Case Study: A Trip to Las Vegas
Mr. Brent Wiggly is the Director of Purchasing for the Royal Hotel Company, which owns and operates 78 successful hotels in Canada. The average Royal Hotel has 200 rooms and suites. Mr. Wiggly purchases linens to service over 15,000 rooms.
Yesterday, Mr. Tom Penney, one of the top salespersons for the Linens of Today Company, arrived for his quarterly sales visit. He was very excited because he had a new product to offer, king sized bed sheets with 200-cotton thread count for only $8.00 a piece.
Mr. Wiggly treated Mr. Penney in his typically cordial manner. However, at the end of the visit, Mr. Wiggly said, "I'm sorry Tom but I am making my next big purchase of sheets with the Advantage Linen Supply Company. A salesman was just in here two days ago and offered me the exact product you have at $7.90 per sheet. That would be a loss to the Royal Hotel Company of over $1,500 if I bought only one sheet per room".
"But that's not all I have for you," Mr. Penney countered. He pulled a rather large envelope out of his inside suit coat pocket and handed it to Mr. Wiggly. "It's an all-expenses paid vacation for two in Las Vegas. It includes airfare, hotel and two meals per day," he proudly declared.
Mr. Wiggly opened the envelope. He couldn't believe his eyes. The tickets and reservations were all there. "Wow" he thought to himself. "My wife and I would love this! And what's an extra $1,5000 to the Royal Hotel Chain anyway?"
What is the moral thing to do, using the point of view of Kantian Ethics?