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C05: ethical dilemmas what if it happened to you?

C05: ethical dilemmas what if it happened to you?

October 2013
In part two of our series on module C05: fundamentals of ethics, corporate governance and business law, we take a closer look at an ethical dilemma. Read part one. Module C05 fundamentals of ethics, corporate governance and business law requires you to demonstrate an understanding of ethics in business, ethical conflict resolution, corporate governance and, with the globalisation of business, an overview of alternative legal systems as well as maintaining your professionalism by staying informed of new developments and initiatives. What should you do when you face an ethical dilemma? Lets say you work at MNAC, a subsidiary to C&MA, a consumer health and pharmaceutical company. You have a batch of one million faulty units and distribution has been blocked. While you are happy that it was caught before it reached consumers, your manager makes it clear that the batch should be quality tested a second time around, and that this time s/he is expecting a better outcome and for the batch to pass. What should you do? This scenario, loosely based on a real event, was used to start a discussion at a seminar that CIMA arranged together with St Pauls Institute, in association with the CIPD. Find a video of the scenario, and the facilitators notes and scenario script.

What should you do?

In this scenario, you would feel under pressure from your manager to clear the batch as it was implied you should get the right result on the second quality testing or else. An initial first step would be to check the facts and ensure that you have everything documented. Then ask yourself if this is an ethical issue, look to your code and decide which of the fundamental principles are affected. Safeguards would include checking if all policies and procedures have been followed, and that you are in no way acting contrary to any law or regulation. How would you be able to explain and justify the second testing to a court of law? Consider how you are implicated, and who else is involved. If you did as your manager implied, you would be in breach of the principles of integrity and objectivity by misleading other colleagues and external stakeholders under pressure from your manager, and professional competence and due care as you would potentially be putting consumers at a risk. Furthermore, you may be accused of fraud if it was found that the second testing was manipulated.

Next steps
Once you have established all of the above to the best of your ability you can plan a course of action. Ideally you should raise your concerns with your line manager. However, many of the calls that CIMA receives relate to the behaviour of line managers or senior managers, and in this scenario it is the line manager that is exerting the pressure. If this is the case you may need to consider reporting elsewhere to an internal speak-up line or other avenues within the company. If you establish that this is a legal issue you may want to seek legal advice, or, if it is an ethical issue, call CIMAs ethics helpline or the global guidance line.

http://www.cimaglobal.com/Students/Student-e-magazine/Velocity-October-2013/C05-ethical-dilemmas--what-if-it-happened-to-you-/

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C05: ethical dilemmas what if it happened to you?

A last resort, if you cant find a solution, would be to walk away from the organisation. This may sound drastic, but consider the implications if you were found with a faulty batch on the market that your department knew of you may lose your professional standing and your job, as well as your reputation and employability.

Ethics checklist
Check your facts Is it an ethical or legal issue? Identify principles affected in the code Identify affected parties Plan a course of action and seek advice Seek professional or legal advice Refuse to remain associated.

Access the full checklist. Ethical dilemmas are not straightforward, and each situation has to be handled individually. This scenario is not a blueprint of how to solve every ethical dilemma, but it gives you an idea of how it could be approached and issues to consider. CIMA supports its members and students by providing a range of helplines, including an ethics helpline and a global guidance line aimed at members and students outside the UK.

More information and resources

C05: Business for the long term CIMA and professionalism Code of ethics Ethics support guide Helplines and support Case studies, exercises and training Full ethics section More certificate resources

More help
C05 resources CIMAsphere Certificate level discussion boards

http://www.cimaglobal.com/Students/Student-e-magazine/Velocity-October-2013/C05-ethical-dilemmas--what-if-it-happened-to-you-/

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