Catalina works for a regional sales branch of a large pharmaceutical company. Individual employees as well as the entire branch receive incentive packages if they reach certain sales goals. If a sales rep meets his or her individual goals, he or she receives a large bonus check at the end of the year. Likewise, if all the sales reps meet their goals, the entire branch receives brand new equipment, vacation packages, and larger bonuses.

Question

It is two weeks until the end of the fiscal year, when reps report their sales. Every sales rep in the branch has met his or her individual sales goal, except Catalina; she is three sales short. A friend encourages her to report three additional sales and then, come next year, report that three of her sales had been cancelled. “There’s a loophole in the company policy that makes it so they can’t take away your bonus after you’ve already received it,” her friend tells her. “Plus, if you don’t meet your goal, none of us get new equipment or vacation. You’ll ruin it for all of us!” Should Catalina report and then cancel those three sales so she and her coworkers can receive their bonuses?
Determine the ethical course of action for the following three scenarios from the perspective of each of the three philosophical approaches: consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics. Then, complete the matrix below by writing a few sentences stating the ethical course of action and the reasoning from that approach’s perspective. Clearly differentiate the reasons for each of the three approaches.