Martha McCaskey Case Analysis

Summary

Martha McCaskey works for the Industry Analysis Division (IAD) of Seleris as a consultant. She is currently assigned as the leader on a case where a client wishes to obtain information about a target company’s cost structure and manufacturing technologies of a new chip. Completion of this case will result in a significant promotion. McCaskey is struggling to find this information while still maintaining integrity. She has identified an ex-employee of the target company, Phil Devon, who has all the information she needs, but she is hesitant to proceed in questioning him and paying him a large sum of money, because she feels she may be doing something unethical. The culture at IAD is very lax, and there are no formal rules regarding this type of situation; she is being encouraged by her superiors to pay whatever it takes to get the necessary information.

The issues in this case are whether or not McCaskey would be making an unethical decision by questioning Devon, especially considering she has not been honest with him. He believes she represents a company wanting to open a new manufacturing plant; he does not know that she is doing consulting work for a competitor. He may not be as willing to help her and give her information if he knew the truth, because it could be against his values if he considers providing this information to be a betrayal of his former employer.

McCaskey has several ways that she could choose to proceed in this situation, such as questioning Devon regardless, selecting someone else to question him, resigning from the case, reporting the unethical actions to the company, or resigning from the company entirely since their values do not align. However, we recommend that McCaskey consult legal advice before proceeding. It is important to her career that she receives this advancement in the company. However, she should ensure that she is not breaking any laws during the completion of this project, and it is important to McCaskey to do this without compromising her values. Obtaining legal advice will help ease her mind and will guide her to make the right decision.

Introduction

Seleris is a consulting firm with four divisions: Management Control and Systems, Financial Services, General Management, and the youngest and smallest division, Industry Analysis. There are 11 professionals working for IAD that make up two groups of senior associates who report to the two group managers, Bud Hackert and Bill Davies. The line between senior associates and project leaders is blurred, and the structure at IAD is informal. Currently, the environment at Seleris is not great due to the workload and the performance expectations; bonuses were lower last year than expected, so turnover has been quite high this year. Even after people were given smaller bonuses, Ty Richardson (senior VP of IAD) and Tom Malone (COO of Seleris)