Question One
The theme of the story, “tangled webs” was on lies and how they can complicate an individual’s life. The fact that Gansman was in a position that he had to forge new lies in a bid to cover up the previous lies proves that lies have the potential to destroy lives. Gansman wanted to impress Murdoch by lying that he held access to power within the stock exchange and in order to do so, he let her into the secrets of the exchange. Murdoch in turn used the information for her gain and tipped her friends on the same who benefitted (Steiner & Steiner, 2006). After a period of time, Murdoch was on SEC radar and when she was contacted by the federal officers, she lied about her involvement with Gansman, unknowingly digging a deeper grave for herself. Gansman believed that in giving up some of these secrets, he would develop a closer association with Murdoch. On her justification, Murdoch believed that she had received gold and wished to gain income to pay for her debts. The end result was that the executors of the lies, Gansman and Murdoch were the most harmed by the lies because they were put in chains. Murdoch’s father, who also gained on the same was fined, thrice the amount of profits he had received from the illegal trading he had been involved (Steiner & Steiner, 2006). The most harmful lie was the one perpetrated by Gansman when he lied about having a role in some of the corporate mergers that were going on in the business world which required him to prove his worth causing him to lie more and reveal concealed information breaching his employment contract.
Question Two
In truth, the punishments that the two received were fair. First and foremost, the information that was being used in the buying of the Freescale (Steiner & Steiner, 2006) shares was information not meant for the public ear and meant that some of the rules were broken. On this basis, James Gansman had no right revealing the information to a woman that he had met on a dating website. Additionally, Donna Murdoch was in a position to stop Gansman from sharing that information. Also, her contract prohibited her from trading on information that has not been publicly released. She also lied to the federal officers on her involvement in the illegal business and as a result, her arrest included at least two counts for lying to the police. Gerald Brodsky was also involved in the same illegal trading after he was tipped by his daughter on how to get maximum gains on shares. From this regard, the three culprits received just and fair punishments for their respective crimes.
Question Three
Ashley Madison is where those who seek extramarital involvements meet and it is among a regime of websites under the Avid Life Media which has six other sites where people with like interests can meet and socialize. However, the Ashley Madison is not based on an ethical business model because it results in breaking of families because of adultery and such behaviors. Furthermore, it breaches the social margins for morality and in that case, it rather promotes immorality rather than abolish it. The appropriate response is that many would deny it just like the investors claimed that it is unethical.
Question Four
Biderman, the founder of the Ashley Madison website, claims that man will always enter into casual relationships, especially sexual ones with women and because the contemporary society frowns on polygamy, the website provides a safe haven for men and women to indulge in extramarital affairs without disclosure (Steiner & Steiner, 2006). In other words, it ensures secrecy for the men and women involved in such activities and as a result prevent marriage breakings. Biderman does not fulfill his ethical duties to the clients in the sense that he does not ensures that their relationships and affairs are kept in secrecy. No one is meant to know if they were involved with the other ideally. However, Gansman and Murdoch’s involvement was revealed via their communications through text messages in the website and in so doing mean that secrecy is a myth.
Question Five
The events of this story teach us that business ethics are indeed vital for any organization to reprimand misbehavior within its constructs. The fact that without ethics no one would really understand right from wrong policies that are meant to guide business processes and procedures. In other words, without business ethics would imply total disregard of right and wrong and as a result, no one would be in a position to punish wrong acts. Gansman disregarded his contract the moment he started to tell the secrets of the takeovers in the corporate affairs to an outside party. Murdoch on the other hand, breached business protocols when she started trading using non-public information (Steiner & Steiner, 2006). Therefore, ethics assist in punishing those who breach policies meant to control poor behavior. Capitalism on the other hand leads to the exploitation of the public and that is what Gansman and Murdoch ended up doing. Therefore, information that should be used for trading in such instances should be the one the public is aware of or exploitation might result.
Reference
Steiner, G. A., & Steiner, J. F. (2006). Business, government, and society: A managerial perspective: text and cases. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
