Martha McCaskey
Marco Rangel
lEADERSHIP AND BUSINESS ETHICS
The following is a summary of the case study which narrates the ethical problem that Martha McCaskey, faces during her work or a particular project she is heading. She has to decide between paying Devon (another consultant) for information she needs for her analysis on the Silicon 6 project, or abandon the project altogether to maintain the integrity of her company and in the process loose the recognition from her superiors and miss the opportunity of a promotion as well.
The Situation
Martha McCaskey was feeling euphoric and uneasy after her meeting with Tom Malone and Bud Hackert, the top two executives of the Industry Analysis Division of Seleris. Malone, the de facto COO of the division assured McCaskey that as soon as the Silicon 6 study was complete she would be promoted to group director, however, the project was no easy task.
The client of Seleris, a semi-conductor manufacturer, was trying to identify the manufacturing costs of a new semi-conductor produced by one of its competitors. McCaskey, realized that Devon, a semi-conductor industry consultant that had previously worked for the client’s competitor, could provide her with the critical information she needed to complete the project in less time. But, she had serious problems with the way she had to obtain the information, even when Silicon 6 was a project that represented about 20% of the division’s revenue and the possibility of future, just as important, projects from the same client. McCaskey felt that regardless of which option she took, she was compromising her personal values as she had the ideology of always maintaining integrity in her job.
Background
Seleris Associates
Is a mid-sized consulting firm with based in Chicago and with offices in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Founded in 1962, by 1996 it had around 500 employees and it always had a reputation of high professional and technical