Ethical Issues:

• Not every child in this situation received equal treatment
• Hindering a child’s mental growth from lack of consideration
• Jack doesn’t want to push back against the staff as he is a visitor and comes from a different ethical background

 

Step 1: Determine the facts in the situation – obtain all of the unbiased facts possible 

• Jack was asked to give out gifts on behalf of the youth center
• 4 kids didn’t receive gifts ceremoniously and instead were given a black hat
• The kid(s) blame Jack for not getting gifts
• Jack tries to include the kids who are feeling left out, but the staff isn’t concerned
• There is a cultural difference between Jack ( American ) and the Staff ( Kenyan)
• Only one kid directly looked at Jack with a look of blame for not receiving a gift 
• An organization donated the gifts 
• Black hat having a negative stigma to it

 

Step 2 & 3: Define the problem and the stakeholders – those with a vested interest in the outcome. Determine and distinguish between the personal and professional motivations of the stakeholders.

• Jack (wants to make sure he is not viewed as the bad guy to the students
  • Problem: He noticed that not all the children received gifts, causing some of them to feel “left out” so he wanted to bring this fact into the attention of the staff that would not strain his relationship with them.
  • Personal: Jack wants all the children to be treated equally. He wants to be well respected by the children and have a positive relationship with each other.
  • Professional: Jack will be staying with the children for a long period of time and wants to be seen in a good light. He wants the staff to make changes that would enhance their consideration of the children without causing a strain in his relationship with them.
• Staff (Maintain the situation they currently have without escalating it in any unnecessary manner→ Jack possibly interfering could create bigger issues they want to avoid)
  • Problem: The staff is concerned about Jack placing blame on them for a mistake that they do not view as a big issue. The staff does not want the situation to be escalated. 
  • Personal: The staff does not want their reputation to be jeopardized. Professional: They also don’t want to interfere with the hierarchy and flow they have created and worked in. They want operations to continue to be smooth and avoid unnecessary turbulence.
  • Don’t necessarily care about the credit concerning the gift giving
• Kids w/o gifts ( want to not feel excluded) 
  • Problem: These 4 kids didn’t receive gifts in the ceremonious manner the other kids did, so they likely feel left out
    • They likely also blame Jack and might treat him differently for the rest of his time w/ the center
  • Personal: Get a gift ceremoniously
    • Equal treatment
  • Avoiding embarrassment 
• Kids w/gifts (secondary)
  • Problem: These kids received a gift in a ceremonious manner while 4 other kids were handed a hat that was unwrapped. They might tease the kids that got hats.
  • Personal: They might feel bad if one of their friends did not receive a gift in the way they did otherwise they are not affected.
  • Professional: N/A
• Donors (secondary)
  • Problem: Donors recognize that not all children in Kenya are fortunate and could be better off with even a little extra of something.
  • Personal: Donors want to feel as if they are helping someone out and perhaps changing their lives by making a gift to people in less fortunate situations.
  • Professional: Donors feel that it is their duty & responsibility to contribute towards the happiness of children who are less fortunate due to their financial capabilities.

 

Step 4: Formulate (at least three) alternative solutions – based on information available, to have a win-win situation for your relationship and your venture. Approaches [1/2/3: repeat for every action] 

–Potential Solution #1: Have another smaller gift ceremony in which everyone certainly receives gifts

How does it solve the problem? The formerly left out children don’t continue to feel left out

• Pros: Kids who were left out before forget about past experience and feel included
• Cons: Unsure of financial ability to provide more gifts

–How does it save face of those involved? Kids don’t continue to question why either Jack or the staff didn’t give them gifts

–Implications on relationships

• Short-term: The kids who feel left out don’t feel removed from the other groups
• Long-term: Jack, the staff, and the children maintain a good relationship

–Implications on the venture (Khanjan said to interpret venture as Jack’s work for the next 5 months) 

• Short-term: Jack is no longer blamed for leaving 4 kids out
• Long-term: Jack maintains a good relationship with the kids and can continue his personal and professional work without any underlying conflicts

 

Potential Solution #2: Do not continue to press the issue 

How does it solve the problem? : Jack is not going to apologize to the kids or bring the problem back up to administration.

• Pros : 
  • Administration will be satisfied and Jack will maintain a respectful relationship with them as well as kids the who received presents in a ceremonious way 
  • Will not intensify the feelings of the children. 
    • For example: When a toddler falls, do not address the fact that they fell too much because it could lead to more crying and embarrassment. 
• Cons
  • The four kids who did not receive gifts in a ceremonious way may remain upset with Jack. 

How does it save face of those involved?

This saves face because it does not redirect the blame to the administration or reintroduce the problem to the kids and administration. 

Implications on relationships

• Short-term – Jack, the staff, and the children who received gifts maintain a good relationship
• Long-term – Jack, the staff, and children maintain a good relationship 

Implications on the venture

• Short-term – Jack may have some pushbacks when it comes to relationship building during the first weeks of his work. 
• Long-term -Jack will be able to successfully continue his professional and personal work without underlying issues with the staff

 

Potential Solution #3: Plan a baking activity with the staff that revolves around the concept of bonding that will involve the children and the staff. Emphasizing the importance of making sure that there are enough ingredients for all the children and the adults involved prior to the event. Spend time with the four children that did not get a gift in a “ceremonious way”.

How does it solve the problem?

• Pros: 
  • Jack is able to teach the staff, indirectly, the importance of making sure that everyone is equally involved and engaged. 
  • The staff is exposed to a new concept/culture of equal treatment and engagement in a subtle way. They will not feel as if Jack is brining unnecessary problems, but instead is engaged in establishing a positive relationship with everyone at the center while enhancing their sense of community with each other
  • Food is a necessity, so it will be easier to acquire rather than more gifts/resources
  • Children will have an enjoyable time participating in the activity and develop a deeper relationship with one another
  • Jack can restore his relationship with the four children that did not receive a gift
• Cons
  • Possible financial burdens when it comes to providing the needed supplies 
  • Could interfere with school structure, schedule 
    • May need to be planned very in advance
      • Possibly cannot happen as a short term solution
  • The kids might not make the connection between the inclusiveness of the activity and still be upset about not receiving gifts

How does it save face of those involved?

• This solution saves face because it does not redirect blame, instead it focuses on building up the relationships and teaches the importance of equal involvement with all of the kids and staff.

 

Implications on relationships

• Short-term: Jack, kids, and staff have a better bond
• Long-term: Could dictate positive relationships for the rest of Jack’s stay there. 

Implications on the venture

• Short-term: Will start off on a clean slate that will allow him to not face any barriers that could occur due to the 4 children no longer having as much appreciation and respect for him 
• Long-term: Jack will be seen as a foreigner who is actively engaged with the community
  • The staff may learn the importance of equality 

 

Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate – previous cases, peers, reliance on personal experience, inner reflection:

• Cultural differences 
  • At first, I thought that the staff was not being supportive and rude to Jack. However, we need to understand that there may be significant cultural differences. For Solution 3, one of my group members  wrote “The staff may learn the importance of equality.” I feel as if that brought in the saviorism mindset. Jack is a foreigner entering a new country. American norms and values are not beyond all others. Therefore, Jack needs to know his place. 
• Personal experience and Inner Reflection
  • I was a tutor throughout all of my high school years. When something unintentionally happens with kids, sometimes it is best to simply approach it. You want to make sure you validate the children’s feelings but also do not just end up intensifying their feelings. For instance, when a toddler falls, I was raised to believe that if you ignore the part that they fell (of course, if they are not hurt) then they will not react as dramatically. When you start saying “oh my god”, or “are you okay” a lot then that is when they start to make it a much bigger deal. The same concept applies to the situation that occurred between Jack and the children. 
  • As a child, I would have been fine with just a one-on-one apology. If the apology was too complex or dramatic, it would have just furthered the embarrassment. 

 

Step 6: Select the best course of action – that solves the problem, saves face and has the best short-term and long-term implications for your relationship and venture. Explain reasoning and discuss your solution vis-a-vis other approaches discussed in class. 

 

I believe the best course of action is solution #2, to not continue to press the situation. Jack will not apologize for the mistake that technically was not his fault or continue to bring it up to the administration. It saves face because it does not reintroduce the problem to the kids and administration. Jack is a foreigner and needs to keep a respectful relationship with the staff who he will be closely working with and even to a certain extent rely on during his stay. Therefore, he should not try to hold his higher ups at the moment accountable. I do not feel as if Jack should predict a bad stay simply because of this one incident that only involved 4 children. As always, he needs to make sure he needs to make sure he is providing equal treatment when he does start his work in the school. The way he directly interacts with the children will determine how his stay would be. In class, groups suggested a second event where they will not make a mistake. I feel as if it is not necessary and just going to serve as a financial burden on a school who already depended on an international donor organization for gifts. They clearly may not have the luxury to just throw another event with gifts and activities that require the purchase of supplies. I did really like Khanjan’s proposed idea during class. He said he would just have Jack wear the same black hat the 4 children were given for a couple of hours or days. It will make them appreciate the hat more and not just view it as a last minute replacement. This approach is not costly and does not require any further discussion with the staff. Jack is an American as well so the 4  students will feel as if their hats are very capable of being fashionable when they see him wearing it throughout the school. 

→ Use his American identity as a benefit (which is exactly what the school may    have been doing when they chose Jack to distribute the donated gifts) 

→ Like one student in class said, “change the meaning of the hats”. 

→ Simplicity can go a long way since you want to avoid Jack stepping on staff’s toes. 

A win-win situation for all stakeholders. Jack could recover his believed to be mean identity (although I believe he is making it seem a lot worse than it probably is). The staff are not being overly stressed over a perceived issue that they cannot see. Also, Jack will not seem like he is placing blame on them. The kids who were forgotten are validated in a very simple, indirect way. The donors are not unnecessarily brought into the situation. The kids with gifts are not affected. 

→ Everyone’s face is safe. 

 

Step 7: List the sequence of actions you will take to implement your solution.

 

Step 1: Jack should respectfully acknowledge the staff’s standpoint and explain to them what he will do. Also, he should openly acknowledge in front of the staff that it is nobody’s fault and just a simple mistake. 

Step 2: Jack should go back to the box and get a black hat so he can wear it for a couple hours. 

Step 3: Go on his normal day of work proudly wearing the black hat. He should try his best to ensure each student of the four sees him wearing it. 

Bonus step: At the end of the day, Jack can meet with the four students so they all can take a picture with their matching hats before they are dismissed.