Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................2
2. Review of Literature..................................................................................................3
2.1 Normative Ethics.................................................................................................3
2.2 Internalism and Externalism................................................................................4
3. CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................5
REFERENCES.............................................................................................................5

ETHICAL PRACTICES
1. INTRODUCTION
The study of ethics can be categorised under two categories namely the
deontological and teleological categories. The first category deontological is
motivational (Kamm, 2007) in nature and teleological are consequential (Kamm,
2007). When it comes to peoples reaction under different situations Paulhus and
Williams (2002) argued that they also differ in dispositional Machiavellianism.
For the purpose of this paper the researcher would undertake the analysis of the
case involving Ahmed, a Middlesex University Student and the ethical dilemmas
present in the case of his working in GreatBrands.com.
The key issues in the case study are as follows
-

Ahmed has a formal contract with his employer

There is a verbal agreement about confidentiality and intellectual property
being retained by the company
Ahmed gains trust and acceptance of his colleagues
Copying of confidential and intellectual property for personal use is in direct
opposition to the companys stated policy.

The key points as discussed above indicate the various ethical concerns that Ahmed
is faced with as he had entered a verbal agreement with the management about
maintaining confidentiality and retention of the intellectual property. The element of
trust is another aspect which should be considered when ethical concerns are being
addressed. The trust factor is important as any unethical behaviour would have a
direct and multiplicative effect on the decline of trust on the individual. The
companys policy indicates that they do not support the collection of confidential and
intellectual information for personal use. Hence, the acts of moral and ethical
constraints are playing their part and they are the key issues of this case study.
The stakeholders in this case are the employees of GreatBrands.com, the Managing
Director, Shareholders of GreatBrands.com, and Clients of the company and
Statutory bodies. The employees and the managing director are directly involved as
they were the key people who have gathered this information and are the custodians
of this data. Hence, they would be directly impacted by the misuse of the information.

At the same time the shareholders of the company would also get impacted as the
revenue generation and other factors associated with reputation can get affected due
to this act. The clients would get impacted due to the fact that there information is not
securely maintained and the same is available with other individuals would be of
concern. Lastly, the statutory bodies would lose out on the fact that the company
would not be performing as effectively as it is expected to be, this brings the
additional issue of loss of revenue to the state. These are the stakeholders issues
that are affected due to the collection of information by Ahmed.

2. Review of Literature
Before undertaking the analysis of the two theories the author would like to define
business ethics as There is neither a separate ethics of business, nor is one
needed; for men and women do not acquire exemptions from ordinary rules of
personal behaviour at their work or job. Nor do they cease to be human beings when
appointed as vice-president, city manager or college dean (Drucker, 1946).
The above definition stated long ago still holds good as the ethical practices are not
supposed to be transitory. They are the behaviours of the individuals in all situations.
Further moving in this context the researcher has identified that the two main
theories relevant for the case study would be normative ethics and, Internalism and
Externalism.
2.1 Normative Ethics
Normative ethics is related to the practice of morally correct way of acting (Crane &
Mattan, 2007). In the above case it can stated as one form of pilferage. And the
same has been stated as the unauthorised taking or using of company property for
personal use by employees (Tomlinson and Greenberg, 2005).
The present case also relates to the issue of pilferage as the employee having been
trusted by the company and its employees and also being part of a verbal agreement
stills takes the information from the company. This type of behaviour even though for
personal use the motive would require to be understood. In this case the motive of
taking the information is to use the data in the event that Ahmed starts his own
business. It has been indicated that if Ahmed starts his own business it would be in
direct competition to GreatBrands.com. Hence, it can be coerced as an act of
corporate espionage and the ethical practices adopted by Ahmed may be
questioned.
Theft or siphoning of information from employees can be witnessed under three
different points namely before hire, while employed and upon termination. In the

present case the person has passed through the initial hiring process effectively, the
next stage the employee was able to build trust and relationship with all the
concerned even with the Managing Director on a constructive basis. In the final
phase where the employee was leaving and he had thoughts of opening a similar
venture, created a necessity in the individual to pick the information from the
company. Hence, from a normative ethical perspective the person has been morally
correct in his ways of acting till the time act of picking the information was
undertaken. Ahmed by picking the information has not behaved in a morally correct
way which is against the definition of normative ethics.
From a individualistic perspective, it would be prudent to approach the Managing
Director and state your case to him following up with a request for information. As the
managing director has trust and faith, it would be an effective trust building
relationship. The Managing Director would understand that the individual had the
option to pick the information without informing. However, if the same is asked by the
individual it builds trust and confidence in the ethical stance adopted by the individual
and the managing director may consider sharing of information as a business
practice.
The second theory that the author would like to discuss is the theory of Internalism
and Externalism.
2.2 Internalism and Externalism
The issue of internalism and externalism are related to the motivational elements of
an individual (Brown, 2007). The motivation of an individual is of primary concern
and the same can be characterised as two factors namely the intrinsic motivation
and extrinsic motivation (Thomas, 2009). From an intrinsic motivation comes the
element of Internalism and it relates to factors like sense of choice, sense of
competence, sense of meaningfulness, and sense of progress. In the case of Ahmed
he had all the factors as explained above. However, the choice of taking information
from a futuristic viewpoint is an intrinsic motivational act. This has been taken to
ensure that he would be able to establish his own business in the near future. This
has motivated the act and driven Ahmed to take the information from the office.
From an externalism viewpoint it is related to the issue of cognition and or
consciousness. In this regard, Ahmed had the consciousness that he is taking
certain information which is the intellectual property of the organisation. However, his
need to have that information for some future benefit drove him to take the
information. It can be seen that motivation for certain gains are the drivers for
individuals engaging in this act of taking information.
If the author was present in that position he would consider the benefits of the
information and the impact it would have on the relationship that exists between the
managing director of the company and the employees. Analyse the benefits in terms

of the information and the benefits of continued relationship with the company. The
advantages and disadvantages would be analysed. Finally, a decision based on the
difference would be taken. The advantages are more inclined towards taking a
stance of approaching or not approaching the management for the relevant
information. The decision would always involve the partaking of the information with
a consent obtained from the management.

3. CONCLUSION
The researcher has identified the relevant theories and also discussed the relevance
of these theories to the case study. The salient points that need to be considered are
that ethical issues or ethical dilemmas have a major part in the decision making
process of an individual. The normative ethics indicates as defined in the above
paragraph is a process which needs to be assessed when an individual is taking
decisions or undertaking some acts. The morally correct behaviour should also be in
consideration of its impact on others. The others in this context are the
stakeholders and the society at large. This would need a clear and consistent
analysis by the person before he undertakes any further acts in this regard.
The individualist perspective is that the greater transparency of the issue would be
beneficial for all the parties involved and ensures that they are able to achieve the
desired results. Hence, an open and clear discussion would ensure that the
managing director and other employees may support a person who wants to
establish his own business and offer their services and knowledge. Even in the case
it is going to be a direct competition the sharing of knowledge would ensure that they
can derive other advantages by offering this information. Hence, the final opinion
based on the above factors would be to ensure that there exists an open and free
discussion between all the parties involved in the ethical constraints that are
witnessed in the above case study.

REFERENCES
Brown, C. (2007) "Narrow Mental Content", The Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy, Edward N. Zalta (ed.).
Crane, A. and Matten, D. (2007) Business Ethics: managing corporate citizenship
and sustainability in the age of globalisation, 2 nd edn, Oxford: Oxford University
Press
Drucker, P.F. (1946) The concept of the corporation, New York and Toronto: The New
American Library.

Kamm, F.M. (2007) Intricate Ethics: Rights, Responsibilities, and Permissible Harm,
New York: Oxford University Press
Thomas, K.W. (2009) Intrinsic Motivation at Work: What really drives Employee
Engagement, California: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Tomlinson, E.C. and Greenberg, J. (2005) Discouraging Employee theft by managing
social norms and promoting organisational justice, in R. Kidwell and C. Martin (eds),
Managing Organisational Deviance, Thousand Oaks: Sage publications
Paulhus, D.L., and Kevin M.W., (2002) The Dark Triad of Personality: Narcissism,
Machiavellianism and Psychopathy. Journal of Research in Personality 36: 556-563.