Dilemma: Right vs. Right
The Second Choice Asks a Hard Question
The SMN Corporation has enjoyed a great growth spurt in the past three years. Because of increased sales, the CEO decides to create a new director level position. The position requires extensive business expertise, an understanding of the SMN Corporation's industry, and exemplary interpersonal skills.
Two candidates remain after the final interviews: John, an external candidate with a sound business background, and Mary, a candidate from within the company, who also has the required skills. After due consideration, the Vice President for Human Resources decides to offer the position to John. John considers the offer for several days, but ultimately declines the position.
The Vice President then meets with Mary, and offers her the position. Upon hearing the offer, Mary pauses. She looks the VP straight in the eye and asks, "Was the job offered to John first?"
How should the vice president respond?
Analysis
The vice president is caught in a basic dilemma between truth and loyalty: should he adhere to a policy of honesty and tell Mary the truth? Or should he maintain a sense of loyalty to John and to the principle of confidentiality by saying nothing at all? Both responses can be considered "right" resolutions: how can one decide between the two?
Deciding between two rights can become clearer if one looks at the dilemma from the perspective of ends-based, rules-based, and care-based principles.
Using an ends-based resolution perspective, the vice president might ask, which answer would provide the greatest good for the greatest number here? If he tells the truth to Mary, would that be the best thing for the greatest number of people, such as the company as a whole? Or by not answering and maintaining some confidentiality, would that benefit the greatest number of people, including Mary herself?
From a rules-based perspective, the vice president could ask himself, what would I want all other human resource directors to do in this case? Would I want all of them to tell the absolute truth, or would I want all of them to retain some discretion in what they reveal about the hiring process?
Taking a care-based view, the vice president would consider how he would feel if he were in the other person's shoes. How would Mary feel knowing that she was the second choice? How would John feel if he knew that Mary realized he had declined the job? How would those working for Mary feel if they learned she was the second choice?
Note: This and other dilemmas on this site come to you without their real-life resolutions. We encourage you to think for yourself about how you might resolve them, since the nature of each dilemma is highly individualistic. In sharing these dilemmas, we do not endorse them in any way, but rather offer them for your consideration.
