Johnny Jones and the Undercover Unit

In the course of running, any organization faces some ethical dilemmas, especially when deciding on important matters. For a unit to continue its operations with a few obstacles, the management must deal with all ethical issues that can impact its employees. As a rule, most of these dilemmas emerge at the workplace: whether in the office or on other sites. A thorough analysis and cohesive approach are to be applied with the view to resolving these issues in order to ensure that neither the staff nor the organization is affected. In the course of their duties in the undercover unit, Johnny Jones and Tony Denardo faced a number of ethical dilemmas of different nature. In most cases, these problems were not dealt with appropriately. As a result, both officers were on bad terms with both the management and colleagues. This essay discusses various ethical dilemmas that Johnny and Tony faced. Moreover, the paper suggests how a new supervisor in the unit can prevent such actions from recurring in the future.

In the course of running an institution, an administration is supposed to monitor and manage any ethical dilemmas that employees experience at their workplace. By definition, ethical dilemmas exist when employees are faced with choices between two equally unwelcome alternatives that may involve a conflict of moral principles, and it is never clear which choice is the right one (Chenoweth & McAuliffe, 2005). When Johnny joins the Undercover Unit, he is excited about this transfer. During the first day of work, Johnny is introduced to the rest of the team and assigned one of the team members, who is supposed to orient him on the new job. The sergeant-in-charge of the team during this first day asks Tony not to get Johnny into trouble. This command proves that Tony is a team member who often gets himself into trouble. Along the way of their work, both Tony and Johnny are faced with various ethical dilemmas, which jeopardize their jobs and relationships with other employees and the management.

In the case of an ethical dilemma, everyone follows the own ethical sense that lets one choose the right course of action; nevertheless, sometimes, the choice is influenced by other issues (Taylor, 2013). In this case, the first ethical dilemma is caused by the fact that both Johnny and Tony are not team players. In all organizations, the management requires employees to be team players so that they can join the effort and use their working relationship to the benefit of the organization. Without a good working relationship, a company can hardly achieve its objectives since the staff does not work together. As Tony is not a team player, he believes that the reason as to why Johnny was assigned to him was so that he can learn how to work in teams. The man is not happy about this event as he has either to sacrifice own principles or break an order.

Another ethical issue presented in the case is talking ill about an organization and colleagues. Such behavior is unethical and can have dire consequences on the overall performance of a unit. Tony feels that he is underappreciated; thus, he desires to have more support from his supervisors. Again, he talks ill of the Lieutenant in charge of the interdiction team. Lastly, the man complains that, despite the conditions, they are supposed to stick together. Tony is disappointed as even if one does something wrong, they all have to stand with him or her.

Another ethical issue presented in the case study is the misuse of funds. Employees should strive to use any resources availed by an organization only with the view to optimizing their job performance. Anything more is considered a misuse of resources. According to this case study, both Johnny and Tony use the organization’s resources in excess. In such a manner, while meeting an informant, Tony used contingency funds to pay for drinks, pool, and cigarettes. All these expenses are unnecessary; thus, they should have been avoided. In addition, Johnny agrees to sign a receipt as a witness that Tony gave money to the informer for the role that she played in the narcotics trade.

Conducting personal businesses at the organization’s time is another ethical dilemma that is faced by many organizations. By using this time for solving own issues, an employee is not only doing unethical but also abusing an employer (Rafner, 2016). In this case, Tony asks Johnny to have drinks with him. The last agrees to go for drinks even though he is supposed to be working at the time. This behavior is unethical on Johnny’s part. In addition, getting to work and submitting reports late, as well as general insubordination, is unethical. Such behavior includes verbal reprimands for getting to job late or written reprimands for not preparing reports that are required by the management, as well. Whatever the case, employees should be careful not to demonstrate any insubordination. After having stayed in the unit for a few weeks, some cases of insubordination are noticed in Johnny’s record. Sometimes, he gets to work late, at other times, used improper language, or submitted reports late. All these instances are acts of insubordinations; thus, the management should curb these unethical dilemmas effectively, to ensure the top-class performance of employees.

For a new supervisor in an organization that faces such ethical problems, solving the issue is an uphill task especially since each supervisor strives to show improved performance. The first step in ensuring that such cases will not happen is to let subordinates know about all ethical issues. Each employee learning about ethical issues can contribute to the prevention of such cases in the future. Moreover, proper education and training can provide tools for solving any ethical issues that might arise. Doing so ensures that each employee is in charge of own ethical issues. A new supervisor should also create a culture of integrity among employees.

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