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Ethics in Silicon Valley?
from the not-an-oxymoron dept
This one is something of a good surprise. It's a story about a Silicon Valley which is trying really hard to be ethical about the way they do business even to the point of hiring an "ethicist". The down side to this story is that it's such a surprise that a company can be ethical. People seem to naturally expect companies to be evil - and that includes the company they work for. I don't think that's a particularly productive mind set. Update: Here's an article about AOL's Steve Case pushing for more socially responsible companies.
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This is ethical?
This behavior held up as ethical in this article makes me sick. A hiring manager wants to rescind an offer of employment because his favorite candidate just became available and his "ethical" behavior is to put the hiree on the spot and ask "what would you do?"
In the story, we're told that the hiree said "follow through with your offer to me." That's reasonable, but here's what I would have said (or at least like to say) in that situation: "You haven't given me a firm committment to employ me yet you're already asking me for advice on a specific business-related situation. I don't feel that I owe you anything until a professional working relationship exists between us." I would then leave it up to him whether to follow through with the offer, but regardless of what he decided, I would have gone on to look for a new position without a putz for a manager.
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Re: This is ethical?
Yeah, I have to admit that I was somewhat surprised by the way the situation was handled in the article. My own reaction was why not just hire both of them. In this day and age when people are desperate for good technologists, I'd try to keep them both. I'm sure there are ways that they could work together. I also agree, that it wasn't necessarily ethical. It was more of a cop out. At least they're trying, though. No one ever said that everyone was going to agree on ethical behavior.
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Steve Case and ethics
Steve Case wishing for ethical companies reminds me of Dogbert.
Dogbert once said he wished everyone in the world would give up their weapons and become pacifists. That way, he could conquer the whole world with a butter knife.
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