GenXmanager: Leadership for the Generation X Manager

Dunder Mifflin corporate asked Michael to gather some information on a competitor in a potential new market. Michael and Dwight decide to go “undercover” and obtain competitive intelligence. Michael pretended to be a potential client while Dwight pretended to be an interested potential employee. You can watch the episode to get caught up.

Michael successfully extracted the necessary competitive intelligence. However, because he pretended to be a potential client, the owner of this small, “ma and pa” paper distributor also gave Michael their full client list. Michael realized that if he were to share the client list with Dunder Mifflin corporate, he would likely devastate the small business and cause harm to the family who owned the business.

Here’s the ethical question: Should Michael have used deception to obtain competitor information and should Michael share the list he obtained from the competitor? If he does share the list, he will likely advance his standing at Dunder Mifflin corporate which will likely help his career. If he doesn’t share the list he will have done the minimum information collection but will not overly impress his boss.

Michael was deceptive in the way he obtained the list. It was easy to sense his inner turmoil and guilt. So we need to first determine the ethical significance of his deception.

Some would say, as Dwight did, that “It’s business, nothing personal.” Some would rightfully argue that the business landscape is competitive and companies need to gather intelligence. If it means “going undercover” then that is what it takes. Others, however, would say that deception is not an acceptable business practice. Michael lied to get information and therefore his actions were unethical and wrong.

The next consideration is his sharing of the competitor’s client list with corporate. From what we know, corporate did not ask for a client list and only wanted information that would have been available if the competitor were a public organization. Michael began to collect that information by asking, “How many clients do you have?” and “When did you setup shop?” He even asked about how they stocked their trucks. But the client list was an unexpected “gift”.

Michael knew he was experiencing an ethical dilemma but eventually gave into Dwight’s unconvincing arguments (it dealt with Lord of the Rings and other such Dwight nonsense). In the end, he gave the client list to corporate.

I’ll be asking my MGMT 600 class to deal with this ethical dilemma and I’m sure some will fall on the side of Michael and others will say that everything he did was wrong. What would you do given the same situation?

Last consideration…perhaps it is time for business to move beyond this type of activity. I’d argue that the current financial mess of 2008 and 2009 is in part a result of unethical business practices, greed, and deception. Business is business but perhaps it’s time to move beyond business and become enterprises that earn profits, innovate, act ethically, and are socially responsible. Call it Business 3.0.