Ethical Issues and Analysis
The element of the case study to be analyzed is the conflicting personalities between a manager and his subordinate. The case study opens with the dilemma of Keller contemplating what he should do about Brodsky:
The most pressing problem concerned Dmitri Brodsky, Königsbräu-TAK’s commercial director. As Keller saw it, he had three options. One option was to fire Brodsky or, at the minimum, not give him an annual salary increase, which might have the same effect. Keller suspected that firing him would not be well received by Königsbräu’s corporate headquarters, and Brodsky’s voluntary departure might also raise questions. A second alternative was to try, once again, to help Brodsky improve his performance. The third alternative was to try to reorganize around Brodsky to compensate for his inadequacies, perhaps by splitting marketing and sales. (GABARRO, 2008)
In conundrums such as the case study poses it’s important to think through the fact that managerial decisions have career implications for both the manager and subordinate. It’s important to recognize individual differences in employees and management when making hard decisions for the betterment of the workplace, no matter the circumstance.
Chapter eight of the text, Business Ethics, opens with the statement:
Employees have all sorts of job-related concerns. Generally speaking, they want to do well at their assignments, to get along with their colleagues, and to have their contributions to the organization recognized. Their job tasks, working conditions, and wages and the possibility of promotion are among the many things that occupy their day-to-day thoughts. Aside from the actual work that they are expected to perform, employees, being human, are naturally concerned about the way their organizations treat them. Frequently they find that treatment to be morally deficient and