Case Study - Party Hardy

Now we're going to look at another situation at the Front Desk of the Freshwater Oasis Inn (FOI). You remember in Party Hardy that Trini, one of the housekeepers, wants Jim, at the front desk, to give her keys to an empty room so her boyfriend's buddy can have a free place to stay while visiting. He doesn't want to, but Jim partied with Trini and her boyfriend the week before, and now she says he owes her. Should Jim give her the room or not? We all know that it would be wrong for Jim to do this. We probably all know that it is wrong for Trini to ask Jim to do this. We might know something is wrong but decide to do it anyway, perhaps figuring that we won't get caught and it won't be a big deal.

We're going to analyze this situation using the Ethics Analysis Form to identify as many of the consequences as possible. We cannot avoid the more obscure negative consequences if we do a formal analysis. We don't want to find ourselves, after-the-fact, thinking, "I sure wish I had given this more thought before I acted." That's the point of analysis.

The form has spaces for the decision option we are considering, stakeholders, ethical principles involved, and consequences of the particular decision on various stakeholders. The first thing we always do is identify the decision option. Which is? (Jim gives Trini the empty room for her boyfriend's buddy.) Enter it on a blank form.

Ethics Analysis Form

Decision Option: Stakeholders Principles Consequences Stakeholders: Now, who may be affected by Jim's decision? (Jim, Trini, Other Employees, Gabe, Other Guests, FOI) Enter these on the form.

Consequences: Come up with your own answers and write them on the form. Compare your analysis with the key at the end. Jim: Analysis is about asking questions to get at the answers we need. We start with the first stakeholder, Jim. He is our Decision Maker. We want to know what could happen to him if he gives Trini the room. At this point this is between Jim and Trini. How will she react to Jim giving her the room? (They will like Jim and continue inviting him to their parties.) How will she react to Jim if he doesn't give her the room? (They won't like him and might be mean to him.)

If Jim gives her the room, will requests like this ever come up again? Will other employees hear about the free room? Will they ever ask Jim for similar favors? Jim doesn't want to give Trini the room. If he does it once, will it be easier the next time? Is it possible that Jim's manager, Gabe, could find out? What could happen to Jim if he does? (His reputation as a good worker could be damaged and he might not get promotions, or, most likely, he could be fired.)

These are possible consequences if Jim gives Trini the room. They might not happen. It might be that it's a one-time thing and he doesn't get caught. What do you think the probability is that Trini will never ask him to do her any other favors? (Very small.) What about the probability of getting caught? (He might not get caught this time, but every time he does something wrong for Trini, he risks getting caught. It's bound to happen sooner or later.) Trini: To analyze possible consequences that could happen to Jim, we asked "What could happen to Jim if he gives Trini the room?" Now we are going to analyze possible consequences that could happen to Trini if Jim gives her the room. The initial decision involved Jim and Trini, so they have related possible consequences. How will she feel if Jim gives her the room? What might she do in the future? (She might ask for more favors.) How will she feel if Jim doesn't give her the room? What might she do? (She might be mean to Jim.) Could Trini get caught? How? (Noise complaints, the room actually getting booked for real guests, another employee might find out and tell, etc.) What could happen to her? (She could get fired.)

Other Employees: The main question we are asking here is, What are the possible consequences to other employees if Jim gives Trini the room? Are there any possible consequences to other employees if Jim does not give Trini the room? (No) I asked you the questions that were needed to do analysis of possible consequences for Jim and Trini. I would like you to take a couple minutes and jot down the possible consequences for other employees. Ask questions like, "Will they find out? What might they do?" and so forth. Write your consequences on the form and then compare them to the key below.

Gabe: The big question we are asking here is, What are the possible consequences for Gabe if Jim gives Trini the room? What is the next question? (Will Gabe find out? What if he does? What if he doesn't? What are other questions that need to be asked? Write your answers to the questions on the form. They should be similar to the consequences on the key.

Guests: How could Jim's giving Trini the room affect guests? Ask yourself the questions and write down the possible consequences for guests. Compare your analysis to the key.

Freshwater Oasis Inn: What are the possible consequences to FOI if Jim gives Trini the room? Will management find out? What will be going on in the room? Could other guests be disturbed? What will happen if they are? If there's a disturbance coming from the room, is it possible that some guests might be bothered by it but not complain? What would the consequences be for that? If employees know this is occurring and management does nothing about it, morale could be effected. Employees could be less satisfied, resulting in increased turnover and possible damage to FOI's reputation as a good place to work.

All these consequences are negative. They may or may not actually happen. What do you think is the probability of the negative consequences happening for each of the stakeholders? There's a good chance that Jim could have more problems in the future, more risk, and get caught sooner or later and lose his job.

Jim's action could cause all sorts of difficulties for Gabe and possibly hurt FOI. You could be in Gabe's position down the road. What could you do to decrease the possibility of your workers making bad decisions that could negatively affect you and your department? Think about company cultures and the socialization of employees into the culture, establishing a culture of ethics and training our employees in ethics and making good decisions.

Ethical Principles for Hospitality Managers: Now let's see which of the Ethical Principles are violated by Jim's decision to give Trini the room. Jim is the decision maker in this situation. We are looking for principles that are violated by the decision maker. Go down the list of principles asking if any were violated by Jim's decision. Write them on the form in the “principles" space in the Jim row. Check the key.

Does Jim's decision to give Trini the room violate Honesty? (Yes) What about integrity? (Yes. He knows it's not right to give Trini the room.) Trustworthiness? (Yes. Jim is not trustworthy if he does this.) Loyalty? (Yes. The room belongs to FOI. FOI pays Jim to take care of its rooms. Jim is supposed to be loyal to FOI, not Trini.) Fairness? (Maybe. It could be seen as "unfair" if Jim gives Trini a room yet doesn't give other employees the same.) Concern and Respect for Others? (Maybe or maybe not, though Jim isn't showing a lot of respect or concern for himself if he does this.) Commitment to Excellence? (Yes. If we are doing our best work, we are not giving away company property.) Leadership and Reputation and Morale may have more to do with management. Jim is not responsible for leading FOI workers, nor is he responsible for[reputation and morale, although he can certainly harm both reputation and morale by misbehaving. We are all accountable for our own behavior, but it is Gabe as front desk manager who is accountable for what goes on in this department.

Most of the ethical principles will be violated if Jim makes the decision to give the room to Trini, and he stands a good chance of experiencing at least some of the possible negative consequences. Is there any benefit to Jim in giving the room to Trini? Does he really want to be friends with Trini? Is it worth the risk of experiencing at least some of the negative consequences? What do you think Jim should do in this situation, and what will be the probable consequences of that decision? (Not give Trini the room and have her mad at him.)

KEY – Ethics Analysis Form

(40) Party Hardy Decision Option: Jim gives Trini the empty room for her friend's friend Stakeholders Principles Consequences Jim (front desk) Honesty  Trini and her friends will continue to Integrity invite Jim to their parties and will like Trustworthiness him. (They probably won't like Jim if Loyalty he doesn't give them the room and may Commitment to be mean to him.) Excellence  Trini may expect Jim to give her rooms at other times.  Other employees may hear about this and expect Jim to give them rooms too.  Jim may find it easier to do other questionable things, increasing his risk of getting caught.  Jim could get a reputation for being less than a straight arrow. This could damage his ability to move up in the organization.  Management could find out and fire Jim. Trini  Trini could get fired if they are caught. (Housekeeper)  If Trini is given the room, she may feel that it is acceptable behavior and demand more favors from Jim.  If Trini is not given the room, she will be mad at and possibly nasty to Jim.

Other  Other employees could find out about Employees the party in the room and want free rooms of their own.  Other employees could learn about the free room and think that such behavior by employees is wrong. They might be angry about it and lose respect for management who do nothing about the situation, and/or  Be in a dilemma about whether or not to tell on their fellow workers.  Other employees who know what Trini and Jim have done may have less respect for them as fellow workers. They might not even want to work with them anymore, causing disruption in workplace harmony and teamwork.

Gabe (Front  If Gabe finds out, he will have to deal Desk Manager) with a bad situation and will have to discipline or fire Jim. Trini is not in his department, so Gabe will have to involve the head of housekeeping as well.  If Gabe doesn't find out, other employees might lose respect for Gabe because he’s not on top of things in his own department.  Gabe is responsible for front desk operations. If there are problems in his department, his reputation with the G.M. could be damaged.

Other Guests  Guests who have to complain about loud parties late at night are not satisfied.  Some guests may be bothered by loud parties late at night but may not complain. FOI  If guests are dissatisfied, FOI's reputation as a safe, quiet place to stay could suffer. The bottom line could be affected.  If employees are doing things they should not be doing, the reputation of FOI as a good place to work could be damaged. Management might not be able to attract the best employees in the future.