and paper from work I would get it even if I told them I was taking it home but why not buy your own stuff? -
be ethical... duh!!!
(the description was not read in the construction of this comment) -
I might kidnap the CEO's son or daughter and hold them for ransom but I certainly wouldn't steal any measly paper or pens.-
Good point...if you ARE going to steal, why sacrifice your honour and your karma for something piddly like a pen or a packet of paper? Make the sacrifice worth it...steal enough to keep you in luxury in a country with no extradition treaty with your own!
Otherwise, it's penny ante crap and you're metaphorically selling your soul to the devil for a pittance. -
SV-a plot is beginning to hatch in my brain. Interested?
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I've already buggered off to a foreign country (although we do have an extradition treaty with the US). I'm not sure I am up to learning another new culture this late in my life!!
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NP, you sound like the brother-in-law in Christmas Vacation. -
dcarroll: I haven't seen that movie. I'll check it out and if the character is enough like me I'll sue the director and make some sleazy money that way.
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Hi Irtiza--this is the comment I posted on your blog:
Well, since the project is outside of work, using work materials (to me) would be unethical so I would not use material from my place of business--at least not without asking permission.
If I couldn't afford to pay for the materials I needed--and say, it was a good cause (the project), I would probably ask my employer if he/she would make a donation to the cause. If he said no, then I might ask if I could buy the material from them for cost and have the $$ taken out of my paycheck.
If I couldn't afford the material--then I would not do the project. Taking material from work is essentially stealing and I wouldn't do that.
Melinda-
Thanks for commenting on my blog too. i've replied to your comment there.
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Stealing anything is wrong.
I'm not sure how many people have heard the "public service announcement" by Kid Rock. He starts by saying that he is rich, so people should illegal download all of his music. And, while they are at it, computer companies are rich, so people should steal every computer and all the software they can. In fact, car companies are rich, so people should go steal every car they can find.
I got quite a laugh. It puts things in perspective. Rock's comment is stronger than someone saying "slippery slope" of theft, morals or ethics.
Just say NO.
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I used to sit in a desk right in front of the supplies closet which remained unlocked. I'll admit to taking home a couple of pens and a block of post its.-
YOU scofflaw!!!
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I used to have the keys to the supply cupboards. We had to lock them up when we got a $2000 order of supplies including reams of paper, file folders, PostIts and pens and the cupboard was literally bare in less than 48 hours. The boss put a lock on the cupboard and gave me the key and told me to keep an eye on the inventory.
The source of the problem became quickly apparent: hoarding. Because the cupboard always seemed to be bare, when it got filled, the first few people there would fill their cubes with the supplies they thought they might be needing...so instead of one red pen, they took six. Instead of a couple of pads of PostIts, they took a couple of blocks. So, in a couple of days, just a few people in the office were in possession of the entire department's office supplies.
And, once those supplies were in their cubicles, they took ownership of them. The "extra" pens and PostIts and file folders migrated from cube to bag to car to home and when the office supplies were replenished at the beginning of the next month, the cycle started all over again.
By locking the cupboard and putting a limit on how much an individual could take, the office supplies expenditures were reduced by half, which left us money in the budget for other things. Something to think about the next time you realize you have 30 pens in your desk drawer, there none in the supply cupboard, and your boss won't approve your req for something because his office supplies budget has already been blown for the year. -
hahaha office supplies make people act crazy. You do not actually need 6 pens, you do not need 3 different colored post its but because they're there you feel an urge to get your hands on as many....Since I switched departments I no longer have access to the supplies closet, and I manage with just 1 pen, 1 pencil and 1 block of post its.
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Most of my thefts are unintentional. It involves cigarette lighters. Being a smoker who hangs out with fellow smokers, I often without thinking pick up any one lighter near me when I stand up to leave and put it in my pocket. Later I often find I have two BICs in my pocket, not one. Sometimes a neighbor will join me on my porch for a shared smoke, and say, "Oh, Ralph...did you happen to pick up my lighter last night?"
Often I did...and return it. The same thing does happen to my. My own lighter has gone missing. To sum it up, us smokers are untrustworthy and a burden on society. Another reason for singling us out as scum.
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