OBAT WORK328 Part 4Sharing the Organizational Vision
back for more garbage, but this time Hill was ready for them,
with a camera. His pictures showed up on the front page of
one of Canada’s national newspapers, proof of Air Canada’s
“dumpster digging.”
After Air Canada pieced together the retrieved shredded
documents, it launched a $220-million lawsuit against
WestJet, accusing it of a malicious attempt to take away busi-
ness and schedule competing flights. WestJet responded with
a countersuit, accusing Air Canada of trespassing and steal-
ing private property. Michel Leblanc, president of the dis-
count airline Jetsgo, claimed some of his company’s private
documents were also found in Hill’s garbage. Jetsgo filed a
lawsuit against WestJet for $50 million.
WestJet President Clive Beddoe eventually apologized
to his employees and shareholders about the situation.
Beddoe said, “I have to take responsibility for this event
as I should have known what Mark Hill was doing. Neither
I nor the board condone this sort of activity....
Furthermore, we have introduced a new corporate whis-
tle-blowing policy... we have no intention of letting a
situation like this happen again.” Hill subsequently resigned
from the company.By the end of May 2006, WestJet and Air Canada had
settled their dispute, with WestJet paying $5.5 million for Air
Canada’s investigation and legal fees, and $10 million to chil-
dren’s charities. Jetsgo filed for bankruptcy in March 2005.Questions
1. Using the four ethical decision-making criteria (utilitar-
ianism, rights, justice, and care), assess the ethics of
WestJet Airlines’ and Air Canada’s actions.- What were the factors influencing ethical or unethical
decision-making behaviour of the main characters in
this airline saga? - What could WestJet do to prevent this type of ruth-
less, corporate espionage behaviour in the future?
Sources:“Corporate Espionage—Under the Radar,” CBC Venture,
October 31, 2004, VA2085A, 925; M. McClearn, E. Pooley, and J.
Gray, “Spy vs. Spy,” Canadian Business,January 31–February 13,
2005), pp. 32–45; and “Air Canada, WestJet Settle Spying Lawsuit,”
CBC News,May 30, 2006, http://www.cbc.ca/story/business/national/
2006/05/29/westjet-aircansettle.html (accessed June 9, 2006).You can be more effective at solving problems creatively if
you use the following 10 suggestions:^1171 .Think of yourself as creative.Research shows that if
you think you can’t be creative, you won’t be.
Believing in your ability to be creative is the first step
to becoming more creative.
2.Pay attention to your intuition.Every individual has
a subconscious mind that works well. Sometimes
answers will come to you when you least expect
them. Listen to that “inner voice.” In fact, most cre-
ative people will keep notepads near their beds and
write down ideas when the thoughts come to them.
3.Move away from your comfort zone.Every individ-
ual has a comfort zone in which certainty exists. But
creativity and the known often do not mix. To be
creative, you need to move away from the status
quo and focus your mind on something new.4.Determine what you want to do. This includes such
things as taking time to understand a problem before
beginning to try to resolve it, getting all the facts in
mind, and trying to identify the most important facts.
5.Think outside the box. Use analogies whenever pos-
sible (e.g., could you approach your problem like a
fish out of water and look at what the fish does to
cope? Or can you use the things you have to do to
find your way when it’s foggy to help you solve your
problem?). Use different problem-solving strategies,
such as verbal, visual, mathematical, or theatrical.
Look at your problem from a different perspective
or ask yourself what someone else, like your grand-
mother, might do if faced with the same situation.
6 .Look for ways to do things better.This may involve
trying consciously to be original, not worrying about
looking foolish, keeping an open mind, being alert
to odd or puzzling facts, thinking of unconventionalSolving Problems Creatively
From Concepts
to Skillscontinued