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!