Ethical Dilemma Changes in Expectations

Ethical Dilemma Changes in Expectations

Original Situation

A young woman, Sally, and her children moved back to her home state after having family difficulty and her husband being incarcerated. Sally and her children moved in with her husband’s parents due to having no other place to stay. Sally immediately found work through a temporary agency. After being put in several short term assignments Sally was finally placed in one that was a temp to hire situation. The assignment was with a local sandblasting company. Sally was placed there to computerize their inventory process.

The management at the company kept telling Sally how impressed they were with her skills and wanted to hire her. Management said they had to wait until the three months was up with the temporary agency or they would have to pay an additional fee. The computer inventory process was coming along and management requested that a manual be compiled for use by other company personnel. In an effort to make an impression on what was to be Sally’s new employer, the manual became her main project.

Changes Taking Place

After the manual was complete Sally’s next project became working in shipping and receiving to help improve the process by using the computerized inventory system. Shipping and receiving had been doing everything by hand. Letters were handwritten and then typed on a manual typewriter. A log of each contact, each sale, and each order was kept by hand. The computerized inventory would now be a big help to this department.

Sally taught the department manager how to access the system. Reports could be printed to show available amounts and amounts needed to be ordered for each item. Orders could be done through the system and purchase orders could be printed out and sent in a monthly mailing. The department manager was impressed and said he agreed with management on hiring Sally.

During her time with the company Sally worked in the front office, inventory, and shipping and receiving. There was confusion about why the assignment that was given said it was for computerizing inventory control and what Sally was actually doing was a variety of things. The assumption was that an employee should know all areas of the company they work for.

Why the Changes Took Place

Needless to say as the three months waned Sally’s skills were used to assist this company in the streamlining of their inner-workings. The inventory and shipping and receiving areas of this company had been in dire need of improvement. The reason for using a temporary agency was to save money on salary and to evaluate the person or people they used. When a temporary employee is skilled and impressive they wait for the three mandatory months to expire and then they hire that person. Through the three months management kept telling Sally how impressed they were and that