At first, Susan Kim wasn’t sure whether she’d heard her new manager correctly. The phone line was relatively clear for a call between San Francisco and Seoul, but she still asked Sukbin Moon to repeat himself. Mr. Moon (as Susan had been told to call him by her half-Korean father) was the Seoul office manager of Zantech, a technology security firm with headquarters in Amsterdam. Susan was just starting her summer internship with the company, and she was supposed to be in Seoul working with Mr. Moon’s team, but there had been complications with her visa. Emma Visser, the head of the company’s intern program, had suggested she get started from afar. One of her primary duties during the summer would be helping Mr. Moon with market research by reaching out to other technology firms, including direct competitors, for information on products, services offered, customers, sales, and other data. He’d already e-mailed her a list of target companies and contact names. Now he was telling her that when she contacted people on the list, it would be best to use her university e-mail address and introduce herself as an MBA student. Perhaps sensing her hesitation, Mr. Moon added, “This is common practice. It’s the only way to get accurate information.”1 CASE STUDY CLASSROOM NOTES 1 Does knowing that the company has done this before make the request more acceptable? Sandra Sucher poses this question when she teaches this case. Susan shifted uncomfortably in her chair. This was her first conversation with her new manager, and she wanted to make a good impression. “You won’t get the information otherwise,” Mr. Moon said, filling the silence. “This is what other interns have done in the past. You don’t need to worry.” Still unsure how to respond—or how frank she could be since her father had also told her that direct confrontation was frowned upon in most Asian cultures—she simply said, “OK.” She asked a few more questions about the information she was supposed to get and then hung up. Susan had badly wanted this internship. Her first job out of college had been with a management consultancy, and she’d been staffed right away on a project with a cybersecurity firm. From the start, she was fascinated with the work. She decided to go back to school to get her MBA and planned to eventually join a company on the forefront of this exploding field. In an industry expected to generate $170 billion in revenue by 2020, she knew she’d have many opportunities. And she was elated when Zantech made her an offer. If she played her cards right, it could turn into a full-time job after she graduated. But now Mr. Moon was asking her to misrepresent herself.2 She understood that gathering competitive intelligence required “creativity”—after all, you were seeking information that your rivals wanted to keep private—but this seemed like it might be crossing the line. 2 Sucher lays out four questions for her students to consider should they be confronted with an ethical dilemma: (1) Am I comfortable with the likely consequences of this action? (2) Am I fulfilling my duties and respecting others’ rights? (3) Am I respecting the community and its norms? (4) Am I meeting my and my company’s commitments? In one of her father’s many mini-lectures on how business works in Asia, he had mentioned that expectations and even ethics would be different in Seoul—but that knowledge didn’t ease her anxiety now. Was shading the truth “common practice” in Korea or common practice at Zantech?3 3 Should a company’s practices differ across its offices? Many globalizing firms have difficulty effectively implementing a common set of values and behaviors. Put It in Perspective When Susan woke up the next morning, she already had several e-mails from Mr. Moon, with sample inquiries attached. She noticed right away that he had cc’d Emma Visser and a man whose name she didn’t recognize. A quick search showed that he was Zantech’s head of market research for Asia. She was supposed to start making calls on Monday, and it was now Thursday afternoon. She had to figure out soon what she was going to do about the request. Rather than answer right away, she went out for a jog, hoping to clear her head. But 30 minutes in, she was still ruminating about what Mr. Moon had asked her to do. When her phone rang with a call from her dad, she was happy for the distraction—and hoped to hear some sound advice. This was one of their routines. He’d call her around lunchtime on the East Coast, catching her on her way to a morning class or out for a run. Their conversations were always short, but Susan looked forward to them. After she explained what was going on, her dad started in on a monologue about the importance of having a good job and building a career. Susan listened for a while until she couldn’t stand it. “Dad, stop with the life lessons. I know I need this job.” “I just want you to make a good decision, honey,” he said. “James thinks I should quit. He says people have a right to be told the truth when they’re asked to disclose sensitive information,” she said. She and her boyfriend had been together for two years, but her father still hadn’t entirely warmed up to him. “That’s easy for him to say. Does he plan to pay your rent this summer? Or get you a job next year? Susie, you need this internship. You know Mom and I would love to help, but we’re on a fixed income these days.” “Fixed income” had been her dad’s favorite phrase ever since he retired. Her parents had supported her and her brother through their undergraduate years, but they’d made it crystal clear that from then on, they were on their own. She’d saved some money during her three years of consulting before business school, but not enough to pay San Francisco rent. “So you’re saying I should just do it?4 Forget everything you taught me about honesty and integrity and do whatever they ask?” She knew she was being melodramatic, but she often fell into that behavior with her parents. 4 Many people think that the hardest part of an ethical challenge is deciding whether you believe an act is right or wrong. But it is equally important to decide exactly how to handle a situation once you’ve determined what you believe. “Susie, keep this in perspective. What Mr. Moon has asked you to do isn’t illegal. It’s not even untruthful. You are an MBA student. And if one of these contacts asks whether you have any corporate affiliation, you can always tell the full truth. Besides, it sounds like it’s all aboveboard at Zantech. If the head of market research knows about it, then you know that Mr. Moon isn’t hiding anything.” “I just don’t feel comfortable with it, Dad. It seems like lying. I think I need to go back to Mr. Moon and tell him how I feel. Or maybe talk to the intern manager, Emma.” “Those are perfectly good options. Just be sure to tread carefully. You don’t want them to think you’re difficult to work with.”5 5 If Susan shares her concerns with Mr. Moon about not disclosing her connection to Zantech, does she risk looking like someone who won’t be easy to work with in the future? She sighed loudly into the phone. “The irony is not lost on me that a company that tries to prevent people from misrepresenting who they are just asked me to misrepresent who I am.” “Welcome to the real work world, honey. It’s full of contradictions.” Future Employers “I thought you’d be in Korea by now,” Melinda Sussman said, as she sat down at a café table. Melinda was a principal at the consultancy where Susan had previously worked. Staffed on a few of the same projects, the two had hit it off and subsequently tried to work together whenever they could. When Susan decided to leave for business school, Melinda had written her a recommendation letter, and since both were still in San Francisco, they’d stayed in touch. “Not yet. Thank you so much for meeting me on the weekend.” Susan explained about the visa issues, her conversation with Mr. Moon, and her debates with James and her father. “I’ve even talked to the CEO.” “You talked to the CEO? About this?” “No, no. Not about this. He just called yesterday to apologize about the visa issues.” Peter Carlssen had come to Berkeley last fall to participate in a panel discussion on cybersecurity. When Susan had approached him afterward, he told her that he’d been impressed with her questions and encouraged her to apply for the internship. She’d been shocked to hear his voice on the phone and wondered if he typically checked in with interns or was taking a special interest in her. The conversation with Mr. Moon on her mind, she’d been tempted to bring up the issue with the CEO—but didn’t. “I was thinking maybe I could go to him about this,” she told Melinda. “When I saw him speak, he talked about how important ethics were in this field.”6 6 Given Susan’s previous interactions with the CEO, does it make sense for her to talk to him directly about this issue? Would he be open to hearing about her concerns? “I’m sure he has bigger fish to fry than this. Besides, ‘intern rats on manager to CEO’? I don’t think that’s the kind of reputation you want to get. How big is this company?” “About 1,500 employees worldwide, but it’s a really friendly place. Other than this situation, I’ve had nothing but positive interactions—from my interviews to my conversations with HR and even my first few e-mails with Mr. Moon. Everyone’s gone out of their way to make me feel welcome. There weren’t any red flags.” “There’s no way you can put the project off until you get over there?” Melinda asked. “Or what about talking to this Emma person? She’s your manager too, right?” “That’s not entirely clear. It seems like I report to both of them. I just couldn’t get a read on Mr. Moon over the phone, and since he cc’d Emma on that e-mail, it’s not like she doesn’t know what he’s asked me to do.” “This would, of course, be easier if you knew how any of these people were going to respond to questions. If you raise this issue with anyone—Mr. Moon, Emma, HR—you have to be prepared for the worst.7 It’s possible that they’ll allow you to get the information in another way, but it’s also possible—and I don’t want to scare you—that they’ll rescind your internship offer. You’re not even over there yet, so that would probably be easy to do.” 7 If she decides to speak to someone at Zantech about the issue, what, exactly, should she say? How should she frame her concerns about ethics? What alternatives, if any, should she propose? “I’d hate to have to explain that to my parents.” “And future employers. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that your career prospects could be on the line here. But if you agree to misrepresent yourself and are discovered by these companies, you might have trouble finding any job in your field at all. And you have some obligation to the university, too. If you present yourself as a student working on a project for school, and these companies discover there’s no such thing, it could reflect badly on your MBA program.” Susan’s shoulders slumped; she hadn’t thought of that. She really didn’t know what to do. Question: Should Susan voice her concerns about Mr. Moon’s request? The Experts Respond Josh Bersin is the founder and principal of Bersin by Deloitte. Mr. Moon is asking Susan to do something inappropriate. While it may seem like no big deal, soliciting information without disclosing your identity is unethical, and I’m not surprised she feels uneasy. Even though she is young and an intern, I believe she should tell Mr. Moon and Emma Visser, the manager in Amsterdam, that she is uncomfortable misrepresenting herself. The first decade of your career is an important time to learn about business, figure out the type of roles and jobs you like, and clarify what your values are. I was fortunate to get a grounding in ethics at IBM in the 1980s. Honesty and respect were part of the company’s ethos, and there was no tolerance for hiding information or saying anything that wasn’t true. That foundation helped me navigate many gray-area situations, both as a young professional and in more-senior roles, over the course of my four-decade career. Susan should look for the same kind of employer—one that will help her get the right start professionally and gain a clear understanding of what good business is and what it isn’t. I would recommend that she do some research on Zantech: Is this the type of company that reflects the values she holds dear? She can look at Glassdoor and other sites where employees give inside perspectives on their companies. Have employees reported that they were asked to do unethical things? Have competitors, customers, or suppliers ever complained about its business practices? Does the company have outstanding legal issues? If the answer to those questions is yes, she may decide this company is not for her. If her research shows that Zantech is an ethical, open, friendly place to work, she should simply voice her concerns. She should send an e-mail to both Mr. Moon and Emma Visser explaining her discomfort with the assignment. Her father may be right that frankness is frowned upon in Korea, but if she contacts only Emma, she is losing the opportunity to address the issue with her manager—and he is the person she would work for. Her e-mail should be positive and focus on the risks to the company as a whole, not simply her own feelings. She might say something like, “I greatly appreciate the opportunity to do this work with you, and this project is quite interesting. However, I’m concerned that if we don’t disclose the fact that I’m working for Zantech and the word leaks out, it will reflect poorly on the firm.” Her tone should be collaborative and constructive, and she should use the word “we” as much as possible. She should send an e-mail to Mr. Moon and Emma Visser explaining her discomfort. Ideally—and most likely—both Mr. Moon and Emma will respect her for speaking up, understand her position, and allow her to approach the work in a different way. It might also prompt Mr. Moon to think more about what Zantech is asking her to do. At Deloitte, our newest research shows that companies focused on mission, purpose, and ethical behavior consistently outperform their peers over a long period of time. Firms with that kind of culture encourage people to voice their concerns and are open to discussions about ethical issues. Corporate scandals erupt with alarming frequency; in most cases they are devastating to the company’s brand and reputation. All too often, people inside those firms who could have sounded the alarm remained silent, perhaps assuming that no one would listen. If Mr. Moon and Emma ignore Susan’s concerns, it’s a signal that she should start looking for employment elsewhere. Tech-savvy MBAs are in high demand, and she has a long career ahead of her. If she compromises her values now, it will only haunt her later. Ruwan Weerasekera is a nonexecutive director in financial services, health care, and educational organizations and a former managing director at UBS. Susan shouldn’t blindly follow orders. But as an intern, she does need to get the work done. So my advice is that she find an alternative way to complete Mr. Moon’s project that is ethical, legal, and transparent. When I think about ethical issues, I picture a 2×2 matrix with legality on one axis and ethics on the other. I love when things fit unequivocally into the legal and ethical box, but that is not always the case in business. It is common—and difficult—to face situations that don’t require you to violate any laws or regulations but do go against your values. I’ve faced many murky situations in my career—including conducting internal investigations into the biggest fraud and misconduct cases in bank history—and I always managed to act on my principles. If I were in Susan’s shoes, I certainly wouldn’t start calling Zantech’s competitors and misrepresenting myself. But I wouldn’t immediately confront Mr. Moon or Emma Visser, either. Different organizations and countries have different norms, and she doesn’t yet know enough about the company or working in Korea to question the way things are done. Indeed, immediately challenging Mr. Moon’s request and declaring it unethical could hurt her in the long run. But capitulation or confrontation aren’t her only choices. Instead, she should suggest a workaround—that is, she should present not a problem but a solution, as any good intern or employee should. How might she get the information she needs without hiding who she is? One option would be to talk with people at Zantech’s most loyal clients, who no doubt evaluated other software vendors before signing on with the firm. Customers love to be consulted, and the discussions would help her gather intelligence on competitors and reverse engineer a product comparison. Another option would be to talk with third-party firms like IBM, PwC, and independent consultancies that help install Zantech’s products, or with analyst firms whose job it is to evaluate the competitive landscape. Their knowledge would be similar to that of customers, and they may be even more willing to outline Zantech’s relative strengths and weaknesses. A third alternative would be to look inside Zantech for information sources. Of the 1,500 people who work there, surely some came from competitors and might offer insights that could be helpful when aggregated. Some may be bound by confidentiality—and she should observe that, of course—but many may have valuable information that the company can easily and freely use. These approaches would not only save Susan from her ethical dilemma, but they’re also likely to be more effective, since a cold call from an intern to a competitor is, in my opinion, highly unlikely to yield any useful information. I’m not suggesting she tell Mr. Moon, “This will never work,” but she could volunteer to test the approach on Zantech itself, making a few calls into the company, to see whether his proposed tactics work or not. That would also reveal how well the company’s own employees protect sensitive competitive information. Like many executives, I’ve built my reputation on my integrity, and I guard it jealously. But I also take pride in my ability to get things done. This is the balance that Susan needs to strike. And if she’s able to resolve the dilemma satisfactorily, she should remember that an internship is an extended interview. She should be evaluating Zantech as much as its executives are evaluating her. She needs to ask herself: Is this a firm I can work for? Do my values match with those of the company? The answers to these questions won’t come from a mentor, parent, or partner. She needs to make her own decision. HBR’s fictionalized case studies present problems faced by leaders in real companies and offer solutions from experts. This one is based on the HBS Case Study “An Intern’s Dilemma” (case no. 611041-PDF-ENG), by Sandra J. Sucher and Matthew Preble.
