Task: Ethical Covert Research
Paul Spicker
The Robert Gordon University, UK
https://soc.sagepub.com/content/45/1/118
The president of your company, a 500-employee manufacturer of specialized medical instruments, is concerned with rumors about unionization of the company's manufacturing personnel. She has heard that employees are considering cooperating with a union to conduct a drive to organize. She has called you in to talk because he wants your help to learn more.
You are currently in the middle of a four-month management training program for entry-level management employees. In this program, trainees rotate through a wide variety of positions, to learn about the company. Since you are about to spend a period on the assembly line, she wants you to observe and learn what you can about any plans to try to unionize, who is leading the effort, and why they are doing so.
Given what you have read in Spicker's "Ethical Covert Research" article, do you think this is something you would be willing to do? Why or why not?