The primary goal of this paper is to evaluate whether the actions of CMO are ethical in the context of different scenarios. In the first case, the competitor reads the report with the confidential information, and the CMO leans over to read it. It remains evident that a majority of the reports have a negative impact on the ethical principles and violate the rights of the competitors. In this instance, the CMO should not have leaned over to read the confidential report of his competitor, as it violates the privacy and damages the company’s reputation. Additionally, the CMO is engaged in the dishonest activity and does not comply with the Code of Ethics within the organization. Furthermore, his actions can be considered as not complying with the law principles since he/she questions the honest flow of the competition on the market.
In the second case, the competitor leaves to utilize the bathroom and drops the report on the seat. At the same time, the CMO quickly reviews it and makes notes. In this instance, the actions of the CMO should be reflected as unethical since he/she should not violate the rights of the competitor by reading and reviewing the confidential information. In turn, the competitor also made a mistake and left the report on the seat on the flight. In this case, he/she questioned his loyalty and responsibility to his/her organization and violated the principles of the Code of Conduct. Lastly, it could be assumed that the report was left on the seat on purpose, as it has misguiding information about the actions of the competitors to make them focused on the wrong sphere. Nonetheless, these actions are also unethical as they provide false information and question the sufficient laws of competition.
Speaking of the third case, the competitor leaves the report on his seat accidentally while leaving the plane. In turn, the CMO puts into his briefcase. In this instance, the actions of the CMO could not be considered as entirely unethical, as he/she does not open and read the report. Nonetheless, the ethical nature of his actions is dependent on his future actions. If the CMO opens the report, his/her actions can be considered as completely unethical. In turn, if he/she returns the report to the side of the competitors, his/her actions can be considered as ethical since he/she did not violate the principles of honesty. Nonetheless, it could be assumed that the papers were left on the plane on purpose to misguide the side of the competitors. In this instance, the actions of the competitor should be considered as being unethical since they violate the flow of competition.
Finally, the CMO brings the found report to the CEO while being expected to be congratulated for acquiring confidential information. It remains evident that in this instance, the CMO highly violates the fundamental principles of business ethics, as he/she reveals the confidential information from the competitor’s side. His/her actions are misguiding and dishonest since he/she intentionally brought the report to question the competitive advantage of the competitors. In this instance, the CMO has to be punished, as he/she violated the Code of Conduct and the Code of Ethics. In the end, it remains evident that the actions of the CMO could be considered as being unethical in all case scenarios, as he/she acted without compliance with the law.