When you are speaking up to your boss, you are risking potential consequences for the job that you are in. Such consequences may range from something as little as being issued a warning to something as critical as being fired. Susan may even risk having her reputation tarnished as an intern and not get the full-time job offer she really wanted. However, accepting an ethically dubious task can also harm one’s reputation. If Susan does not speak up and does accept the task given to her, she risks her university or future employers finding out. If her university finds out that she is falsely stating that she is currently an MBA student wanting the data for her own projects, she may have the risk of getting kicked out of her university. Future employers finding out about such unethical practices (since we don’t know how information may get leaked on the other side of the email) may not want to employ Susan.
In terms of the 3-step plan, Susan can follow the steps as follows:
Acknowledge that it is difficult to speak up but that speaking up for herself can help her find the job that she really wants.
Realize that if there are consequences, then this might not be the right company for her.
Make a plan that minimizes the potential of retaliation. I really like the second expert’s answer–she should think about alternatives to how she could still potentially go about getting information without doing it unethically. She should propose alternative ways to her manager, and point out her concern with soliciting information from competitors with a false identity–the companies she emails may not even respond to her.
