Jonathan was a very task-oriented young computer programmer employed by the Galaxy Electronics Ltd for two years.

One day, his supervisor asked him to design a programme for a digital answering machine.   Jonathan turned it down and explained that he was extremely busy at that time.  The job was then contracted out to an outside software house named Leo Systems Company.

It so happened that Leo, the proprietor of Leo Systems, was an old friend of Jonathan.  He rang Jonathan and told him of the job offer.  Actually, Leo and his staff had their hands full at that time but would not like to turn down Galaxy when they made the offer.  What Leo wanted was to maintain a good relationship with Galaxy all through so that in future when their jobs again had to be contracted out, they would come to Leo Systems again.

Leo asked if Jonathan would consider lending a hand in designing the programme in his own spare time.  The contract money could be split, with Jonathan taking a share for the part that he did and Leo taking the share his men worked on.

Jonathan thought hard.  He could certainly sacrifice a few nights' sleep to get a part of the programme written up.  He knew what the requirements were.

Should he say ‘yes’ to Leo?  He would be earning extra money at the expenses of his boss.  Would this weigh heavily on his conscience? Or was it a stone that could be lifted easily?

Man, an IT manager, was responsible for sourcing a LAN system to be set up in his large engineering company.  He started to contact various contractors and one of them was a medium sized computer firm called ABC whose technical sales manager Gordon was a personable young man.

Gordon tried to persuade Man to use his suggested LAN system by quoting a price at $500,000 and claiming it the best bargain in the market.  Indeed, Gordon had his eyes set on the cost of after-sales service and maintenance which was actually quite profitable.  Man hesitated and said that he needed to seek his supervisor’s approval first as well as to seek a few more other quotations for comparison.  In order to secure the deal, Gordon made a suggestion that he would offer Man a set of free computer equipment of the latest model for his personal use if Man assisted Gordon in getting the contract. 

What should Man do? Should Man accept Gordon’s attractive offer?  Would he commit any offence by doing so?

Edmond introduced his friend Anthony to work under his wing in a small I.T. company.  Felix, the company boss, had complained to Edmond for several months about Anthony’s work performance.  Anthony’s procrastination and being unnecessarily thorough was well-known in the company.  Felix just managed to tolerate the situation because he did not want to upset Edmond who brought large profits to the company.  Felix also told Edmond in confidence that Anthony was not the person whom the company needed and could be replaced by someone who was more efficient and yet cheaper.

As a friend, Edmond wondered if he should personally warn Anthony in advance so that Anthony could get prepared.  If Felix was right, terminating Anthony might be for the best interest of the company as well as for Edmond to maintain a good relationship with Felix.  On the other hand, leaking out the news in advance might also damage Felix’s trust and affect staff morale.

To tell Anthony or not to tell Anthony? That was the question worrying Edmond!

Tony was a Customer Services Officer of a telephone company.  He tried his best in whatever he was assigned to do.  Very soon, he made a name for himself as a hardworking and responsible young officer.  Soon he got to know a lot of people working in his section.  One of them was Curtis.

Curtis was a part-time phone salesman working with Tony in the same team.  He had contacts everywhere and could gain entry to many exclusive clubs.  He treated Tony to dinners in the evenings, and sometimes even golf trips across the border on Sundays.

Tony picked up golf eagerly. He loved the greens and enjoyed the leisurely pace of the sport.  What was more was the pride of being among the well-to-dos in town.  He wished he had his own golf-membership but he knew it was almost impossible, given his present income and connections.

Curtis could guess what was on Tony's mind and told him, “If you release the personal information of your clients to me, I can fix a membership for you.  You have easy access to the computer records and this should not be a problem.”

Tony knew very well that Curtis would misuse these clients’ personal information for illegal gains.  He did not wish to be part of any scam.  But he could not resist the temptation of the golf membership. It would be decades before he could secure one on his own merits and earnings.  Perhaps it would not be difficult to find another colleague who also had access to the data to be the scapegoat.  Dinner and entertainment by Curtis also flashed across his mind.  Tony began to waver.  Should he say ‘yes’ to Curtis?

Tom and Jerry were mechanical engineers of the Clark Gable Company Ltd (CG Co).  The two were the same batch and had been with the company for only a short time.  Recently, due to the re-organisation of the firm, some people would be laid off.   Mechanical engineering work would then be vested with a larger company, the Rock Hudson  Ltd.  The first ones to go would be those who came last and thus Tom and Jerry's jobs would be in jeopardy.

Tom tried to find a way out for the two of them.   They persuaded two friends, Sam and Tim who had similar training and background, to set up an engineering company called the Catch All Engineering Ltd (CAE).  This would serve as a fallback in case they were really sacked.

Shortly after CAE was set up, the bad news released.   Tom and Jerry were given notice to leave CG Co but, to their great surprise, Rock Hudson Ltd., which had taken over CG Co, offered to employ them to undertake their old duties.

Both of them were overjoyed.  But then they had another problem.  The two would have no more time to take care of matters related to CAE.

So one evening Tom and Jerry treated Sam and Tim to a sumptuous meal and told them that they could no longer share the business with them. Sam and Tim were outraged.  They reprimanded Tom and Jerry for making use of them in the first place and then leaving them in the lurch.  Trying to find a way out, Tim then made a proposal to Tom and Jerry.

Rock Hudson, as a major company, could provide many work opportunities.  The only thing that had to be done was to get CAE on their approved list of contractors.  Tom and Jerry could try to arrange that in whatever way possible.  After all, CAE provided quality service and it had to survive.

Tom and Jerry were in a quandary. They counted themselves most fortunate to be still in employment and with an even larger company. And they wished they could help their friends out.  Should they agree to add CAE to the approved list no matter what and no matter how?  It would do Rock Hudson no harm anyway.

What would happen if they refused?  Would they be indebted to Sam and Tim for the rest of their lives?  How should they handle that?

Eva was a clever and efficient staff member working on a fixed-term contract in a large firm.  She could easily complete her assignments before the deadlines; but she preferred not letting other colleagues know about that because she did not want extra workload given to her and making other colleagues look less capable.  Being a fixed-term contract staff member, she understood that she would leave the firm at the end of the contract.  Hoping to make her mark one day and to secure future income, she was thinking the possibility of developing her side-business during the office hours by using the firm’s resources while pretending working on certain projects in the office. 

Eva thought to herself: it was not her fault that she was more efficient and capable than other colleagues.  She was only a fixed-term contract staff member and would leave the firm one day.  She needed to prepare herself for the future.

Was that justified for Eva’s secret plan?  What about the interest of the firm?  What factors does Eva need to consider before taking her course of action?

Felix, a production manager of a large toy factory, had two assistants, Gigi and Gordon.  Gigi was the favourite because she was a young charming lady and also a cousin of the General Manager while Gordon was not because he was brash and sometimes outright insolent.  They were both responsible for handling the overtime claims for workers on the toy production.  The Finance Department had complained to Felix a few times about Gigi and raised queries over some overtime claims forwarded by Gigi.  There were widespread rumours that Gigi might have overstated the overtime hours and even forged claims by using ghost workers.  Yet, Felix could not bring himself to ask Gigi for explanations but went easy on her by telling her to be more ‘prudent’ when handling the overtime claims in the future.  On the other hand, the Finance Department contacted Felix again but this time was about Gordon.  They had questions about some discrepancies on the hours of the overtime claims forwarded by Gordon.  However, Felix treated Gordon more strictly and was much firmer on the occasion.

Was Felix being equally fair to his assistants when handling the queries from the Finance Department?  Would it upset the General Manager if Felix was not kind to Gigi at work, which in return affected Felix’s work prospect?  How would it affect his professional image in the eyes of other colleagues?