Which of the following, if true, might strengthen the ethical case for

QUESTION

Which of the following, if true, might strengthen the ethical case for giving a larger bonus for Tracy?

A) Asked to explain his tactics, Tracy said that sales work is an intrinsically competitive field, and coworkers should expect him to act in his own self-interest.
B) One of the company’s key policies involves tying bonuses strictly to sales records to ensure fairness to all personnel.
C) The entire sales staff had recently undergone a thorough refresher course in ethical behavior in sales.
D) Middle managers felt that most of the complaints were based on jealousy over Tracy’s increased success rate.
E) Providing a larger bonus to Tracy would give coworkers added incentive to increase their own sales records.

ANSWER

Answer: B
Explanation: B) The key ethical issue balances fairness to individuals against fairness to the entire workforce. If the company places primary value on individual performance, then it would be unfair to reduce a “better than average” worker’s bonus based on complaints that are not actionable. So Choice B strengthens the argument to give Tracy a stronger bonus. Choice E might be a practical incentive for giving the higher bonus, but it has no ethical standing if workers feel the tactics used to increase sales were not strictly honest. Likewise, Choice A reflects a realistic but essentially amoral justification that does not strengthen the ethical case for the increased bonus. If the conclusion made by the managers in Choice D is well justified, then the company is right to ignore the complaints, but this does not in itself make awarding a higher bonus ethical. Choice C likewise does not affect the facts relating to this particular decision.