How does ethics training help employees respond to ethical dilemmas?

"Offering Ethics Training Programs In addition to providing a system to resolve ethical dilemmas, organizations also provide formal training to develop an awareness of questionable business activities and practice appropriate responses. Many companies have some type of ethics training program. The ones that are most effective, like those created by Levi Strauss, American Express, and Campbell Soup Company, begin with techniques for solving ethical dilemmas such as those discussed earlier. Next, employees are presented with a series of situations and asked to come up with the “best” ethical solution. One of these ethical dilemmas is shown in Table 2.1. According to a recent survey by the Ethics Resource Center, more than 80 percent of U.S. companies provide some sort of ethics training for employees, which may include online activities, videos, and even games. 4\n\nAn Ethical Dilemma Used for Employee Training Bill Gannon was a middle manager of a large manufacturer of lighting fixtures in Newark, New Jersey. Bill had moved up the company ladder rather quickly and seemed destined for upper management in a few years. Bill’s boss, Dana Johnson, had been pressuring him about the semiannual reviews concerning Robert Talbot, one of Bill’s employees. Dana, it seemed, would not accept any negative comments on Robert’s evaluation forms. Bill had found out that a previous manager who had given Robert a bad evaluation was no longer with the company. As Bill reviewed Robert’s performance for the forthcoming evaluation period, he found many areas of subpar performance. Moreover, a major client had called recently complaining that Robert had filled a large order improperly and then had been rude to the client when she called to complain.\n\nTable 2.1\n\nAn Ethical Dilemma Used for Employee Training\n\nDiscussion Questions\n\n1. What ethical issues does the situation raise?\n\n2. What courses of action could Bill take? Describe the ethics of each course.\n\n3. Should Bill confront Dana? Dana's boss?\n\n4. What would you do in this situation? What are the ethical implications?"