Ethical Dilemmas Recast

No one turns down a “free gift.” Someone smarter than me once observed there is no such thing as a “free gift,” although merchants and others promote “free gifts” on television ads and other advertising mediums shouting, “Buy now and receive this free gift.” I ask you, have you ever paid for a gift? A gift should always be free.

Picture this: A public official receives a “gift” of an all-expense paid trip to the Virgin Islands and it includes a private jet, resort fees, and other excursions. It’s a gift, right? Or the official receives a loan, interest-free. “Pay me back later,” says the lender.

This is treading on ethically dangerous ground.

Early in my career, I was in charge of procuring copier toner for the community in which I worked. Our offices were spread out throughout the City and we had at least four or five copiers that seemed to be always out of toner.

A supply company called one day and said they had a deal on toner. It was a good deal, so I went ahead and made the purchase. The supplier asked if there was anything else we needed, as they supply paper, office supplies, waste baskets, and a whole host of other products. “No, I think we are all set,” was my reply.

Not so long after and close to Christmas, the sales rep called again and said since we are such a good customer he had sent a package and wished me happy holidays. In my naivete, I remarked how kind he was and how I was looking forward to the package.

A couple weeks later a big box came to City Hall addressed to me. Forgetting about the “free gift” coming from the supplier I opened it to find a very nice food processor. My immediate thought was about all the things I could make with this food processor.

Then I remembered that this was probably not ethically sound. Accepting a gift from this vendor, particularly since we were a public entity wasn’t a good idea. I told my superiors about the food processor and we ended up putting it in the Holiday Party door prize collection of goodies.

I never purchased anything from this vendor again, and I didn’t win the food processor at the holiday party.

(Note: Grammerly keeps trying to have me remove the word free in front of gift, claiming it’s redundant…even AI knows it’s wrong!)

This week I am writing about potentially unconventional tactics to use in economic development. Some may border on unethical, but when used properly (and ethically), they can move your community forward and provide a positive impact. Here’s the first idea:

Unconventional Collaboration with Competitors: While it may be perceived as “unethical”: partnering with competitors may be seen as collusion or a threat to individual business interests.

We certainly have seen collaboration within regions. My experience in Indianapolis involved eight counties. However, partnering with a community many miles away may seem ridiculous.

However, we see collaboration between sister cities and other types of partnerships, don’t we?

Through these types of relationships and compacts, we exchange ideas, commerce, and trade with communities in distant lands.

What if your semiconductor community collaborated with another semiconductor community in another state to attract or retain employers? When I worked in Illinois, we participated in multi-state, multi-city automobile assembly and supplier alliances.

The potential positive impact is that cross-community collaboration can lead to innovative solutions, shared resources, and a more cohesive ecosystem that benefits the entire niche.

The Ethical Dilemma with AI — I received the request for information. As the Freedom of Information Officer, I researched the situation and responded. The request, or complaint, asked why the fire station in a neighborhood had to turn on their siren and lights the minute they left the station. From the time the request came in, I researched the information and responded two weeks had gone by.

The request came by what we call “snail mail.” I responded by snail mail. That’s how long things like this took in the mid-nineteen eighties. There were no chat bots or internet inquiries. Not very productive?

The internet’s promise of increased and better communication has fallen short. Today, much of the internet, including social media, is used to spread false information and rumors. While the internet can be very helpful in providing data and information one must certainly be aware of the source. Unfortunately, many people rely on unreliable sources and rumors easily spread on the internet social channels.

There is much written about being super-productive in this busy world. The internet is filled with courses and classes about how to be more productive and spend less time working. Flow, a favorite subject of mine, leads these discussions. More often than not, being in flow can tremendously enhance your “me” time. Learning how to be in flow requires some reading and experimentation.

Another way to increase productivity and free up time for more creative pursuits is to embrace automation and AI-driven decision-making. For economic developers, whose primary goal is to help their communities create jobs, pursuing this might feel unethical or go against the grain, as some see AI as a threat to employment and human decision-making.

Is AI’s promise to streamline, improve efficiency, and free up resources the same as the broken promise of social media? Embrace the positive aspects and be wary of those that can further erode our social mores. Do you view AI as a positive force or a potential threat? How do you think it could impact our society and our daily lives?

Challenging Power Structures — Imagine telling your boss or Board Chair to stick it “where the sun don’t shine.” Have you ever felt like that? We’ve all had days when we are challenged on the tolerance for silliness front. A Board chair asks you to do something you find unprofessional or unethical and you wonder what the implications are if you say no.

Or maybe it’s been building. Maybe a series of activities, behaviors, or statements made by your superior has gotten you to the point where you are about to explode. Well, hang in there bucko…hold on to those emotions for just a second or two. You may want to rethink your next steps. Count to five.

What you are reading above is not challenging tradition, but spouting off with emotional immaturity. Challenging the status quo can be exhilarating and important to the advancement of progress.

But be careful, as it may perceived as “unethical”: Disrupting established power dynamics and hierarchies may be seen as disruptive or a threat to the status quo. However, as with all things that may seem wrong, a reframe can result in success. Challenging traditional structures can foster more inclusive, collaborative, and adaptable organizations, ultimately benefiting the entire industry.

I have done it more than once with great success. Your intuition can tell you when you should make a challenge and emotional maturity is essential. Often, the structure or status quo you are breaching is waiting for someone like you to do this.

So step into the challenge, but do so carefully with great sensitivity to ethics, awareness of your fellow human, and wisdom.

I believe that even though global warming is an issue that will adversely impact all of us in the next several decades, I also believe in humanity’s ability to adapt and deal with these issues.

On one hand, I want to do what I can to not be a contributor to our potential demise as earthlings.

Can I do something that will lower my carbon footprint and still give me a comfortable life? On the other hand, I certainly enjoy all the conveniences that our fossil fuel-centric world has given us.

I like jumping in my car and driving to the store or to visit friends. I like the convenience of plastic bottles, bags, and shampoo containers. I like the cement on the sidewalks in the neighborhood. All these things have contributed to the carbon excess we now are experiencing.

Prioritizing Social and Environmental Impacts over Short-term Benefits.

In the corporate world or for the businesses we all enjoy in our community that create jobs and capital investment the question is slightly different: What are the ethics of prioritizing social and environmental impacts over short-term profit?

This may be perceived as “unethical” because some may view a focus on social and environmental impact as a deviation from the primary goal of maximizing profits. Or on the personal side, why should I be inconvenienced?

However the potential positive impact is that balancing profit-driven goals with a commitment to social and environmental responsibility can lead to more sustainable and responsible industry practices, benefiting all stakeholders in the long run.

What about economic development? Is this unending pursuit by regions and localities an ethical practice?

Radical Transparency — In 1985, my first job out of grad school was working for a City in Illinois as an assistant City Manager. My starting salary was $19,500. I was pretty happy with that amount. Today that is a few grand away from what is considered the poverty line. Today for a household of two the poverty line is $20,440.

How important is it to know how much money public officials make? What does this do for the average taxpayer? Often one will hear the complaint that a city manager or economic development executive makes too much and taxpayers are being fleeced.

But consider the job and the marketplace. In the private sector, an executive of a publicly traded company can make a lot of money. In 2021 the CEO-to-worker compensation ratio was 399-to-1 according to the Economic Policy Institute. This means that in the United States, a CEO earns a salary almost 400 times more than the average employee. In 1965, this ratio was just 20-to-1. Yet, most of us either don’t care and go on buying the products or services the public company provides without complaint.

I worked in a community as a contract employee and the local newspaper kept reporting my salary as being about 30% higher than what I was getting. They were reporting my salary plus the fee being paid to the HR company that employed me on behalf of that community. Even after asking them to correct it, they kept reporting it that way. Was reporting my salary helpful in any way?

Is radical transparency compensation helpful to anyone? Perhaps. As a public employee, you accept that parts of your private life aren’t so private. Some states require periodic publishing of salaries over a certain amount.

The potential positive impact is that increased transparency can build trust with the community, improve employee morale, and foster a more equitable industry landscape.

Remember, the key is to frame these strategies/tactics/methods as unconventional

approaches that have the potential to create positive change when used ethically and responsibly. If you emphasize how they can benefit the industry as a whole, rather than promoting any genuinely unethical behavior we all win.