Case scenario: Falsifying Attendance
Gustav is a Junior System Administrator and he works in the Management Information Systems Department. This morning, he clocked in 4 minutes and 27 seconds late. Even though he won't get fired for it, being late means that he will not receive the incentive for perfect attendance. which he needs the incentive and has to make ends meet, given his son's recent series of hospitalizations.
It's not that Gustav didn't make an effort to be there on time. He arrived in the office even five minutes early but could not clock in immediately because his direct supervisor, Donald, asked him for an informal report of a project progress as soon as he walked in the door.
As a Junior System Administrator, Gustav has access to the company's attendance records and is able to edit it. He figures that since the boss's request was the reason of his late punching in, He can edit the timestamp on his attendance for today and it wouldn't hurt.
Considering Kantian ethical framework (Deontology) answer the following Questions,
Q1. According to Deontology, what are the factors that we should take into account in this case?
Q2. Has Gustav done anything wrong based on a Kantian ethical framework? How can Gustav justify his action?
Q3. What would you do if you were Gustav? Why?
Q4. Do you think it is appropriate to break one moral code to satisfy another, perhaps greater one?