Question

Because of your excellent communication skills, your boss always asks you to write his reports for him. When you overhear the CEO complimenting him on his logical organization and clear writing style, your boss responds as if he’d written all those reports himself. What kind of ethical choice does your boss’s response represent? What can you do in this situation? Briefly explain your solution and your reasoning.

Answer 1

My boss in this scenario represents an ethical lapse because it is unethical of him to take credit for someone else’s work. In this situation, I would request to sit down with my boss and discuss how unethical his actions are and would suggest that he no longer take credit for my work and that he needs to make it known to the CEO that he did not write those reports himself. If he would like to take credit, I would offer to assist him in teaching him how to organize and clearly write up the reports so that he may do them in the future. I would suggest that if did not comply with my request that I would take it up with human resources. I choose to address the issue with him first before going to someone else to give him the opportunity to act in a more ethical manner