Answer to Question #196493 in Management for Gab

Question

Mini-Case No. 7

A Firm Production Date

Questions:

1. Tom was obviously overconfident in the final stages of the testing process, but was his behavior unethical? Why or Why not?

2. Given Scott's concerns over R&D's credibility, should he have taken Tom'sp productiondate as being absolutely firm?

3. In fact, Scott was so skeptical of Tom's production date that he recorded their original conversation without Tom's knowledge and then produced the recording when Tom denied giving a firm production date Tom responded. "You taped my conversation without telling me! That's unethical." Was it?

4. Has Scott's behavior damaged future relations between marketing and R&D? In what way? How could this situation have been avoided?

Answer 1

1.Tom's behaviour was ethical because his view of the firm's production date was based on a test process he was sure would yield the correct date.

2.Scott should not have taken the proposed date as firm, instead he should have shared his concerns with other stakeholders in order to evaluate the possibility of delays in the prodution date.

3. Scott's act of recording Tom was unethical because it was done without his consent.Moreover, the recording was being used unfairly against him.

4.Scott's behaviour ruins future relationships because it creates mistrust. Individuals will be more reluntant to share information or state their opinions fearing they might be victimized for sharing their opinion. The situation could have been avoided if Scott had not produced the recording of Tom.