Using Company Resources
originally titled: The Borrowed
Tools
[Prepared with James Jaksa.]
XYZ Corporation permits its employees to borrow company
tools. Engineer Al House took full advantage of this privilege.
He went one step further and ordered tools for his unit that
would be useful for his home building projects even though they
were of no significant use to his unit at XYZ. Engineer Michael
Green had suspected for some time that Al was ordering tools
for personal rather than company use, but he had no unambiguous
evidence until he overheard a revealing conversation between Al
and Bob Deal, a contract salesman from whom Al frequently
purchased tools.
Michael was reluctant to directly confront Al. They had
never gotten along well, and Al was a senior engineer who
wielded a great deal of power over Michael in their unit.
Michael was also reluctant to discuss the matter with the chief
engineer of their unit, in whom he had little confidence or
trust.
Eventually Michael decided to talk with the Contract
Procurement Agent, whose immediate response was, "This really
stinks." The Contract Procurement Agent agreed not to reveal
that Michael had talked with him. He then called the chief
engineer, indicating only that a reliable source had informed
him about Al House's inappropriate purchases. In turn, the
chief engineer confronted Al. Finally, Al House directly
confronted each of the engineers in his unit he thought might
have "ratted" on him. When Al questioned Michael, Michael
denied any knowledge of what took place.
Later Michael explained to his wife, "I was forced to lie. I
told Al, 'I don't know anything about this'."
Discuss the ethical issues this case raises.