Question

Five years ago Al graduated from college and began working for Superlative Software Corporation. His most recent promotion has made him the manager of a large group of software engineers and support staff. One of Al’s responsibilities is to submit his budget request for the next fiscal year. He’s never done this before, so one day over lunch he asks Barb, a more experienced manager, for some advice.
Barb: Figure out what you really need to complete the projects your group will be doing, and then add another 20 percent. High-level management always cuts every-body’s budget 10 to 20 percent, so after they reduce your budget, you’ll still have the money you need.
Al: But the memo from the vice president said we should only ask for the amount of money we really need.
Barb: Nobody pays attention to that.
Al: What if they ask me to justify my budget? It’ll be pretty obvious that I’ve padded it.
Barb: They never do that—they don’t have the time. Even if they did, you can work the numbers to justify the extra staff you’ll need to meet the tight deadlines they’ve set.
Al: You mean lie?
Barb: Look, what are you going to do if your group doesn’t get the budget it needs? You won’t be able to staff up for the new projects. That means you and all your current staff are going to be super stressed all year long trying to meet the deadlines. Spare yourself a lot of grief and do what all the other managers are doing.
What would you do if you were in Al’s position? Why?

Answer 1

Al has graduated from his college and he was able to achieve a promotion only after five long years of joining to a software firm. Now Al has to figure out how to keep his promotion as a manager intact by successfully managing his team.

Al has never done the management job before and hence it was a good decision to ask a friend who already had some experience. However, the suggestion of his friend Barb, puts Al in a dilemma. Barb having several years of experience suggested that Al should pad the budget by adding 10-20 percent extra to it. This was because the higher level management will always try and cut the final budget.

What Barb is suggesting to do is also called as "Ethical lying". As we all know lying is wrong. But ethical lying tells that lying is a bad thing unless it has a good reason behind it. Barb also tells that its being done by the other managers as well.

This is the kind of situation where an employee's ethical behaviour is proven and his loyalty to the company can be reassured. Al can definitely take the suggestion of his friend and do what all the other managers are doing. But how will Al be different from all others if he continues to do what everybody else is doing?

By not altering his budget requirements Al is only taking certain amount of healthy risk and stress. But it is not impossible to finish off the work by the end of the year. Ethical lying is only applicable at the rarest scenarios. It should not be used very often and definitely not against your own company. Al should simply go ahead and take the amount of money he really needs and opt for some of the best talented team who reduces the requirement of extra team members.

Al is performing this job for the first time and he will be having more risk of getting caught if he follows his friend's suggestion. If he gets caught doing unethical things, he may be removed from his position and not just that, he can also be sentenced to punishment depending on the severity of the crime.