Opportunism
This is an interesting topic because the first thought that comes to my mind when people don’t act opportunistically when they have a chance is not due to an ulterior motive. Usually I would believe that people do just have good morals and are a “good citizen”. After analyzing opportunistic situations, I realized that there are often ulterior motives involved when people choose the ethical route.
In my own situation, a chance I had to act opportunistically was during my summer internship. During a group project with 3 other interns, there was one intern that did not put in much work or help out with the presentation. Although my teammates tried to confront him, his work ethic did not change much and we decided to finish the work up ourselves. This was a little bit frustrating to pick up his slack, but the work was not that hard to complete. After my group presentation, all of the interns had interviews with the Company’s HR team to potentially sign for a full time job. During these interviews, one of the HR managers asked us questions about our group project and our teammates. This was my opportunity to speak up and tell them about my peers work ethic. I really contemplated this because it would boost my chances of obtaining a future job offer if my teammate had a lower chance of receiving it. There were only six positions open, but there were seventeen interns interviewing for them. In the end, I decided not to throw my peer under the bus, so he would have a fair shot at getting a job offer. I thought it was better off not to judge his work ethic because I did not know what was going on in his life and if he had reasons for not completing his portion of the project. In addition, the group project did not represent his understanding of finance, so I thought it would be fair for him to have a shot at the job if he had strong financial analytical skills. I thought I was doing a good thing and being a “good citizen”; however, after looking back on it, I realized that I also had my own motives that stopped me from acting opportunistically and poorly evaluating him. I wanted to show that I am able to work in a group environment, and I did not want my evaluation to come off like I am not a “team player”. After really reflecting on it, I did not take the very obvious opportunistic route, but I still took a route that I believed would be beneficial for my own good. I ended up receiving a job offer, and I am not sure that I would have gotten it if I had chosen the opportunistic route.
I also started to think about other people’s situations and how they still have their own interests in mind. I have a friend that runs a family gaming business around the Illinois area. Gambling has become legal in certain cities in the state, and my friend’s company supplies and fixes slot machines. My friend has about three other employees that work for him because the company is just starting out. In addition, the company still has fees associated with starting a business, so he is not pocketing too much money yet. His employees did not know how much profit the company was making, so they did not expect any employee benefits yet. My friend contemplated pocketing his monthly income, but he decided to purchase health insurance for all of his employees instead. This comes off as a very selfless act, and I am sure that there were good intentions behind it; however, this also helps my friend in the long run. Hiring employees for his business is very difficult because it is a niche field, so he wanted to make sure that they would remain loyal. He chose to make them happy, but he also had his own motive that caused him to not act opportunistically.
In my own situation, a chance I had to act opportunistically was during my summer internship. During a group project with 3 other interns, there was one intern that did not put in much work or help out with the presentation. Although my teammates tried to confront him, his work ethic did not change much and we decided to finish the work up ourselves. This was a little bit frustrating to pick up his slack, but the work was not that hard to complete. After my group presentation, all of the interns had interviews with the Company’s HR team to potentially sign for a full time job. During these interviews, one of the HR managers asked us questions about our group project and our teammates. This was my opportunity to speak up and tell them about my peers work ethic. I really contemplated this because it would boost my chances of obtaining a future job offer if my teammate had a lower chance of receiving it. There were only six positions open, but there were seventeen interns interviewing for them. In the end, I decided not to throw my peer under the bus, so he would have a fair shot at getting a job offer. I thought it was better off not to judge his work ethic because I did not know what was going on in his life and if he had reasons for not completing his portion of the project. In addition, the group project did not represent his understanding of finance, so I thought it would be fair for him to have a shot at the job if he had strong financial analytical skills. I thought I was doing a good thing and being a “good citizen”; however, after looking back on it, I realized that I also had my own motives that stopped me from acting opportunistically and poorly evaluating him. I wanted to show that I am able to work in a group environment, and I did not want my evaluation to come off like I am not a “team player”. After really reflecting on it, I did not take the very obvious opportunistic route, but I still took a route that I believed would be beneficial for my own good. I ended up receiving a job offer, and I am not sure that I would have gotten it if I had chosen the opportunistic route.
I also started to think about other people’s situations and how they still have their own interests in mind. I have a friend that runs a family gaming business around the Illinois area. Gambling has become legal in certain cities in the state, and my friend’s company supplies and fixes slot machines. My friend has about three other employees that work for him because the company is just starting out. In addition, the company still has fees associated with starting a business, so he is not pocketing too much money yet. His employees did not know how much profit the company was making, so they did not expect any employee benefits yet. My friend contemplated pocketing his monthly income, but he decided to purchase health insurance for all of his employees instead. This comes off as a very selfless act, and I am sure that there were good intentions behind it; however, this also helps my friend in the long run. Hiring employees for his business is very difficult because it is a niche field, so he wanted to make sure that they would remain loyal. He chose to make them happy, but he also had his own motive that caused him to not act opportunistically.
The situation you described in the second paragraph is ethically mixed, as I understand it. I wonder if the interns a supervisor whom they reported to (or perhaps two or three supervisors since there were a lot of interns). The question here is whether the supervisors monitor the interns regarding their performance and, if so, whether the interns themselves should provide information to the supervisor that is relevant, when the intern sees something about another intern that the supervisor does not see. I'm not talking about a one time mistake. Everyone can me a mistake now and then. I'm talking about a pattern of work. If the information were presented to the supervisor, rather than to the HR person who was doing the interviews, then the supervisor might have had a chat with the intern who under performed, to find out what is going on. Given that, the question is whether there is some obligation to bring the information to the supervisor. I might add, that prior relationship with the supervisor surely matters in how this will play out There is a need to have some trust already before talking about another intern this way. If the trust is already there, the information will be interpreted in one way. If the trust is not there, it might end up reflecting badly on the messenger.
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