LAWS LAWS310 John has been employed by International Widgets for 14 month

John has been employed by International Widgets for 14 months. He likes his job but was recentlyapproached by a competitor with an offer he could not refuse. The competitor wanted to expand hisdomestic market and asked John to work with him for a few months. He asked that John provide himwith the names and phone numbers of the customers he services. He said he didn’t want John to getinto trouble with International Widgets so he would contact the customers and not John. However, hetold John that for every customer who left International Widgets, John would receive a "1% paymentfrom the customer’s first order." John didn’t think he was doing anything wrong. He has two children incollege and needs the extra money, plus he could continue to try to work with the customer to stay withInternational Widgets.You are the assistant director of human resources. Janice Marshall has asked you to review the Code ofEthics to determine if John has violated its provisions. You are to prepare a paper that addresses thefollowing.The human resources department worked with management to carefully craft a Code of Ethics. Allemployees received a copy of the code and were required to sign off stating that they had read the codeand agreed to abide by its conditions. If an issue concerning an employee occurs, the human resourcesdepartment investigates. As the assistant director of human resources, you are asked to evaluate anemployee’s behavior. You meet with Gloria Smithson to obtain all information needed to begin yourinvestigation.1. Evaluate International Widgets’ Code of Ethics at the conclusion of the You Decide scenario. Arethere any provisions which would prohibit John’s behavior? Please explain.2. In addition to a possible ethics violation, are there other legal avenues that InternationalWidgets could pursue against John or its competitor? Review your textbook and libraryreferences to assist you in answering these questions.3. Is John in a fiduciary relationship with International Widgets? Why or why not? Is he an agent ofInternational Widgets? Identify the duties and responsibilities of an agent and whether or notJohn is fulfilling those obligations. Review your textbook and library references to assist you inanswering these questions.4. What action should Gloria take involving John?ConfidentialityInternational Widgets is committed to maintaining the highest degree of integrity in all ourdealings with potential, current, and past clients, both in terms of normal commercialconfidentiality and the protection of all personal information received in the course of providingthe business services concerned. We extend the same standards to all our customers, suppliers,and associates.EthicsWe conduct business honestly and honorably and expect our clients and suppliers to do the same.We train our employees to be ethical and expect them to always act in the best interests ofInternational Widgets.Duty of CareOur actions and advice will always conform to relevant law and we believe that all businesses,including International Widgets, should avoid causing any adverse effect on the human rights ofpeople in the organizations we deal with, the local and wider environments, and the well-being ofsociety at large.Conflict of InterestEmployees of International Widgets must act exclusively for the benefit of International Widgets.Employees should avoid providing services to a direct competitor of International Widgets, orengage in any type of business relationship that is not in the best interests of InternationalWidgets.Our contract will usually be in the form of a detailed proposal, including aims, activities, costs,timescales, and deliverables. The quality of our service and the value of our support provide theonly true basis for continuity. We always try to meet our clients’ contractual requirements,particularly for situations where an external funding provider requires more official parametersand controls.Intellectual Property and Moral RightsWe retain the moral rights in, and ownership of, all intellectual property that we create unlessagreed otherwise in advance with our clients. In return, we respect the moral and intellectualcopyright vested in our clients’ intellectual property. Employees are not to use the intellectualproperty of International Widgets for any means other than the terms and conditions of theiremployment and to advance the interests of International Widgets.Quality AssuranceWe maintain the quality of what we do through constant ongoing review with our clients, of allaims, activities, outcomes, and the cost-effectiveness of every activity. We encourage regularreview meetings and provide regular progress reports. This consultancy has been accreditedunder a number of quality assurance schemes. Further details are available on request.Professional ConductWe conduct all of our activities professionally and with integrity. We take great care to becompletely objective in our judgment and any recommendations that we give, so that issues arenever influenced by anything other than the best and proper interests of our clients.Equality and DiscriminationWe always strive to be fair and objective in our advice and actions and we are never influencedin our decisions, actions, or recommendations by issues of gender, race, creed, color, age, orpersonal disability.