12.7 Exercises

Ethical Dilemma

Your company is in the process of hiring a benefits specialist. As a future peer of the person to be hired, you will be one of the interviewers and will talk to all candidates. The company you are working for is a small organization that was acquired. The job advertisement for the position talks about the high level of autonomy that will be available to the job incumbent. Moreover, your manager wants you to sell the position by highlighting the opportunities that come from being a part of a Fortune 500, such as career growth and the opportunity to gain global expertise. The problem is that you do not believe being part of a larger company is such a benefit. In fact, since the company has been acquired by the Fortune 500, the way business is being conducted has changed dramatically. Now there are many rules and regulations that prevent employees from making important decisions autonomously. Moreover, no one from this branch was ever considered for a position in the headquarters or for any global openings. In other words, the picture being painted by the hiring managers and the company’s HR department in the job advertisements is inflated and not realistic. Your manager feels you should sell the job and the company because your competitors are doing the same thing, and being honest might mean losing great candidates. You know that you and your manager will interview several candidates together.

Is this unethical? Why or why not? What would you do before and during the interview to address this dilemma?

Individual Exercise

Impact of HR Practices on Organizational Culture

Below are scenarios of critical decisions you may need to make as a manager. Read each question and select one from each pair of statements. Then, think about the impact your choice would have on the company’s culture.

1. You need to lay off 10 people. Would you
   1. lay off the newest 10 people?
   2. lay off the 10 people who have the lowest performance evaluations?
2. You need to establish a dress code. Would you
   1. ask employees to use their best judgment?
   2. create a detailed dress code highlighting what is proper and improper?
3. You need to monitor employees during work hours. Would you
   1. not monitor them because they are professionals and you trust them?
   2. install a program monitoring their Web usage to ensure that they are spending work hours actually doing work?
4. You need to conduct performance appraisals. Would you
   1. evaluate people on the basis of their behaviors?
   2. evaluate people on the basis of their results (numerical sales figures and so on)?
5. You need to promote individuals. Would you promote individuals based on
   1. seniority?
   2. objective performance?