嘉文博译-写作中心原创写作案例

A businessperson is often faced with the problem of whether or not to lie, cheat, to break the terms of a contract in carrying out a transaction. However, ethical dilemmas faced by managers are often more realistic and highly complex.

As manager of the Marketing Department, I receive approximately 100 phone calls each day. One morning, a new client called to enquire whether our company had TMP (a type of pulp) in stock. I knew that precisely at that time the cargo our company had ordered from the United States supplier failed to arrive due to a shipment delay. Therefore I told him that the material that he was looking for was temporarily out of stock in my company. The client continued to ask whether I knew any other company could readily supply the goods. As an insider, I was of course absolutely clear which of the companies had the merchandise on hand. However, all those companies were my competitors! Under such circumstances, how could I possibly inform my client that my competitors could supply him with what I couāldn’t? Therefore, Should I tell him about my competitors, or let him go without getting what he needed? What should I do? This becomes the ethical dilemma that I have to face frequently.

In the face of such a professional ethical dilemma, I would make different decisions to deal with it according to different circumstances.

On one hand, if our company can immediately make orders with our overseas supplier and in turn supply our client with what he demands within the negotiated time limit，I would choose not to tell my client anything about all my potential clients, although this might be somehow against my conscience. I would try to keep a clear conscience by justifying my practice on the following grounds. First of all, what I do will not damage the interests of my client because I will deliver the goods according to the fixed time schedule. More importantly, I can protect the interests of the company that I represent. As a member of the company, I believe that the interests of the company are supreme.

On the other hand, if our company cannot supply the client with the goods within the time limit that he fixes, in order not to affect the client’s business operation, I would choose to let him know how to get what he wants from other companies that have the goods in stock, whether those companies are my immediate and potential competitors or not. Although I will lose an individual transactioān in so doing, I believe that I can win the trust of the client and from a long-term perspective such a trust would ultimately win over more clients and hence more profits to our company.