Moral Minefield

Assignment Guidelines
1. Copy and paste (or screenshot) your Level overview and scores. You can find this information
again in your Overview & Profile.

2. R
e
f
l
e

ct on the scenarios presented in the game. Was there anything you found particularly difficult?
Anything that surprised you?

Playing through this week’s level I feel that I did very well overall. I managed to only
incorrectly answer two of the questions. Comparing how I did in level one to level two I can see a
positive improvement. This week I made sure to really take my time answering the questions and
rereading through them to make sure I was answering the question to the best of my ability. I
wouldn’t say I found anything difficult in this week’s level, but I was stumped when it came to
question eight and nine. I was however surprised that I managed to get the question revolving
around support correctly, but then incorrectly answered the bonus question. I think what threw
me off and made me really reconsider choosing the correct answer was the answer that talked
about acting in a way that is most advantageous to your company. I felt that from this week’s
lessons and how I was answering the previous questions that this isn’t a good reason to support
facing questionable ethical situations. I looked at it as more of doing something wrong in order to
make sure your company comes out on top. After reviewing the follow up video however I can see
why this was a reasonable answer.
The other question that I incorrectly answered was whispers. I feel that after reviewing the
question and thinking about it more in depth I can see why my answer was incorrect. Even though
it is good to respect and follow your leaders it is also important to remember that a leader should
never ask you to lie about a situation. In our text it mentions that if we cannot say humans have
free will then it makes no sense to hold anyone ethically responsible for their actions [CITATION
Mic15 \p 94 \l 1033 ]. If we are taking away people’s rights to express how they feel about
something then how can we actually hold anyone accountable? All companies, big or small, run
into setbacks and its how leaders choose to respond to these setbacks that leads the example for
their employees of how they expect their business to be ran. If leaders want their employees to lie
about a situation whose to say that they haven’t lied to their employees before about other
 situations that may have came about. This leads to employees not feeling valued and trusted
within the company and may even lead to them leaving the company and going elsewhere.

3. Explain one of the decision-making scenarios you were given in this level and analyze it in terms
of one of this week’s theories.
(Note: for full credit, be sure you name the theory you are using, explain the theory fully, and then
explain how the scenario illustrates that theory)

One of the decision-making scenarios from this level that I want to reflect on is actually question
one, the Ring Binder. I actually went back and forth for a few minutes before finally deciding upon the
correct answer. I was really torn at first as to what answer I should choose because one answer would
be beneficial to the company while the other would not. The reason I ended up choosing the answer
that I did was because I reflected back on our readings from this week. In chapter four we discussed
about company wrongdoings and I felt that using another company’s material was definitely a
wrongdoing on a company’s behalf. In our text we learned about the principle of equal liberty. The
text mentions that we all want to be able to pursue our own aspirations and develop our own
capabilities to accept liberty as a general principle [CITATION Mic15 \p 161 \l 1033 ]. It also goes on
to say we would realize in certain cases if other people did the things they wanted to do this could
impact us negatively [CITATION Mic15 \p 161 \l 1033 ]. If the company were to make the decision to
use this inside material from their competitor it would set a negative image for the company’s
employees. If you were to allow your employees to use this information it would give them the idea
that they can do this again and again in the future because it is benefitting the company. As a leader it
is important to make sure that you are setting a positive example for your team even if that means not
getting the upper hand with a company rivalry. With this theory it is giving every person an equal
right and if a company were to use information that the retrieved from dumpster diving that would be
taking away the equal rights of the other company [CITATION Mic15 \p 161 \l 1033 ]. Should this
other company have shredded their valuable information instead of throwing it away? Yes. But is it
right for another company to dig threw someone’s else trash to find this kind of information? No. I
think its important to put yourself into the other persons shoes in a scenario like this. How would you
feel if another company got ahold of your valuable information and used it to their advantages? More
than likely most people would be upset. If it is something you wouldn’t be willing to have done to you
then you shouldn’t be willing to do it to someone else.

4. How could you use the concepts discussed in this simulation in your job today? Relate these
concepts to the other course materials and to your own experiences.
(Note: for full credit, be sure discuss a specific scenario, a specific example from your own experiences,
and a specific connection to something you learned from the text)

I feel that there are many times I could use the concepts discussed in this simulation in my job
today. One concept that I would find useful in my current job is the pitch. It would not be beneficial for
my company to conduct a competitor review to be able to gain invaluable intelligence and data. While
on the outside it may seem like a good way to get a one up on the competitors it is not worth
damaging the company’s reputation or wasting resources on something that isn’t that relevant. I feel
that this ties in to reason-based choice because the leader is choosing to do what they feel is their
duty and obligation to the company [CITATION Mic15 \p 92 \l 1033 ]. Working for Starbucks we are
actually not allowed to work at any other coffee shops while being employed with the company due to
reasons like this. In order to protect the company from having their ways of the trade exploited they
stop it from happening at the main source. If Starbucks were to allow its employees to work at other
coffee shops they are risking those employees to leaking valuable information on how the company
performs its business. In addition to this another concept I found important was the whisper bonus
question. The question talks about when looking to mitigate a problem it is inappropriate to ask
 employees to withhold potentially damaging information. I think this question reflects on ruling with
the heart because of the fact that we need to take in to account the emotions of the employees that are
being asked to withhold information [CITATION Mic15 \p 88 \l 1033 ]. If a company were to ask its
employees to keep secrets they are risking stressing their employees out and possibly forcing them to
leave the company. I am very thankful to work for a company that doesn’t ask me to do things such as
this. They are very open with us as employees and make sure that we all feel supported by our teams,
and managers. They want us as employees to feel free to express concerns and problems openly with
management in order to get situations resolved.

Works Cited
Fryer, M. (2015). Ethics Theory & Business Practice. Sage.