Prompt: Grassroots Diplomacy Case 9/8/2020

Step 1: A) Determine the facts

• Jack is an American student who lived at a youth center in Kenya, he is a guest that was helping in giving out gifts during the ceremony
• Kids in the youth center are expecting gifts – once they saw that every other child got a present, they felt deserving of one as well
• Four children were forgotten – as children they are not mature enough to realize that this might have been a mistake
• The hats are not as special as some of the other gifts the other children got – this is unfair to them and why they do not approve of just the black hats
• The staff shooed the kids away after giving them the hats, acting as if the kids were the ones at fault
• The kids blamed Jack for not getting gifts, even though it was the staff’s fault
• Jack discussed with the staff the kids felt upset and left out, but they didn’t acknowledge the problem at all and just got annoyed at Jack 
• Jack may not understand the culture – it may be commonplace in youth centers for children to not get gifts. Jack’s instinct is to accommodate the kids that are left out, but in Kenya they might not think much of this
• Jack wants to save face as well as the youth center (Jack more so though)
• They all live at the youth center
• Only one student gave Jack a glare – the other three may not think it was Jack’s fault?
• Assumption: the black hat is not a good present
• Assumption: all four of the children are indeed upset by not getting presents

1. B) Clearly state the ethical issue/issues

• Jack took some credit for getting the gifts, even though they were from the donors, so the four kids that did not receive a present blamed him for that. When Jack brought up the children’s disappointment to the staff, they did not seem to care at all. Now, Jack is faced with the ethical dilemma of figuring out how to solve the problem of not every child getting a gift. To him this is not only unjust, but he also does not want to disappoint the primary people he has been working hard to keep happy all summer: the kids. This matters to Jack because he bonded and got close to the kids throughout his time in Kenya and does not want to disappoint them or for them to think badly of him. He needs to decide what to do about the kids that did not receive gifts. 

Steps 2 & 3: Define the stakeholders and assess their motivations

• • Jack
    • Personal: sees the issue at hand as a real concern compared to his coworkers, wants to have good relationships with the kids and workers and for everyone to be happy, wants to be well-liked, wants to remember his experience in Kenya as positive, wants to save face
    • Professional: wants to continue his job at the youth center, does not want to upset the workers, wants to have a good relationship with the workers and be respected by them, wants to handle the situation calmly
  • The children who received presents
    • Personal: happy to receive their presents, see Jack in good standing, might tease the kids that just got black hats
    • Professional: not as applicable since they are kids; but, they feel deserving of a present because the majority of the kids did get a present
  • The children who did not receive presents
    • Personal: very unhappy with their hats (not a sufficient present in their eyes), associate their anger with Jack, feel left out or maybe like they did something wrong
    • Professional:  not as applicable since they are kids; but, they feel deserving of a present because the majority of the kids did get a present
  • The youth center workers
    • Personal: pride – trying to save face by not acknowledging the problem, many of them might have grown up in the center themselves so they have personal reasons for working there but understand that sometimes mistakes like this happen, want things to be smooth without disturbances or unnecessary turn of events
    • Professional: wanting their next paycheck, getting their job done every day, moving on to the next task with the kids

Step 4: Formulate alternative solutions

1. Solution: Jack can purchase four presents on his own for the four children who were left out

• • How does it solve the problem?:
    • No child will be upset because they did not receive a present. Also, this is what is fair because it is not fair for some kids to get presents while others do not. 
  • Pros:
    • The children will receive real presents
    • The children will be more positive with Jack
    • The children will be happy
  • Cons: 
    • The children will not receive the same public treatment as the other kids which was part of why they became upset – they still are probably wondering why there was a delay for them to receive toys
    • Jack has to pay out of his own pocket for the toys
    • The other kids might see this as special treatment
    • Have to be careful of precedents you set because the kids/staff may start expecting this from you regularly
    • The staff might feel uncomfortable if Jack does not tell them, almost going behind their backs
  • How does it save face of those involved?: 
    • Jack helps the youth center staff save face by fixing the problem they made, and also saves his own face since the kids won’t blame him anymore for not getting gifts, since he initially took credit for getting them
    • Jack also saves face for the kids who didn’t get presents as they will not be seen as different from the other kids anymore
  • Implications on relationships:
    • Short Term: Kids will be happy they got gifts and will approve of Jack
    • Long Term: Youth staff might appreciate Jack more for helping solve the problem, Jack saves his own face and the kids end up liking him more
  • Implications on the venture:
    • Short Term: Jack will restore his standing in the eyes of the kids and have an easier time as a worker and maintain his job in the venture
    • Long Term: This is a very minuscule problem as it is overlooked by the workers and only affects a small portion of the kids. It will most likely be forgotten and have no effect in the long term of Jack’s stay.

1. 2. Jack can designate children to partner up and/or share their toys since they live there; promote it as a community donation of gifts everyone can use

• • How does it solve the problem?:
    • It ensures that no child is forgotten and they can access all and any of the toys they want to play with.
  • Pros:
    • Promotes sharing and socialization among the kids
    • They live there so it will be easy for them to share
    • The kids can play with multiple toys; maybe they weren’t particularly interested in the individual gift they were given at first and wanted to play with someone else’s
  • Cons: 
    • The initial four kids left out will probably still be upset they didn’t have a gift given directly to them
    • It could seem that the children are having their toys taken away from them after they were gifted
    • Could lead to more fighting over toys than was anticipated with the original issue
  • How does it save face of those involved?: 
    • All of the kids will be able to play with all of the various toys; no kid gets left out 
    • No one has to pay extra money for more gifts
    • The kids won’t think Jack forgot to buy gifts (they’ll  forget), and the donors won’t have to worry about not getting enough in the first place
  • Implications on relationships:
    • Short Term: The students will be happy with Jack since they can all play with every gift
    • Long Term: The workers may feel like Jack is too controlling in the moment unless he asks for help / or, they will think he is very adaptable 
  • Implications on the venture
    • Short Term: Jack will have a good experience with the kids since he was able to find a solution that made them happy fast 
    • Long Term: The workers might be wary of Jack because he made a big decision without consulting them, but there is also the possibility they would forget about it. They could also see him as a problem solver and quick adapter. This is a very circumstantial implication, since we don’t really know how the workers will react.

1. 2. 3. Reach out to donor organization and see if they can accommodate these four students
   • How does it solve the problem?
     • This approach will allow every student to get a gift, without Jack or anyone else having to pay money out of their own pockets. 
   • Pros: 
     • Jack would not have to pay for the gifts 
     • The kids will hopefully receive gifts 
     • The integrity of the youth center can be upheld because Jack saves face as well as the youth organization
   • Cons: 
     • The kids will not receive the recognition
     • It might take time before the kids can receive the gifts
     • The organization might feel attacked and will not want this information about a possible mistake getting out to the public
   • How does it save face of those involved?: 
     • All the kids will get toys
     • The kids that do not have toys will feel happier
     • Jack/the youth center will be seen in a positive light by the kids
   • Implications on relationships:
     • Short Term: Puts stress on Jack’s relationships with his coworkers as they might feel he is taking things to extremes and they might discourage his efforts. Also, this creates a lot of unanticipated work for the donor organization who would think their job is done already.
     • Long Term: If all goes smoothly the workers and organization will most likely forget about Jack’s action as it is a small problem that was hopefully handled well.
   • Implications on the venture
     • Short Term: Jack’s co-workers might be upset with his extreme efforts and be less kind to him as a result. The organization might give Jack a hard time, adding to the work and stress on his stay.
     • Long Term: Jack’s coworkers will forget the incident with time and go back to their original impressions. The organization will be more wary about their donation if they choose to work with Jack and his youth center again.

Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate – engineering codes of ethics, previous cases, peers, reliance on personal experience, inner reflection, etc. 

• Ethics
  • Injustice – it is unfair that not everyone got a regular gift. Who is to say one child is more deserving than another?
• Peers
  • Working with a student group of 4, we discussed these three approaches and realized that there is no simple answer. The best methods we decided were between approaches 1 and 2, but we still did not think it would be good for Jack to have to deal with the awkward conversation of discussing the payment of the new gifts with the youth center
• Previous cases
  • In the times of coronavirus, health care professionals faced the ethical dilemma of who to save due to the limited supply of ventilators. Doctors and nurses needed to accurately assess and prioritize those with the best chance of survival and use their resources accordingly. While this case is more of a life or death situation, it emphasizes that predicaments such as these can occur on any scale.

Step 6: Select the best course of action – that which satisfies the highest core ethical values. Explain reasoning and justify. Discuss your stance vis-a-vis other approaches discussed in the class. Mention also its possible negative implications.

• The best course of action in my opinion is to distract the children momentarily with another activity and then come back to the gifts and teach them a lesson on sharing. Instead of each person exclusively having ownership of one gift, the kids will have the ability to play with any and all gifts that were donated (act like the gift is a lump sum rather than specific to each individual kid). This saves face of the youth center and Jack because now children will have access to a plethora of toys and will be encouraged to socialize and bond over playing with the toys together. 
• This solution has the best implications for relationships and the venture because in my opinion it will illustrate to the youth center employees that Jack is flexible and can adapt well to handle situations professionally and confidently instead of giving in and going out to buy gifts himself. If he was to give in and actually buy gifts or ask the donors to send more, it may set a precedent for the children always getting what they want from him and it could create a bad pattern. 
• This solution will take the least amount of time compared to the other approaches because both of the other approaches will involve getting money and going to a store – being that it is faster the kids will be happier quicker which is always a good thing so no one starts crying or having a tantrum that might affect the other kids. It also is more financially sound than the other approaches because it does not require any more money to be put into gifting. 
• This solution also gets rid of any awkwardness that might ensue if Jack had to tell the youth center he was buying more gifts with his own money or if he had to reach out to the organization to ask them to send more gifts. If he did this, this could create short and/or long term implications on his relationship with the youth center because they might think Jack thinks they are being bad workers and that Jack has to fix their mess for them.
• This solution leads to a win-win for all stakeholders because it quickly deflects the problem and allows kids to have even more options for toys than they had before. They also all live in the youth center, so all the toys will be readily available for them to play with. 
• A shortcoming of this approach is that some kids may fight over the toys. However, sharing is a necessary skill taught to children of all ages so it is good that they are getting exposed to a more friendly and welcoming environment that shares with one another. This approach is also less personalized than each child receiving individual gifts, but it’s better than fully neglecting the four kids that did not get presents. 
• This is also what people do at daycare centers in the US- when centers such as these receive gift donations, no one’s name is given exclusively to the gift for kids to have ownership of one gift- rather, all the kids play together with the toys and have the ability to rotate which toys they want to play with. This also stimulates their brains more since some toys such as musical instruments can enhance hand-eye coordination and toys such as soccer balls can improve kids’ motor skills. Their developmental progression may be enhanced with exposure to more toys. 

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

• Talk to staff about the idea. This is absolutely crucial because Jack does not want to overstep any boundaries with this set of stakeholders.
• Upon approval, have the kids stop what they are doing and go in another room to do a math/science/some educational exercise. Depending on their age, this deflection of time could make the kids forget they even had presents in the first place.
• Upon returning back to the toys after a short while, explain that the toys are actually for everyone. Start playing with other employees of the youth center to demonstrate the fun of playing with toys together. Promote activities that get the kids to share, such as playing dollhouse if some of them have dolls, dress-up, etc.  This step involves all the stakeholders together coming in harmony to simply enjoy and be grateful for gifts that everyone can have access to. 
• Everyone’s face is saved because there is no need to go out and buy more gifts and the kids are happy and more social with one another. The situation is not worsened; rather it illustrates to the youth center that Jack is really flexible and can adapt professionally to unforeseen situations.