Ethics Case Studies

Answer: This case pertains to the issue of whether student politics should be allowed in colleges. One view is that student politics is necessary for raising issues of students before the colleges and also making future citizens of the country aware and interested about the political system of the country. While a contrary view sees student politics as only a platform for politicization of educational institutes which interferes with the academic functions of colleges. (a) Issues involved in this case are following:

• Student participation: Student politics facilitates participation of students in college administration and raises the issues and grievances of students and get their resolution in a democratic manner.
• Political awareness: It helps students understand the principles of democracy and political system of the country. Besides, many national leaders, both before and after independence, evolved from student politics.
• Pending student elections: Student elections in the college have not happened for the last two years.
• Personal belief vs professional ethics: Some professors including the principal and students believe that student politics hamper academic activities of the college and thus want a ban on student politics. However, the law in India allows student politics.
• Destruction of public property: Student leaders who came to meet the Principal indulged in destruction of college property which goes against principles of debate and peaceful protest.

(b) It is my personal belief that student politics is not good. This personal belief of mine is in contravention to my professional ethics which requires me to act as per the long tradition of college and conduct student elections provided they are indeed working for the benefit of students. In this situation, I can take following measures to separate my personal belief from interfering in my official role:

• Emotional intelligence: The awareness about my personal belief against student politics will help me approach the issue from a more neutral perspective.
• Objectivity and rationality: I need to base my decision on sound logic and objectivity without any value judgement.
• Wider consultation: Consulting with other people including students will help me weed out any personal bias that may creep into the decision making process.
• Appointing a committee: I can appoint a committee to look into the whole issue and then take decisions based on the report of that committee.
• Openness and getting feedback: I can openly declare my personal views and the reasons behind those views.
• Following rules of college: Strictly following rules of college regarding conduct of student politics and penalizing those violating any provisions of the rules will help me avoid my personal belief clouding my judgement.

(c) As the Principal of the college, I have the responsibility of conducting the affairs of the college in a lawful and just manner and take effective steps to ensure that academic activities are not hampered by extraneous factors. While student politics per se is not undesirable, politicization of student unions in India has resulted in many undesirable consequences. Therefore, I will take following steps in order to balance the need of student politics vis-à-vis maintaining an effective academic environment in campuses:

• Firstly, I will call law enforcement agencies on the campus and ensure that no further damage to college property is done. Further, I will take strict legal action against students involved in this incident.
• I will take steps as discussed above to ensure that my personal belief does not interfere with my professional duties as the Principal of the college.
• I will call for persons who had submitted representation against student politics to substantiate their points through evidence and detailed instances of banning student politics due to their harmful activities.
• I will call various students’ unions in the college to discuss the utility of student politics and assess their own activities in this regard.
• Lastly, I will appoint a committee to study the matter in detail and also rules of the college in this regard. Further, if the committee after study is of the opinion that student politics should not be allowed, then I will suggest alternative mechanisms to ensure participation of students in the administration of college through various committees etc.

A vibrant and politically aware student community is crucial to the furtherance of parliamentary democracy. However, student politics should be practised in such a way that campuses do not become turf wars for political parties of the country.

Answer: The aforementioned case highlights ways in which a firm’s business practices are inextricably linked to both tangible and intangible aspects. In the given case, a telecom major finds itself grappling with allegations of questionable business practices, thereby threatening its reputation amongst both local and global markets.
(a) The challenges presented by the given situation are multi-fold ranging across both ethical and purely commercial aspects, including:

• Ethical business culture: An organization must rely upon strong commitment to ethical values and practices to further its objectives. Its pursuit of profit cannot enable it to compromise on ethical norms, as are prescribed both by convention as well as statutes of the land.
• Principle of fairness: Fair competition i.e. one based on quality, price, and service rather than unfair practices, is an essential condition for market economies to prosper. Use of unfair means is not just unethical but also illegal across geographies since it thwarts several benefits, especially redistribution of wealth and stifles innovation.
• Public trust: Because of the very nature of the company’s business, it has to contract with governments and with the public sector, including publicly owned entities. Therefore, the need to uphold ethics in business practices increases manifold, owing to public trust and money being involved.
• Shareholder value: Not only do unscrupulous activities erode public trust, they may also lead to a significant erosion of shareholder value. The company must be accountable to its shareholders for all its actions.
• Tarnishing India’s image: Such allegations not only affect the reputation of the concerned organization but also tarnish the image of the parent nation. It may also lead to flight of capital and colour investor perception about India as a business destination.

(b) The stakeholders in the given case include the following:

• Company’s European arm: Since the allegations emerge from a distant geography where the company conducts its operations and the local management and staff of the firm are primarily responsible for the same.
• Senior management of the parent firm: As key decision-makers, the company’s senior management and Board of Directors are directly responsible for any act of the firm.
• Local government and people: The government of the nation wherein the incident is alleged to have occurred must take necessary steps to ensure a fair and impartial destination to conduct business and punish the culprits if charges are proved. .
• Company’s Indian shareholders: The people who are directly invested in the firm have to be informed of any such malpractices or lack thereof, since their private wealth is involved.
• National media: Since the company is an Indian major, any such act(s) that may bring disrepute to the parent nation automatically becomes a topic of interest to the Indian citizens. The national media must keep the citizens abreast of all the developments which may take place.

(c) As the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), my course of action must be informed by a keen understanding of the challenges involved and choosing the most appropriate alternative that addresses them. It will include the following:

• I shall undertake a stocktaking of the situation, beginning with a detailed analysis of the business culture in the jurisdiction where this subsidiary operates.
• I would set in place a mechanism to ascertain, beyond reasonable doubt, the veracity of the allegations and to understand whether there appear to be any violation of the laws of the land.
• I would direct the company executives to proceed quickly yet carefully and avoid alerting any potential wrongdoers who are under investigation. The necessary information is to be collected through interviews and investigative evaluation of company documents and other sources, while protecting legal privilege at all times.
• When conducting this type of internal investigation, the concerns of the shareholders and the need to avoid lengthy, expensive, and possibly disruptive internal investigations has to be balanced. Therefore, I will rope in a third party investigative consultancy to ensure that the investigation remains fair and far from any doubt.
• The investigative firm would be entrusted with the following tasks:
  • to secure the company’s servers,
  • interview relevant employees,
  • conduct a forensic IT investigation for collection and preservation of all electronic evidence; and,
  • conduct background investigations and asset tracing of target subjects.
• If, at the conclusion of the internal investigation, there is evidence that links the executive and the third party, I would ask the General Counsel of the company to ascertain if the case pertains to commercial bribery or any such illegal act, as per the law of the land.
• If the act has been conducted against the law of the land, I would ensure that the firm self- reports the case to the local government. I will also hand over the detailed findings of the internal investigation alongside the requisite evidence.
• If the act is found to be in accordance with the local laws or a generally accepted business practice, I would ensure that the public relations and communications team conducts a global reach out campaign to present the findings of the report in a palatable format. The objective of this exercise would be to reverse any damage to the company’s reputation across all regions, especially where it operates.