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Case Studies
Friendship goes first
Xenia was a staff member of the ticketing department of a travel agent. Her close friend, Xaviera, worked in the sales department of an airline company. Knowing that Xaviera was new and facing tremendous pressure to meet sales target, Xenia always encouraged her customers to purchase air tickets from Xaviera’s airline.
One day after Xaviera received a warning letter about her poor sales performance, she felt distressed and sought comfort from Xenia. While supporting Xaviera, Xenia received a phone call from an insurance company requesting 50 air tickets for a corporate trip to a convention in Europe. Xenia knew this would be a good opportunity to help Xaviera out of her predicament. To secure the business, Xenia marked up prices from competing airlines when making quotations to the insurance company, steering the company toward Xaviera’s airline. As a result of the misleading pricing information provided by Xenia, the insurance company chose to book the tickets with Xaviera’s company.
Case Analysis
Although Xenia and Xaviera were good friends, their relationship conflicted with the company’s interest, placing Xenia in a conflict of interest situation. She prioritised her personal relationship over professional integrity. By recklessly marking up the prices of other airlines to aid the sales of Xaviera’s tickets, Xenia acted unfairly toward those airlines and jeopardised the credibility of her company. If the truth was discovered, it may also lead to complaints from the airlines and clients. Employees should avoid conflict of interest as far as possible and make timely declarations, strictly adhering to internal guidelines. Otherwise, they may violate the company’s code of conduct or internal guidelines.
Xenia might commit fraud under Section 16A of the Theft Ordinance by overstating the prices offered by other airlines when submitting quotation to the client. If Xenia, without the permission of her travel agent, abused her position to favour Xaviera while accepting advantages, she might also be liable under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance. On the other hand, by deceiving her client with inaccurate information, Xenia breached the trust her company and her client placed on her. As an employee of the travel agent, Xenia should diligently fulfil her duties and exercise discretion fairly and transparently.