Ethics in a Workplce

1. Introduction

Introduction describing a particular ethical dilemma in the workplace goes here. Paper responds to the questions associated with the case

United Virtualities is an online marketing firm that seeks to help companies with their technology by preventing consumers from deleting cookies from their cache memory. United Virualitities' theory is that the online shopper is 'technologically challenged'. Meaning that the internet shopper does not know when to delete or keep cookies. Cookies are vital to online companies because they hold information which online stores need, enabling them to learn more about consumer's behavior and needs. The program offered by United Virtualities is called Persistence Identification Element, or PIE. In essence, PIE is an internet tracking device which companies can buy, prohibiting the consumer from deleting cookies. This ensures that the online companies will be able to track their customers. Not only will PIE keep the consumer from deleting cookies, but they will have no way to tell that the tracker is there. Is this fair to the consumer? Should companies be able to install this kind of software in order to better their service? Is there a compromise which would allow both parties to be satisfied?

2. Problems

The Paper determines all of the facts including: symptoms of problems, root problems, unresolved issues, roles of key players, and ethical issues

Basically we have two parties that are involved within this dilemma. The first party consists of the companies. Specifically we are referring to online entities such as online malls, shops, etc. The second party consists of the consumers; rather the online patrons who visit the online shops to purchase goods and services. The problem is this:

1. The companies want to find ways to increase their profit margin, in addition to bettering the 'shopping experience' for the consumer.

2. The consumer would like to have the better experience, but does not want to give up their rights to privacy to obtain it.

Team C feels that the root problem in this ethical dilemma is rights. Rights are an important part of every life present on the earth, they are our livelihood, and we all want to protect what is rightfully ours. In the companies case they want to survive. In order to do this they have the right to attempt to accomplish two main goals. First they have to create business. Secondly they have to ensure that the initial business returns. We have to ask ourselves, as consumers, why we would return to a business to buy more products. These reasons may include prices, availability, quality of product, etc. However, one of the most prevalent reasons that you are going to hear for returning is the experience that the customer had throughout the transaction process. In the online environment you look for characteristics such as ease of use, site appearance, customer service, shipping services, etc. All of these characteristics are influenced by feedback received from the customer. What if a company was able to track their customer's habits, creating an almost endless amount of feedback? How much more capable would the company be in creating a more personalized experience for their customer's? The fact is they could make it much more personalized through customized menus, advertisement, etc. But is the method proposed by United Virtualities to obtain this information ethical and fair to the consumer?

According to the consumer the method to retrieve this information is unethical. As a consumer, the method is unethical because they feel that their right to privacy has been invoked. The method requires that the consumer is no longer able to control who is able to track them on the internet, rather they cannot deny a company access by deleting the cookies which they pick up at various locations on the net. A second unprincipled item that is identified by the consumer is the fact that the software offered by United Virtualities is secretive in that the consumer will not be able to detect that the software is there. Because of this technique it can be related to a spy tactic, a term which brings accusations of unethical practices.

3. Evaluation & 4. Alternatives

Companies have the need to target potential buyers of their products. Once the product is seen by the potential buyer the decision to buy is left up to the consumer. This traditional marketing technique has been used for as long as advertising has been around. Manufacturers want to sell their goods and are willing to spend the money to advertise their product. The use of PIE appears to be a new technique that can use today's internet technology to target potential buyers based on their computing profile. United Virtualities says it developed PIE to help advertisers who use cookies for targeted advertising (Park, 2005). Companies that want to invest in PIE software realize that it's a powerful marketing tool that can benefit the manufacturers and the consumer. However, installing PIE software without the consumer's knowledge or permission is not ethical. There needs to be a solution that doesn't violate consumer privacy and allows companies to gather and use consumer demographic data. There are a few potential solutions to this dilemma outlined below.

One solution is to forget about using backup hidden cookies (PIE) all together and just use the traditional internet cookies as a method to track consumer habits. Although with this solution there is a good chance that the user may delete the cookies or have the computer do it for them automatically. There is also a chance that cookies will be prohibited by the user's internet