We have been talking about Christian business ethics this week. We talked about what Christian business ethics are and we talked about how to set up policies for your business.
Today, I want to look at ethical scenarios. There are no right or wrong answers as long as you are continuing to run your business on biblical principles. With that in mind, take time to read these scenarios with your team, even if you are your own team. Write out a step by step solution on how you would handle these scenarios.
Ethical Scenarios for Christian Business*
Business Ethics Scenario 1
The purchasing manager for a large company agrees to give you an order (their first). He expects you to make a $200 donation to his favorite charity, a local youth sports team. How do you respond?
Business Ethics Scenario 2
A customer executive from Southeast Asia will visit your HQ facility and meet with your executive team. Your independent Southeast Asian agent requests that you reimburse the customer for his expenses, including expenses that could violate your company’s policies (and maybe even your Christian morals.) The agent will reimburse you. How do you proceed?
Business Ethics Scenario 3
A large, prospective client calls you and asks about a competitor’s reputation. One of your long time customers had a very bad experience with this competitor. What information do you share with the prospect? How do you respond to the prospect call?
Business Ethics Scenario 4
As department manager, you are hosting an informal celebration in the office. The food budget is $200. Your next door neighbor has just started her own catering business and asks to supply the food. Since she is just starting out, she’ll do it at cost and provide extra items at no charge. What might you want to consider?
Business Ethics Scenario 5
You see on social media that someone is smearing your company. They are touting that your product or service is useless. They claim that you charge too much and you are not a company of values. This is on multiple social media channels including a review site that your company uses. What do you do?
Business Ethics Scenario 6
You are in a head-to-head battle with your arch competitor, Evil Enterprises. One of your co-workers approaches you. He has recently joined your company after having worked for a second competitor for several years.
He suggests, “I made notes on all of Evil Enterprise’s bids when I could get the data. They use some clear cost standards. Would you like me to bring my notes to the office tomorrow and let you look through them?” How do you respond?
TAKE ACTION
Take time to go through these scenarios in depth. Write down a step by step process on how you would handle each scenario. After you have done this, answer the following questions based on what you found.
- How would you respond?
- What written policies do you have in place to guide your decisions?
- What guidelines, policies or procedures do you need to implement in your business based on your decisions?
- Do your employees know where to find these policies? If not, consider a training event to focus specifically on ethics in the workplace.
Christian ethics in business means making the tough decisions for the right reasons. #ChristianEntrepreneur #ChristianBusiness #ChristianEthics Click To Tweet
