Assume that you work as a manager for a medium-sized company that is facing a serious union-organizing campaign. Your boss, who is determined to keep the union out of the workplace, has just given you a list of things to do to thwart the efforts of the organizers. For example, he has suggested each of the following tactics:

• Whenever you learn about a scheduled union meeting, you should schedule a “worker appreciation” event at the same time. He wants you to offer free pizza and to give cash prizes that winners must be present to receive.

• He wants you to look at the most recent performance evaluations of the key union organizers and supporters and to terminate the one with the lowest overall evaluation based on the “need to lower costs.”

• He wants you to make an announcement that the firm is seriously considering such new benefits as on-site childcare, flexible work schedules, telecommuting options, and exercise facilities. Although you know that the firm is indeed looking into these benefits, you also know that, ultimately, your boss will provide far less lavish benefits than he wants you to suggest.

When you questioned the ethics—and even the legality—of these tactics, your boss explained that he was seriously concerned that a union victory might actually shut down the company’s domestic operations altogether, forcing it to move all of its production capacities to lower-cost foreign plants. He concluded by saying that he was really looking out for the employees, even if he had to play hardball to help them.