In this fictional case study, a summer intern isn’t sure how to respond to a request that she misrepresent herself. One of her primary duties is to assist with market research by calling direct competitors and asking for information on products, services offered, customers, sales, and other data. Her manager wants her to only identify herself to these contacts as a MBA student. While it’s not a direct lie, she is uncomfortable with the omission. She needs the internship and the money but she also doesn’t want to start her career in this industry by deceiving people. Should she push back on her manager? Or perhaps ask for another project?

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At first, Susan Kim wasn’t sure whether she’d heard her new manager correctly.

A version of this article appeared in the July–August 2017 issue (pp.139–143) of Harvard Business Review.

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  How do you prepare for ethics case studies?

  Empathise and Place Yourself in Another's Shoes The ethics case studies, all portray an issue with a person as the central character and the ethical dilemma faces by him/her. In such cases, you should know how to empathise with this fictional person. Put yourself in his/her shoes and think about the issue at hand.

  What are the ethical issues of Coca Cola?

  Since the 1990s Coca-Cola has been accused of unethical behavior in a number of areas, in- cluding product safety, anti-competitiveness, racial discrimination, channel stuffing, dis- tributor conflicts, intimidation of union workers, pollution, depletion of natural resources, and health concerns.