Ethical Behavior: Hooters Case Study

Play on Words Ethical behavior is often spoken about in textbooks throughout a student’s school years; therefore, one might think purposely deceiving an employee should never happen. Consequently, unethical behavior often happens in the workplace. Scholarly textbook reading often consists of not performing any unethical acts; however, they are mostly referring to illegal acts or acts that could cause harm to others. In fact, Monge eloquently stated, “can we systematically make determinations of right and wrong in a market capitalist economy without undermining the benefits that capitalism is supposed to afford us (p. 430)? Distinction between unethical and illegal acts that occur is taught during school years, it should feel normal to discuss …show more content…
The Hooters case is evidence that misleading staff into friendly competition is construed as lying when unexpected results are the outcome. The novel attempt to conduct a group-based incentive plan backfired for Hooters as the end reward above normal pay, was not clearly understood by both parties involved (Aamodt, 2015). The manager of Hooters probably could have handled this much differently. The competition could have been portrayed to the public with the misleading play on words; however, the staff should have been involved from the beginning, resulting in a friendly competition with no hard feelings in the …show more content…
A manager that offers a competition to his or her employees that rewards them with cold hard cash bonuses, food options, or any other potential desirable is doing so to improve the sales or profits of the business. This intrinsic motivation is not much different than an extrinsic motivator to customers in the form of coupons and other specials in an effort to entice them into the business. The ethical danger is not normally concerned with the winner; however, the non-winners are often left with nothing to show for after giving extra effort. This can leave the non-winners felling dejected or resentful to the victor. Presenting smaller rewards is actually a positive; therefore, the non-winners don’t feel that as much reward was not one and the victor still gets a perk. Managers, should avoid humiliation tactics as they can have lasting negative effects; however, some situations warrant it such as in sports competitions. Losers oftentimes have to cut his or her hair, or wear the jersey of a rival team. These are typically OK; consequently, ensure the outcome is well understood by all parties involved, this should help avoid some of the pitfalls of competitive incentive in the