An Intern's Dilemma (Abridged)

In June of 2010, Mark Yang (MBA 2011) was eagerly anticipating the start of his summer internship. He had secured employment with a technology security firm at one of

their global branch offices, performing market research and assisting in product development and client relationships. However, Yang grew concerned about how he was asked to conduct his research. Specifically, he was asked to misrepresent himself when contacting competitor companies to obtain sensitive data.

Lead Up to the Internship

Yang had met the company CEO, an HBS graduate, in the spring of 2010 after he spoke in a panel discussion on campus. Yang was interested in the company and approached the CEO. Soon after, the two exchanged emails, and with the CEO's encouragement, Yang applied for an internship. He received an offer to interview at one of the firm's global branch offices and, after meeting with the head of the office and the human resources vice president, was offered a summer position. Yang's primary duty would be conducting market research by reaching out to other technology security firms, including direct competitors, for information on products, services offered, customers, sales, and other data to help the company determine market share and other industry information.

As Yang finalized his travel preparations in early June, he ran into problems obtaining a visa. The earliest Yang could now travel early July. Yang called the global branch office head and offered to begin work from Boston. During this conversation, the global branch office head suggested that Yang could obtain better quality information, specifically from competitors, if he identifies himself as an HBS student and researcher and omits his position as an intern for the technology security firm. Yang was uncomfortable and changed the direction of the conversation. He assumed it was a passing comment and that the issue would not come up again.

However, in subsequent separate conversations with the global branch office's sales and marketing vice presidents, Yang was again urged to identify himself as an HBS student without mentioning his affiliation with the company. At that point, he realized it was a planned approach rather than off-the-cuff suggestions by individual employees. He avoided committing to the strategy and again changed the topic while thinking of how to address these repeated requests.

The situation weighed on his mind as he prepared to undertake his duties from Boston. He reached out to friends and family for their opinion and received mixed advice. His mother did not

see it as a major problem, while his two brothers thought it was unusual but did not lean strongly in either direction. When he asked his girlfriend, she felt strongly that the suggestion was unethical and that under no circumstances should Yang agree.

Yang reflected on the potential damage to his reputationas well as to the reputation of Harvard Universityif he agreed to misrepresent himself and was discovered by other companies or institutions. He also imagined how he might feel if he was lied to obtain sensitive data.

Not long after, he had the opportunity to discuss the firm's ethics with the CEO during a phone conversation. Without mentioning anything about his situation, Yang generally asked about the company's culture. Specifically, he asked whether the company had found it difficult to integrate new offices into its corporate culture and standards as it expanded. The CEO was

candid, telling him that the company was working to ensure that its offices across all geographies adhered to a uniform set of business ethics established by the corporate office. The conversation gave Yang reassurance that the CEO was genuine in his commitment to high ethical standards across the firm, and concluded that...

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