Is Nothing Private - Case Study Example

Case study: is nothing private? History, background & details of the case The case presents the ethical dilemma that most managers face today; as there are general rights and obligations of the concerned parties involved in the research process. The dilemma that manager in the case faces concerns with the privacy of the respondents or the so called subjects of the research. Another aspect presented is the general obligation of the researcher and the sponsoring client i.e. the user of the data. The situation so presented is as follows: A manager who has been appreciated a lot for his work is now assigned a task of handling an important client’s account. The client i.e. the FatAway Inc. has launched a product line that is so far trusting with respect to the product specifications and the claims that it says. And to market it, manager believes that the best idea is to select the fattest people in Australia and use them as spokespersons or as reference persons in their ads. For this manager needs to probe into the databases of companies that maintain statistics related to the fat people in Australia. In this situation we can say that the manager’s company is the sponsoring client (or the user of the data) and the companies maintaining databases are the researchers. Now, manager sees that the data probably might be easily available about the heavy weighted people; but the problem lies in the intrusion of someone else’s personal life and the respondent probably has given his personal profile for some other purpose, and to use it for a third purpose might not be liked by him. And even if the respondents agree to the proposal of acting as sales person then too they might not be aware of the future emotional consequences that might occur to them and then they would not have any option. As the technology emerges it brings with it new and creative ways of information sharing. Companies have also shifted their business orientation from production to provision of knowledge. And hence we see growing number of companies maintaining databases, and also government organizations maintain data with respect to the population demographics etc. This data is collected for specific purposes. But as we move forward issues concerning intrusion of privacy are enhanced; since individuals are too cautious about their personal lives and the style with which they live. Accordingly, no one has any right to say or dig into the reason why someone is fat, since he or she has no concern. This case explores the same idea. Ethical issue or dilemma in the case Firstly, manager (user of the data) sees that obtaining data about weight and height of client is intrusion of privacy and since in the western countries especially collecting and giving out of data is considered serious violation of privacy. Next, the data might be available with a third party (the researcher) and the researcher is ready to sell the data but data might have been collected for some other purpose and thus using it for some other reason might not be right. Third, the subjects i.e. the fat people might agree to participate and act as the spokesperson and participate in the advertising campaign for the company. But this may embarrass them in the future and bound them to work for the company even if they later realize that they don’t like working in the ad or made public about their weakness i.e. being fat. Prevailing community or the societal attitudes of the person may not allow him to such a behaviour. Solutions to the case Solution 1: First and foremost the general business ethics of the company maintaining databases and their privacy policy should be analysed. If they have the right to use the respondents’ information in any way and context with the prior permission of the client, then only the data should be used. And this is most required in situations when the certificate of confidentiality has been given by the respondents. Solution 2: Moreover, to avoid any future embarrassment and humiliation for the potential spokesperson they should be informed of all the campaign and the use of their information. “Informed consent” as so called should be obtained before hand which requires getting the voluntary consent of the parties by disclosing all the pertinent information Impact of each solution Solution 1: When it is suggested that the manager should obtain data only from the third parties that are authorised to share the data with any of the user of the data; the likely impact is that the data might not be easily available and it takes time to search for authorized sources. Solution 2: The second solution suggests that the advertising company should detail each and every aspect of the campaign then it might result in leaking out the business secrets to the competitors prior to the launch of the campaign that was the potential universal selling proposition for the company. Thus, it is required that only the important aspects of the campaign should be briefed to the participants. Solution 3: It is better that participants should be given advice regarding the psychological or the physical problems that the participants may face but are apparently unaware of. Thus it is better to tell them that by accepting to the proposal of acting as the spokesperson their future might be endangered. Solution 4: The participants should be given a right to withdraw themselves from the process of participating in the ad campaign, they should be given this right and be allowed to exercise it any time they feel uncomfortable with the project or the situation they have been involved in. Values upheld and violated by each solution The guiding ethical principles that should be taken care of as not to be violated include respecting human dignity, their vulnerability to any issues, minimizing any harm that the experimentation may bring and providing them the right type and amount of compensation for their efforts and contribution. In the first solution there is no intrusion of privacy as the respondents have clearly permitted the use of their personal data. But, for the advertising company this has brought many challenges such as looking for authentic plus the sources that have authority to make available this data. In the second solution there is a disclosure of information to gain confidence of the participants but there is still a trade off since slight element of deception is present as the participants are not informed of all the aspects. Thus, the advertising company should become responsible to correct or remove any undesirable consequences. The third idea presented might weaken the prospects of the candidate to take part in the campaign since he or she might become conscious of what this might lead them to. Selecting the solution by weighing up the odds In all circumstances, the companies making use of the research should first take into consideration the ethical and the moral principles that the society values and foresee any psychological threat to their minds or dignity. Whenever possible, the consent of all the participants should be obtained and all aspects of the research including any intervention that might occur in future and is likely to influence the decision of the participant to participate in the process. Though, debriefing does not justify any unethical aspects of the research process but still, debriefing may help gain confidence of the respondents or participants. I think, the best possible solution is to get the data from the research companies who are not violating any of the privacy and the social ethics codes and behaviours. Then the respondents should be contacted on individual basis by the advertising company. Once they are formally approach they should be briefed about the situation regarding the details of the product and told what is expected of them i.e. to act as the spokesperson of the company and role model as the person using their diet product. Later as they gradually become a part of the project to be modelled in advertisements TV, newspaper, radio etc. Plus, as mentioned any time during their commitment with the advertisement company they should be given a free right to back out if they feel that this social weakness of theirs will be obvious to others or they may be humiliated by such a fact. Lastly, the sponsor that is the advertising company here should be personally responsible or liable for any damages that might occur to the participants in the whole process. Statement of conflict, objectives, description, procedures, responsibilities and any queries etc. should be handled at an earlier stage before any differences might occur. References 1. Post, James E, Anne T Lawrence, and James Weber. Business and Society Corporate Strategy, Public Policy, Ethics. 10th ed. McGraw Hill, 2002. 2. Zikmund,William G. Business Research Methods. 6th ed. 1999. 3. "Ethical Research for conducting research with human participants." http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~hcp/ethics/bps-conduct.pdf (accessed August 21, 2007). 4. "Ethical Principles for conducting Research with Human Participants." http://www.bps.org.uk/the-society/ethics-rules-charter-code-of-conduct/code-of-conduct/ethical-principles-for-conducting-research-with-human-participants.cfm (accessed August 21 2007). 5. "Protecting Study Volunteers in Research". (Accessed www.centerwatch.com). 6. Thompson, Colin. "CAN THE PRINCIPLES OF RESEARCH ETHICS PROTECT PRIVACY?." August 2002 . 7. "Ethics in Research." http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/ethics.php (accessed August 21, 2007). 8. http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/cire/pac/foundation/index.html Mark S. Frankel, Sanyin S., “Ethical and legal aspects of human research on internet”, November 1999 http://www.aaas.org/spp/dspp/sfrl/projects/intres/main.htm 9. http://www.airweb.org/?page=140 10. Barry D. McLennan, PRIVACY ISSUES and RESEARCH ETHICS http://www.oipc.sk.ca/Presentations%20for%20HIPA%20Conference/BMcLennan%20and%20WDuggleby%20Presentation.pdf Read More