Musical chairs: An ethical dilemma in recruitment and selection at Obelix S.A.

Abstract

Case context: Juliano is a manager of a financial agency and is about to make a difficult decision that could affect his career and his work environment. Juliano has been reflecting in search of criteria and arguments that support his choice. Dilemma: The most important job after Juliano will be occupied soon, the protagonist of this narrative needs to analyze the options for filling the vacancy: personal friend, internal selection, external selection or fulfilling the request of an important employee in the company. The ethical objective of this teaching case is to provoke a discussion about dilemmas present in the routine of team managers, to discuss the advantages and maintain the different types of personnel selection and the challenges in dealing with interpersonal issues in the work environment. Case closure: The case manages to go beyond the practical utility of choosing one of the four highlighted alternatives. The essence of this case is constituted by the exercise in how each individual proposes to deal with embarrassing situations, personal priorities and values, attitudes and positions, inspiring self-knowledge and managerial practice.