Gbs 151 - Introduction to Business - Lesson 1 Essay

GBS151

Introduction to Business

Lesson 1 Essay

If an employee leaves a company to work for a competitor, what types of knowledge would be ethical for the employee to share with the new employer and what types of knowledge would be unethical to share?

When an employee makes the decision to leave a company and take a position with a competing company, the former employer has the right to expect that his company's secrets will be protected. Some companies require employees to sign an agreement saying they will not go to work for a direct competitor for a specified amount of time. It is important for an employee to carefully consider and utilize ethical behavior when securing a position with a company's competitor.

When an employee begins working with a new employer that happens to be his previous employer's competitor, there is information that is acceptable and in fact beneficial for the employee to share. The employee needs to take care to act ethically. "In business, besides obeying all laws and regulations, practicing good ethics means competing fairly and honestly, communicating truthfully, and not causing harm to others." (Bovee, Thill and Mescon 65). General knowledge from a college or trade school education or common knowledge regarding a businesses' operational procedures such as cashiering or shelve stocking skills are not considered proprietary information and are acceptable to share. Basically any generic industry information that is pertinent to the employee's ability to perform their job function is information that is common to share with a new employer.

Unethical behavior is any behavior that causes harm to others. Employees need to remember that in business; information is a resource. Protecting its resources is one of a company's most important responsibilities. There are very specific examples of information that would be considered unethical to share with a competing company. A trade secret is information that gets it value from not being generally known and is kept secret through reasonable actions. This type of information includes production methods and processes and secret formulas. Other information that would be unethical to share would be customer lists and contracts, business financial information and marketing plans.

Specialized training learned on the job could also be considered inappropriate to share with a new employer.

Taking care to protect a previous employer's private and proprietary information is every employee's responsibility. Acting ethically is an important part of being a good corporate citizen.