You are the Chief Operating Officer for a small international computer company who has the opportunity to land a huge overseas client. You have been assigned the task of organizing a team to create a marketing plan to present to the potential clients this Thursday. Because the company is small and the team has limited resources, you rely on a team of three individuals from different departments to put together the major components of the proposal because you also have two earlier deadlines to meet. It is Wednesday and you just reviewed the progress memo presented by the team members. The proposal is far behind deadline and there is little chance a quality marketing plan will be produced in time for the Thursday morning meeting. Given the time restrictions, you feel the proposal is not robust enough to present to the clients. However, because there is an opportunity to gain a new international client, you feel pressure to present the marketing proposal.
1) What would you do in this situation? Would you present the proposal although you know it lacks quality? Why or why not?
2) What are the major ethical challenges presented in this scenario? What could have been done differently to prevent these ethical challenges?
3) Reflect on a past personal or professional experience where you felt pressure to do something that was not your best effort. Relate that situation and the outcome to your team. Explain what went wrong, what you would have done differently, and how that experience might help them solve the problems with their proposal.