Bella Clark 

Ethical Issue: Jack does not want to upset any of the kids

Facts: 

• Jack is staying abroad at a youth center for 5 months
• He handed out gifts during a ceremony for the kids and the kids thought they were from him 
• 4 kids did not receive gifts during the ceremony, they received black hats instead 
• Jack brought up the upset kids to the youth center and they did not care and told him to fix the problem if he thought there was one. 

Stakeholders

• Jack 
• The Kids in the youth center
• The Youth center itself 
• The Management/staff at the center 
• The organization that sent the gifts 
• Jack’s exchange program 

Personal and Professional motivations

Stakeholder	Personal	Professional
Jack	Wants to be well-liked by the kids for the 5 months  Wants to be well-liked by the staff Enjoys that the kids think the gifts are from him	Wants to be respected by the staff Wants to be respected by the kids in order to show that he is a capable staff member
The kids center		Wants the kids to be satisfied and well taken care of  Wants volunteers to be satisfied with their experience Wants their employees to be satisfied
The kids in the center	Want to feel valued and seen by Jack  Want a gift that is personal  Want to be ceremoniously recognized and celebrated by Jack
The management/staff	Want good rapport with Jack  Want good rapport with the kids Maintaining their authority	Want the kids to be happy  Want Jack to stay for his job Want good reports from jack and the kids to other organizations  Maintaining their authority
The organization that sent gifts	Feel good about donating the gifts	Good rapport with jack, the kids, and the center
Jacks Venture	Feel good about connecting Jack and other students to service opportunities	Wan teh organization to have more volunteers Want to make an impact on kids  Want to facilitate a lasting relationship  Wants to main credibility for his venture

 

Solution 1: Special Gift Event 

Give each of the children who did not receive gifts a gift out of your own pocket, something that you possibly brought from home in front of all of the kids, possibly before meal time. 

Pros: 

• Saves face for the organization and makes it look like they care about the happiness of each individual child
• Reconciles with the children who didn’t get gifts 
• The staff does not have to worry about the issue 

Cons

• Jack’s personal savings are depleted
• The Kids still feel othered because they were not given the gift in the same time 
• The other kids could be confused as to why the four others get special treatment 

 

Solution 2: Black Hat Club 

Have a special meal separate from the group with the 4 kids who did not get presents and call it the “Black Hat Club”. Tell them that they were chosen and he had to keep it a secret and tell the kids they got the black hats because they were part of a special club. 

 

Pros: 

• Makes the Kids feel like they were not forgotten 
• Increases connection with Jack
• 0 cost
• 0 interferences with staff 

Cons: 

• Might make kids who did not get the hat feel uncool 
• Kids still might be upset that they do not get a more special gift. 
• Might create the reverse effect and turn the kids with hats into a social hierarchy

 

I would choose the second option. I feel like this would create a sort of comradery that would help rebuild the relationships with the kids who felt betrayed by the gift situation. It also saves the most face and does not require any extra money or any embarrassment or contact of the organizations involved. 

My course of action would be to:

1. I started wearing the hat myself 
2. “Call” a “meeting” of the black hat club and tell them that they have been specially chosen for this exact purpose. 
3. Make a handshake and do it with the “members” every time you see them.
4. Reinforce that the hat is “Cool” thus adding emotional value to the hat instead of it just being a hat. The exclusivity of the hat commodifies it and thus increases the social status of the individual with the hat.

In conclusion, the hat itself has a “lesser value” but by a person of power wearing it, it is essentially a “celebrity endorsement” which makes the hat have an intrinsic value. By doing this, Jack does not appear ungrateful to the donors, makes the kids who got the hat feel special and important, and it leaves the organization Jack is volunteering for out of the ordeal entirely as they have asked. The venture has low impact because they don’t damage any relationships in between the kids and jack as well as the donor and the organization.