Case Study: An Intern's Dilemma

An Intern’s Dilemma Have you ever felt that something was not quite right? As an intern Mark was asked to do something he just did not feel comfortable doing. He knew he needed to complete his internship, but was not comfortable lying to the companies he was seeking information from about who he was representing. Mark had a lot to process through and decide how he would proceed. He needed to decide what was ethical, how his ethics aligned with the corporations, and how he would respond to the request.
Describe what Mark identified as unethical? Mark felt that lying about who he represented was unethical. The Asian Vice President wanted him to lie about who he was to get inside information from the other companies. Mark was supposed …show more content…
Mark found out that the company was trying to assure that their offices across all geographic areas aligned with the ethics and values of the company. Mark had a conversation with the CEO, where he asked about the culture of the company. Mark was able to reassure himself that what he was asked to do was not aligning with the culture or values of the company. He then knew that he needed to confront the Asian Vice President and let him know he was not comfortable lying about who he was to gather …show more content…
If I was the CEO of the company, I would be pleased to hear that Mark was willing to stand up for something he felt was not acceptable behavior. As the CEO I would also offer Mark the job of looking into the other branches of the company to assure they are complying with the company’s ethics. I think I would also work with Mark to have him assist the international offices learn why it is important to follow the values and ethics of the country where the company was founded. I might also ask Mark to develop a training to educate the global offices of the company 's values. If I was the Asian Vice President, I would be a little upset at first because I was not aware that what I was asking Mark to do was unethical. I think I would ask Mark why he was uncomfortable in the suggestion. Understanding why he did not feel right about pretending he was a student instead of an intern to gather information for competitors, would educate me on ethics. Since we come from different places we do not know what other countries feel is right or wrong. I may also ask Mark to help implement a training on ethics and values to assure the employees meet the company’s