[SOLVED] Businessweek Article
TEXTBOOK — https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/business-ethics/s10-employee-s-ethics-getting-a-jo.html **********CASE STUDY********* Biswamohan Pani, a low-level engineer at Intel, apparently stole trade secrets worth a billion dollars from the company. His plot was simple. According to a Businessweek article, he scheduled his resignation from Intel for June 11, 2008. Hed accumulated vacation time, however, so he wasnt actually in the office during June, even though he officially remained an employee. That employee status allowed him access to Intels computer network and sensitive information about next-generation microprocessor prototypes. He downloaded the files, and he did it from his new desk at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), which is Intels chief rival. Pani had simply arranged to begin his new AMD job while officially on vacation from Intel. Why did he do it? The article speculates that Pani obtained Intels trade secrets to benefit himself in his work at AMD without AMDs knowledge that he was doing so, which is a fairly frequent impulse among employees changing jobs: to take a bit of work product from their old job with them.Michael Orey, Lessons from Intels Trade-Secret Case, Bloomberg Businessweek, November 18, 2008, accessed May 17, 2011, http://www.businessweek.com/print/technology/content/nov2008/tc20081118_067329.htm. According to Nick Akerman, a New York lawyer who specializes in trade secret cases, Its amazing how poorly most companies [protect their trade secrets].Michael Orey, Lessons from Intels Trade-Secret Case, Bloomberg Businessweek, November 18, 2008, accessed May 17, 2011, http://www.businessweek.com/print/technology/content/nov2008/tc20081118_067329.htm. After being caught, Pani faced charges in federal court for trade secret theft, with a possible prison term of ten years. He pleaded innocent, maintaining that he downloaded the material for his wife to use. She was an Intel employee at the time and had no plans to leave. ————————————————————————————————————– Please read the case study entitled Stolen Intel that you find in the reading assignment. Based on what you have learned in this unit, answer the following questions: Can the fact that Pani got the information so easily be used to build an ethical case that what he did wasnt wrong? If not, why not? If so, what does the case look like? Ethically, does it matter whether Pani was a key author of the taken documents? Why or why not? According to the article, a lot of people do what Pani did. Is that a justification for his action? Explain. Did Pani have a responsibility to formally end his employment status with Intel before joining AMD, or is it OK for him to be vacationing from Intel while working at AMD? Whose interests need to be considered to answer this question thoroughly?