Ethics and legal issues
Question 1
In any given institution, some rules must be followed and procedures that guide any action which the staff or the administration wishes to undertake. In support of the rules and procedures, the practice should be legal and open to any inquiries that may raise some concerns to the outside community. Concealing information about the method used to arrive at giving the scholarship to the senator’s daughter makes it seem that the right procedures were omitted to favor her.
Melody had no idea that the school awarded her the scholarship and the interview by the media was a surprise to her since she did not apply for the scholarship yet she was granted it. Although she had an outstanding performance in coursework, which does not seem to award her the scholarship as the fact that she did not apply for the scholarship shows to get the scholarship it follows applying for it. Burns’ statement does not feel satisfied that her excellence earned her the scholarship since no previous record shows other students awarded scholarship using that criterion.
Question 2
It is unethical for an individual to try and cover up an action that seemingly does not withhold justice. In such a scenario, there are consequences to suffer if later the truth comes to the light which might result in termination of the duties one is entitled in an organization. There is a list of well-known individuals who were famous but were brought down by trying to cover up the truth. A good example is Al Dunlap who was relieved of his duties at Sunbeam Company for giving engineered profits for the company to earn a sales advantage.
Question 3
If the university used the right and the stipulated means to award the scholarship to Melody, then, Melody was supposed to know that she had won the scholarship and tell her why she was put forward for the award. To the public, the university had the obligation of releasing an official statement to the students and staff acknowledging that Melody had won the scholarship after thorough scrutiny of the individuals who had applied for it. The fact that the members of the public heard the news through rumors and there was no official statement makes the decision by the university suspicious.
If after all the university did not use the right course of action, then it should accept the mistake and apologize to the public and correct its act instead of defending a move that has no evidence to support it
Question 4
Was the right practice used in awarding the scholarship to Melody?
Who gave the directive that the scholarship should be awarded to the senator’s daughter?
Why was there no official statement offered to the stakeholders to inform them that the scholarship winner was Melody?
Why did the members of the scholarship application review lack the knowledge that the scholarship was awarded to Melody yet they were responsible for the awarding?
The fact that Lott could not take any phone calls from the media, does it depict that there is information that is being concealed?
Question 5
Yes. The fact that there is no clear statement as to why the scholarship award went to Melody shows that there were irregularities in the process of awarding the scholarship. What the university did was unethical since their members of the scholarship review were not aware of the award yet they should be affirming the award. The university should give a statement confirming that the “right awarding practices were not followed” and therefore, it apologizes to the public for the inconveniences and the matter is under investigation (Norman, Roux & Bélanger, 266)
Works Cited
Norman, W., Roux, C., & Bélanger, P. (2009). Recognizing business ethics: Practical and ethical challenges in awarding prizes for good corporate behavior. Journal of business ethics, 86(3), 257-271.