SCHOOL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

FIRST SEMESTER 2018/2019 (A181)

BPMN3123 MANAGEMENT ETHICS

GROUP G

GROUP PROJECT
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

PREPARED FOR:
ZAHID ARIFFIN BIN IDRUS

PREPARED BY:
NO NAME MATRIC NUMBER
1. SARANRAJ A/L TAMIL SALVAN 244098
2. MUHAMMAD ALIFF BIN HAZIR 244203
3. MUHAMMAD AIMAN BIN ABD HALIM 247299
4. NUR FITRI AZEERA BINTI ZAMR 247800
5. EZZUL HILMAN B. DANI 251266
TABLE OF CONTENT

NO CONTENT PAGE
1.0 MOVIE SUMMARY 1
2.0 DISCUSSIONS
2.1 SHARING CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION 2-4
2.1.1 ETHICAL AWARENESS
2.1.2 AWARENESS OF STAKEHOLDERS
2.1.3 ETHICAL REASONING
2.1.4 ETHICAL SUGGESTIONS
2.1.5 ETHICAL DECISION MAKING
2.2 SAFETY IGNORANCE 5–7
2.2.1 ETHICAL AWARENESS
2.2.2 AWARENESS OF STAKEHOLDERS
2.2.3 ETHICAL REASONING
2.2.4 ETHICAL SUGGESTIONS
2.2.5 ETHICAL DECISION MAKING
2.3 FRAUDULENT PRACTICES 8 – 11
2.3.1 ETHICAL AWARENESS
2.3.2 AWARENESS OF STAKEHOLDERS
2.3.3 ETHICAL REASONING
2.3.4 ETHICAL SUGGESTIONS
2.3.5 ETHICAL DECISION MAKING
2.4 CULTURE OF WEALTH BIAS AMONG PEOPLE IN THE 11 - 14
CORPORATE SECTOR
2.4.1 ETHICAL AWARENESS
2.4.2 AWARENESS OF STAKEHOLDERS
2.4.3 ETHICAL REASONING
2.4.4 ETHICAL SUGGESTIONS
2.4.5 ETHICAL DECISION MAKING
2.5 RESPECT FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 14 - 17
 2.5.1 ETHICAL AWARENESS
2.5.2 AWARENESS OF STAKEHOLDERS
2.5.3 ETHICAL REASONING
2.5.4 ETHICAL SUGGESTIONS
2.5.5 ETHICAL DECISION MAKING
3.0 CONCLUSION 18-19
4.0 REFERENCES 20
1.0 MOVIE SUMMARY

“Catch Me If You Can” is a movie based on a true story about a man named Frank William
Abagnale Jr. Frank is a smart, young and charismatic boy. During his early teenage years, his
parents started to go through a divorce, which left him ripped between whom to choose to stay
with. After acquiring a knowledge about the divorce that was about to take place, Frank decides
to run away. While on the run, Frank impersonates different people in different jobs to make
money. He imitates a pilot, a doctor and even a lawyer. He would cash multiple forged cashier’s
checks throughout his run impersonating others, which accumulated to more than six million
dollars in 26 different countries total. As the amount of checks get cashed and the amounts get
higher and higher, FBI Agent Carl Hanratty gets allocated this case to find the unknown criminal.

This movie follows Frank’s adventure with identities and constant running from the FBI
until he eventually gets caught at age 19. Frank served in prison for a few years and then started
working with the FBI to help capture other check forging criminals. He also aid develop the
designs of current checks being used today to make it more difficult to cast.

The business world is portrayed in a negative light, as far as it’s safeguard for hiring. Many
of the people that Frank impersonated where individuals with a higher jurisdiction and the
employees that he worked with never once questioned anything that he said. Frank learned a lot
about the positions that he took by watching movies and just copied what he saw, such as when he
impersonated a doctor. When he was faced with blood, he started asking other doctors around
about the case, and whether or not they “agreed,” so that he could get around not having to deal
with diagnosing a patient.

Another negative aspect of the business world that was portrayed in this film was the fact
that businesses had no real way of confirming a person’s informational claims. Everything that
Frank used, his certificates, degrees, scores and so on, were all forgery and made by him at home.
When Frank interviewed for the doctor position, the person hiring looked at his ‘Harvard Degree’
and instantly hired him. He did not question nor looked into Frank’s history to confirm all that
Frank was asserting. Businesses in those days had very loose ends and Frank took advantage of
that. The way Frank did his business, it placed him in a negative light throughout the movie.

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2.0 DISCUSSIONS
2.1 SHARING CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION
2.1.1 ETHICAL AWARENESS

One of the important ethical issues from this movie is sharing confidential information.
Maintaining company’s private and confidential information is very important in all aspects of
business. In almost every profession whether it's law or journalism, finance or medicine or
academia or running a small business - people rely on confidential communications to do their
jobs. We count on the space of trust that confidentiality provides. When someone breaches that
trust, we are all worse off for it.” (Hillary Clinton, 2010)

In this movie, Frank learned to produce counterfeit checks and took advantage of banks
when a female bank staff shared confidential information with him. Frank used his charm to sweet
talk a female employee at a bank to understand how legitimate checks looked like, which is by
observing the routing numbers and quality of paper. These are information that should not be
shared with the general public as they could be used by unscrupulous individuals like Frank for
their own advantage. Frank has used these information to counterfeit checks and steal money from
banks. By the time he was 19, he had stolen almost 4 million US dollars’ worth of cash.

2.1.2 AWARENESS OF STAKEHOLDERS

One of the stakeholders is the banks. The reason is because the banks lost a lot of money
thanks to the careless female staff who shared confidential information with Frank. It took the
banks quite a while to realize that Frank has been cheating them off of their money. By the time
they realized, Frank has already stolen millions of US dollars.

Another stakeholder is the FBI agency. Countless FBI officers were involved in tracking
Frank’s activities and a lot of money has been spent to bring him to justice. They have spent day
and night trying to track him and had to face embarrassment as a teenager has outwitted them.
Plus, it also cost a lot of money to track him and chase him until Frank was brought to justice.

The third stakeholder for the ethical issue mentioned above is Frank. Frank was involved
in check forging was because as a teenager who ran away from home, he had no money to support
himself. He was desperate for cash and managed to find a loophole in the banking system thanks
to the female bank staff.

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 The reason the female bank staff shared confidential information with Frank is because she
was careless during her work. She was charmed by Frank’s sweet words when he complimented
her for her beauty. While chatting with Frank, she did not realize that she was giving away the
bank’s confidential information. It also reflects her level of unprofessionalism.

A better alternative for the female staff would have been to be more professional while
doing her work. She should not have been flattered when frank complimented her and become
vigilant by realizing that Frank would have had his own agenda to sweet talk to her. Or she could
have asked help from other senior staff to handle difficult or suspicious customers like Frank. This
could have prevented Frank from understanding the weaknesses in checks.

2.1.3 ETHICAL REASONING

From Frank’s point of view, he was a poor teenage boy who needed cash to survive because
as a teenager who ran away from home, he had no money to support himself. He was also
emotionally hurt and depressed when he ran away as his parents were getting a divorce. This may
have prompted him to act rashly. In addition to that, he also wanted to re-instill his father’s pride
and happiness. His father was down with financial difficulties after his loan application was
rejected. Throughout the movie, Frank has met with his father a few times, each time reassuring
him that he would become successful and help his father get back his financial security.

From the banks’ perspective, they don’t like Frank for stealing their cash and therefore the
sharing of the bank’s confidential information would have been completely unacceptable by them.
They looked at Frank as a criminal even though he was only a teenager. This is because the banks
suffered a huge loss and humiliation after being taken advantage by Frank since the information
was readily available to him.

From the FBI’s point of view, the sharing of confidential information regarding checks is
unacceptable. They treated Frank like a criminal even though he was only a minor. They wanted
to put him in jail for the crimes he committed and tracked him for years. The reason is because it
is illegal for anyone to forge checks and steal from banks.

In our opinion, the stakeholder with strongest ethical argument are the banks. This is
because they had to suffer millions of dollars’ worth of loss simply because of the carelessness of
the female bank staff. Plus, it’s not ethical for a teenager like Frank to commit crimes by forging

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checks for money to justify his financial constraints. There are many other ethical means of
obtaining money which are permitted by the law.

2.1.4 ETHICAL SUGGESTIONS

Our suggestion to resolve this problem is by taking stern action against the employees who
gave out the confidential information. It was partially the employees’ fault for Frank’s success in
forging checks and stealing millions of US dollars. In the movie, the women who gave Frank the
information he needed was not punished for her careless actions.

Another suggestion is to establish clear rules and understanding among employees to

emphasize on the importance keeping company information private. For example, management
staff of the bank could have asked employees to sign a confidentiality agreement contract to ensure
they do not give our confidential information while engaging with their clients. This will also
ensure that bank staff remain vigilant at all times and give extra care to the information they share
with their clients.

Our third suggestion is to always supervise the interaction between staff and clients. For
example, a senior staff could have prevented the exchange of confidential information between the
young female bank staff and Frank if there was enough supervision. This is because in the movie
other staff were not aware of the exchange of confidential information.

2.1.5 ETHICAL DECISION MAKING

The best solution is to ask all bank employees to sign a confidentiality agreement contract.
This will legally bind them to adhere to the rules of the banking business and deter any staff from
sharing confidential information with clients in the future.

This solution can be linked with ethics theory of Moral Rights. The most accurate one
contractual and special rights. Contractual rights and duties are specific agreements that involve
the employer and employee. It requires the parties involved to stick to the agreements made in the
contract and binds them legally. The banks staff should be aware of the content of agreement,
should not be forced into agreement and should not agree to do immoral acts (Velasquez, 2012).
By having these agreements, the bank management can ensure that their staff will maintain the
bank’s confidential information and remain careful when engaging with customers.

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2.2 SAFETY IGNORANCE

2.2.1 ETHICAL AWARENESS

One of the ethical issue arise from the movie is the ignorance of safety. In a business, it is
very important to keep employees and customer in a safe condition. The lack of safety could place
people’s lives in danger and also can destroy a business. In this movie, the main character Frank
William Abagnale Jr. showed unethical behavior when he impersonates as a pilot, doctor and even
a lawyer in order to get more wealth. He does not count the safety of others if there is an emergency
or something happens. By lying about who and what he was, Frank could have placed people’s
lives in danger.

As a Co-Pilot he would be expected to jump on the controls if something happened to the

pilot. When the pilot says ‘go ahead and take a seat’, Frank could not find where the seats for CO-
Pilot located until the stewardess open it for him. How could he take controls of the plane while
he do not know anything about that plane? This is very dangerous because of his action could
make the plane crash and cost hundreds of live when something happens to the pilot. The Pan Am
Airlines will lose a property through the damage and it also will give a bad reputation for the
company.

Frank learned a lot about the positions that he took by watching movies and just copied
what he saw, such as when he impersonated a doctor. As a Doctor, if someone came in requiring
some surgery or care that he was unable to perform it could cause that person serious harm. When
he was faced with blood, he started asking other doctors around about the case, and whether or not
they “concurred,” so that he could get around not having to deal with diagnosing a patient. What
are some other consequences of convincing people that you are qualified for professional work?
What implications does this have for people that prefer to skate by in their professional education?
Frank does not have any qualifications to be a doctor, he just make a fake degree, certificates and
resume. If there is an emergency that need a surgery on the spot, he could not handle it because he
just pretend to be a doctor. This will put the patient’s lives in danger and could led to the death.

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2.2.2 AWARENESS OF STOCKHOLDERS

The stakeholders of this movie for this ethical issues is Frank William Abagnale Jr. and
Victor Griffith. Frank is the main character who impersonates as a pilot, doctor and a lawyer.
Victor Griffith is the one who interview and hired Frank to work at the hospital.

Frank did unethical things when he impersonates as a pilot and doctor and ignores safety
of others. Frank faced with the overwhelmingly dismal prospect of his parents' divorce, Frank ran
away from home at the age of 16. Determined to repair his fractured family by making enough
money to lure his wayward mother back, he begins impersonating people who make a lot of dough,
then forges payroll checks from the companies at which he finds himself employed. Desperately
wanting to repair his damaged home, Frank decides he will use anything to make things better.

Victor Griffith did unethical things when he hired Frank to work at his hospital without
doing any test or further investigation and just based on the resume. The hospital are hiring an
emergency room supervisor for the midnight to 8.00am shift. They are looking for someone to
baby-sit six interns and 20 nurses. The interviewer never asked about medical theory to see whether
Frank qualify or not for that position. He just hired Frank because of the certificates from Harvard
Medical School. He already put his patient’s lives in danger by the time he hired Frank as the
emergency room supervisor.

2.2.3 ETHICAL REASONING

Everything happened must be a reason behind it. A person who did either ethical or
unethical things must have a reason too. In this movie, Frank started to do unethical things is right
after his parents’ divorces. He need to choose either to live with his father or his mother. Instead,
he runs away from home. In order to survive and repair his parents’ relationship, he begins
impersonating people who have high authority and start forging checks. Frank decides he will use
anything as long as he can earned more money and to make things better. The ethical issue is about
should a person’s life or safety be harmed in order to pursuit ourselves interest?

The Frank’s point of view on this issue is as long as he get everything he wants, it is ok to
do that thing. He do not even think what he have done could put someone’s live in danger. He only
thinks that if he has more money, he can lure his mother back to his father. Same goes to Victor
Griffith point of view, as long as the candidate have a certificates from a well-known universities,

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it is ok to hire them without any test or further investigation either the person qualify or not for
that position. He do not thinks that if he hired a wrong person it could put his patient’s life in
danger.

In this issue, Frank has the strongest ethical arguments. In order to pursuit his own interest,
he willing to do anything even it is definitely unethical and could cost anyone’s live.

2.2.4 ETHICAL SUGGESTION

Our suggestion to maintain safety of others is from ourselves first. We must think, what
the consequences of our action towards other peoples. Is it bring benefit or harm to other people
surrounding. Next, the airlines company must tighten the security at the departure hall. Only
authorized people can enter departure hall and can be in the flight. Airlines company also need to
double confirm that the pilot, co-pilot and all the crew are the right one before fly. It is to make
sure that all the passenger safely arrive at the destination. Besides that, the interviewer need to test
the candidate or make further investigation about the candidate before hiring them. Do not simply
take them because they have certificates from well-known universities. It is very important for a
hospital to make sure all the doctors and nurses qualify to hold theirs position. A small injury can
be a fatal injury if the doctor make a wrong decision and give wrong medicine. That is why an
interviewer need to test the candidates whether he or she has the knowledge and skill that qualify
him or her to hold for a certain position before hiring them.

2.2.5 ETHICAL DECISION MAKING

Ethic of care is the best solution to resolve this ethical issue. Ethics need not be impartial.
Emphasizes preserving and nurturing concrete valuable relationships. We should care for those
dependent on and related to us. Because the self requires caring relationships with others, those
relationships are valuable and should be nurtured (Velasques, 2012). From this movie, Frank did
all the unethical things to get more money and lure back his mother to his father. It shows that he
really love his parents. At the same time he should think about others too. His action may lead
people’s lives in danger. If something happens when he became a co-pilot, it may cost hundreds
of lives. In order to get more money to repair his parent’s relationship, he need get a proper job
that are compatible with his skills and knowledge and the most important things is it will not harm
others.

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2.3 FRAUDULENT PRACTICES

2.3.1 ETHICAL AWARENESS

One of the main issues highlighted in this movie is about fraudulent practices. Through this
movie, we can observe that fraudulent practices used by the lead character, Frank. For example,
the main character in the movie, Frank, used to put on a pilot uniform and took advantage of the
rights and privileges offered to legitimate pilots. He used to fly in Pan American World Airways
from the age of 16 until he was 19, by when he had already flied more than 1 million kilometers
across Europe and other parts of the world. Whenever he put on his pilot uniform, he would often
get children and other working adults to look and smile at him, admiring him for his vocation.

Towards the end of the movie, Frank was trying to escape from the FBI agents by flying to
Miami by recruiting eight good-looking stewardesses, they accompanied him in the Miami
Airport. All of the FBI Agents and other men in the airport stared at these women which took
attention off of Frank. Thanks to the pilot uniform and some fraudulent checks in hand, Frank
managed to fool everyone about his identity and convince them that he is someone else. In the
movie, no one dared to question Frank or anyone of authority and Frank took full advantage of
this.

2.3.2 AWARENESS OF STAKEHOLDERS

The stakeholder who involved in fraudulent practices from “Catch Me If You Can” is Frank.
Towards the end of the movie, Frank was trying to escape from the police by flying to Miami. In
order for Frank to focus attention off of himself in the airport where FBI agents were on the lookout
for him, he came up with a fraudulent recruiting system to the local universities. The recruiting
system focused on only the best looking females to become his stewardesses. He marketed this by
using Panam Airline brand name to make the system seem legitimate. After recruiting eight good-
looking stewardesses, they accompanied him in the Miami Airport. All of the FBI Agents and
other men in the airport stared at these women which took attention off of Frank and that’s how
he bypassed all of the agents looking for him.

All these went unnoticed because Frank’s pilot uniform and claims were convincing enough
to recruit the women. The universities were very enthusiastic about Frank’s recruitment and
encouraged many of the women to try out for it. As for as the FBI agent’s perspective, this

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fraudulent recruitment was negative because they once again, let Frank walk right past them.
Frank’s goal was achieved, and the women who he took with him got a free flight out of Miami.

2.3.3 ETHICAL REASONING

From Carl Hanratty, the FBI agent’s view, Frank William Abignale Jr. is wrong in every
single thing he did. Carl tracked down Frank in spite of his superiors not attaching much
importance to the case. Even though, Frank has apologized for tricking him back at the hotel. Carl
announces that it doesn't work that way and continues to investigate. To Carl, Frank need to be
caught for committing crime and fraud, that is stated in the Laws of the nation and manipulating
people. Frank in his point of view is conducting his actions in an unethical and unlawful manner,
without any reasonable objective of doing it.

Apparently in this movie, from Frank’s view, what he did was not wrong to him. All started
when Frank's parents file for divorce, and Frank ran away. At the age of 16, he was serving justice,
he was protecting himself, and trying to bring back his broken family. When he runs out of money,
he begins relying on confidence scams to get by. Soon, Frank's cons increase and he even
impersonates an airline pilot.

As for who gets the upper moral ground here, we would argue that Frank had been denied
the care he needed as a child. The value of having a close relationship and caring for a boy this
young that face broken family problem is huge. We could argue that, if his childhood was not a
mess like how had happened, he might turn out be a better and successful person because he is a
genius. It could also cost, Pan American World Airways millions of dollars less, in losses. Blaming
a child personally for such crimes is in and of itself unreasonable, when the child has no support
from any parties in his life, a child finding the meaning of life all by himself. The argument that
Frank’s Parents had that leads to divorcement has affected their children. As mentioned by Jane
Blauston, 2018, the best security blanket a child can have is parents who respect each other.

2.3.4 ETHICAL SUGGESTION

In our opinion, to resolve this issue is to conduct background checks to ensure the credentials
of a person and prevent someone from impersonating someone of higher authority. Frank managed
to get everything that he wanted by impersonating multiple high authority individuals. This could
have been avoided if background checks were conducted.

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 Next suggestion is to always have professional skepticism towards others. For example, if
we see someone in a pilot uniform, we would automatically assume that he or she is a pilot. If
someone speaks and makes themselves appear unrealistically successful, it is good for us to be
skeptical just to be sure and confirm their legitimacy.

Lastly, to avoid becoming victims to frauds is to verify the information we receive especially
when it involves third party. For example, the person in charge could have called and verified the
information regarding the recruitment from Panam Airways to make sure the recruitment was
legitimate. Frank called the universities and came in the next day to recruit. Usually when
companies are coming over for recruiting they will set appointments months before hand. But in
this movie, it was a one-day notice. This clearly seems suspicious and the person in charge should
have verified the legitimacy of the recruitment with the headquarters of Panam Airways to make
sure this recruitment was real.

2.3.5 ETHICAL DECISION MAKING

The best solution to the fraudulent practice portrayed by the main character in the movie,
Frank Abagnale, Jr. for impersonating different character is to conduct background checks so that
no one’s going to get fooled by others. In the movie, Frank impersonated different people in order
to get what he wanted, fooling them for millions of dollars. He impersonated as a co-pilot in Pan
American World Airways to being a doctor and then a lawyer and lastly went back to a co-pilot
just to get himself free from the policemen that were searching for him at Miami International
Airport. All of these lies happened because the people of authority never did a background check
to him in the first place when he was applying a job to them.

Under the term of utilitarianism which means any actions that are morally right if they lead
to happiness (Velasquez M. , 2012), complies that the companies should have done background
checks any under circumstances towards any candidates who are applying jobs to them so that they
can verify their statements whether they are true or false, by any means to avoid them from being
fooled by someone like Frank and cost them millions of dollars losses. The companies have their
rights to do everything to verify their statements even though some people do not like how they
conduct their background checks as they thought it is too much and it exceeded their privacy.
Nevertheless, it is the best way.

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 Next, the best solution for the fraudulent practices used by the main character, Frank is to
verify every information we receive with anyone of higher authority especially if it involves third
party. As portrayed by Frank in the movie, he called a university to recruit some stewardesses to
fly with him out of Miami and claimed himself a pilot during the call. None of them tried to reach
out for Panam Airways because of Frank’s pilot uniforms and claims and this has led to them being
fooled again by Frank, thus leading him to success when he was able to pass through tight security
in the airport.

The solution given can be best fit with virtue ethics which emphasize the role of character
and virtue in moral philosophy rather than either doing one’s duty or acting in order to bring about
good consequences, this means that we should emphasize an act so we will get used to it and
eventually we will be practicing it every time in our daily life. The same concept can be applied to
the solution where the University’s lecturer could have called the Panam Airways’ high authority
to confirm the legitimacy of the call made by Frank in order for them not to get fooled by Frank
or by anyone in the future. Perhaps in the old days this matter would not be such of a deal but the
consequences you will be getting is huge and it affects your reputation and your surroundings.
Although it is hard to do it on the first time but eventually it will become a habit and you will feel
effortless doing it. Like Aristotle used to say, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is
not an act but a habit”.

2.4 CULTURE OF WEALTH BIAS AMONG PEOPLE IN THE CORPORATE SECTOR

2.4.1. ETHICAL AWARENESS

It is evident for the start of the movie, that the corporate world treats its clients, with a
certain level of differences or ‘levels’, if you may. They (the corporate people) treats the ones with
wealth, or perception of wealth, like a real client, and treats their other clients, who just needs the
services offered, like a sort of a Cinderella-step-child behavior, with no respect, humane
compromises, let alone dignity. Virtue is a unique quality that is universal and contextual in nature,
thus virtuous attitudes and behaviors should be assessed in conformity to their dual character as
embedded in and ultimately, transcending the very context in which they emerge, (Gotsis &
Grimani, 2015).

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 In the start of the movie ‘Catch Me if You Can’, Frank William Abignale Jr., had been
thought by his father that, the Corporate people will only give them dissent respect if they saw
them as wealthy people. Frank Sr., had told Frank to not go to school in order to pretend to be his
chauffeur for the day, as Frank’s father went to the bank to ask them for a loan that could save his
father’s business. Even though in the end, his father did not manage to get a loan from the bank,
but to prove his point, the bank’s manager had gone up to the front of the bank, to open the door
personally for Frank Sr., as he was entering the Bank. Frank Sr., told Frank a secret that day, he
said, “Frank do you know why the Yankees always win Frank?” Frank said “because they have (a
player)”, “No, because the other team can’t take their eyes of the pinstripes (the Yankees uniform).

We would argue this act of treating different people, differently, on the basis of the
individual’s wealth is unethical. This is the moral right of the people at the bank to provide equal
level of service to all its clients. This is because the term ‘moral rights’, is the right of everyone,
regardless of wealth or status, and is simply by virtue of being human beings, (Valasquez, 2012).

2.4.2 AWARENESS OF STAKEHOLDERS

The apparent stakeholders of such discriminations by the Banking industry, as represented

in the movie, are the clients, the bank itself, and inevitably, the government. Let us discuss the
clients first. The Client, for example, the Abignales (father and son), had to pretend to have wealth
in order to get some dissent treatment by the bank, in this case, JP Morgan Chase. They indirectly,
are encouraged to lie, to the banks, as a result of this discrimination.

The next stakeholder is the bank itself. They would lose the trust, and therefore the business
that ethical clients supply to them, as a result of being treated discriminately. This will also leave
them with just the wealthy clients and the unethical ones such as Frank and his father.

The last stakeholder identifiable in this context, is the government. Although not directly,
the government will have to deal with social problems arising from this kind of social
discrimination brought upon the society by the business community. This was demonstrated in the
Apartheid tragedy in South Africa, which had proven, the nation could not prosper, if the
demography, or society do not feel included.

Now, this brings us to the fact that, why does this problems arise, what is the motivation
of the banks to do what they did. Our theory is that the banks, as do other people of privilege, have

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a bad perception that all people who do not have wealth are in their minds always thinking on how
to rip the wealthy of their wealth. Our other thought is that they (the banks) simply think that poor
people or even middle class people, are no good, and would not pay back their loans.

The constraint that Frank had to encounter is that, they could not get a fair hearing form
the bank, if they did not pretend to have wealth that they did not have. This has lead Frank Jr. to
endeavor in more and more, riskier acts, in this direction.

2.4.3 ETHICAL REASONING

From the view of the banks, this is their right to do s what they did. It is their right to favor
a client against the others. This should not be taken away, as different companies have different
identities and strategies. They would argue that, if they did not use this kind to indirect
discrimination, then the clients who are wealthy, would not feel as special entering in a business
transaction with them.

From the client’s perspective, especially, Frank, as we based our story on this movie, this
is outrageous. The businesses are the one who provide utilities and services that are essential th
the livelihood of the people in the country. This would mean that, there would be unequal treatment
in the nation, if all the banks suddenly would adopt this kind of discrimination, instead of just one,
in the case of the movie.

Therefore, the higher moral ground, based on this particular scenario, goes to the clients.
In our opinion, the banks should uphold the needs of its clients higher compared to their bottom
line. This should not be a problem in nowadays, as more and more studies have shown that the
more the business presents itself as in the side of the people (as politicians do), the more business
they make in the long run, in respect to their reputation.

2.4.4 ETHICAL SUGGESTIONS

Our suggestions on how this particular issue can and should be resolved is divided into
two part. The first part would consider the perspective of the bank and the profit motive and the
second part would consider the clients and the respect that they deserve.

Firstly, the banks should treat everyone with the highest level of respect and
accommodation. This would lead to a better outcome in the long run, as the wealth and the not so

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wealthy, both have a pleasant perception of how they will be treated. This would also decrease the
amount of frauds directed at them, as they are not one of the factors causing such behavior.

Secondly, in the perspective of the clients, they should opt to do business with businesses
or banks in this case that would actually treat them with dignity, and boycott those who do not
adhere to these basic moral principles. Client should also put a suitable amount of pressure on
politicians so that they can impose better rule and regulations against banks or businesses
practicing such discriminations.

2.4.5 ETHICAL DECISION MAKING

We would argue, basic principles of moral such as moral rights and impartiality is the best
principle that the businesses and banks should uphold, in order to resolve this problem. This is best
described by Kant himself, as all that Kant’s categorical imperative is meant to tell us is that
everyone must have equal moral rights and everyone must show as much respect for the protected
interests of others as they want others to show for their own, (Bowie, 1999).

This would prove as effective and as long-lasting as the concept of Democracy. The idea
that everybody is included and no one left behind is historically irresistible. Therefore, we urge,
that all businesses treat their clients as democratic as possible and they will sustain their bottom
lines in the long run.

2.5 RESPECT FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

2.5.1 ETHICAL AWARENESS
Copyright of something such as a brand of a phone or a brand of food is something really
important and crucial to be thought of. Copyright is the exclusive and assignable legal right, given
to the originator for a fixed number of years, to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary,
artistic, or musical material (Oxford Dictionary, 2018) but it is different from what it is being said
in the movie Catch Me If You Can. The main character, Frank Abagnale, Jr. intentionally made
thousands of copies of banks checks for his personal use, fooling a lot people and cashed out
millions of dollars across United States of America. Although Frank knew that making such
actions was illegal and could be heavily punished but he just had to do it because he was upset and
sad about his parents’ divorce matter and that made me did something that is out of mind.

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 Aside from making fake checks, he also impersonated as a Pan Am Airways co-pilot when
he first saw a pilot uniform being sold in a shop. Without a second thought of the consequences
of his action, he decided to become a ‘pilot’ and wrote a letter to his dad about this matter. This
was done so he could cash out his fake checks if he were a high influence kind of person and he
flew off to several states to cash out in different banks in America.

2.5.2 AWARENESS OF STAKEHOLDERS

The stakeholder involved in this part is Frank Abagnale, Jr.. Frank, who was an ordinary
16 years old teenager, felt depression and disappointment of his parents’ decision about getting a
divorce, started to make living by making fake checks that was hard to detect its originality.
Moreover, to make his plan work even better, he impersonated as a few people such as a co-pilot,
a doctor and a lawyer that was totally broke the laws because first, he made fake certificates to
make his act looked real.

Secondly, he made some ‘research’ on how to better impersonate such individual such as
an interview on a Pan Am executive, he also watched a video about surgery to better understanding
about how to be doctor. He even married a nurse in order for him to get a position as a lawyer. All
of these incidents had some great consequences for him although he was aware of it although he
managed to escape from them (FBI agents) a few times by tricking them.

2.5.3 ETHICAL REASONING

When someone’s in a position of incapable of doing nothing because he is cornered from every
side, he will do something that people would not think of, may it be a clever way or a reckless
way. In this movie, Frank made such decision when his family is forced to move from their large
home to a small apartment because his father had some loan problem. Apart from her mother
having an affair with Jack, a friend of his father, Frank did this because his parents were getting a
divorce and that made Frank speechless and disappointed at the same time because he had to
choose with whom he wanted to live with. Burdened with such matter, he ran away from his house
and started to live on his own.

When he’s running out of cash, he was forced to make those fake checks by going to several banks
but all of them were rejected. At that time, he saw a pilot was cashing out some money and was
accepted most probably because he was educated and people look up upon him. He then came up

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with this impersonating idea when he saw a pilot uniform being sold in a shop. He did all of these
because he was in a desperate situation where he needs money instantly but he earned them in a
wrong way, although the results were huge, made him rich in a split second but it was still a wrong
thing to do.

2.5.4 ETHICAL SUGGESTION

Making crimes make you a bad person, people will remember your doings and you will be forever
labeled as a criminal, although you have finished your sentence, you changed but that’s what most
people will react, a criminal. Being a criminal is a no-no, everyone would avoid but there will be
time where you had to do something bad for a good thing but it is not encourage to do so.

In this movie, Frank made a lot of fake banks checks for his own personal use and caused the bank
millions of dollars of losses. This action is unethical and he should not cause any more problems
to them. If he had just went to look for a real job that would cause anyone no problem, this matter
would not happen.

Also, Frank impersonated a few high influence people such as a pilot, a doctor and a lawyer. By
doing this, people will somehow question the credibility of the management, about how careless
they were when recruiting someone into a position. This thing could have been avoided if Frank
himself find a job, or probably stop impersonating someone and hand himself to the authority.

2.5.5 ETHICAL DECISION MAKING

In this movie, the most suitable ethics is utilitarianism, where an action is morally right if its
consequences lead to happiness (absence of pain), and wrong if it ends in unhappiness (pain)
(Jeremy Bentham, 1789, Principles of Morals and Legislation). The act of Frank fooling hundreds
of people, making huge losses towards banks across America, impersonating a few people in order
to make use of his fake checks showed that all of his actions had lead him to happiness. He actually
enjoyed doing this because it made him happy with all the money he got from them. Although it
was a wrong act to fool people illegally by taking their money, utilitarianism told us that anything
that lead to happiness is considered not wrong and is accepted.

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Moreover, this concept applies to Frank’s mother too, Paula, who had an affair with her husband’s
friend, Jack. Although this act seemed unethical but as long as it led to her happiness, it is accepted
although it is wrong and she should not be doing that to her husband and son.

As a conclusion, fooling people is wrong. What Frank did was unforgivable, when he stole
people’s money all he wanted. It is not wrong to admit your mistake before that mistake grows
and consumes yourself and sooner or later, you are the one who will bear the consequences. There
is a line between admitting wrong and ignoring it totally.

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3.0 CONCLUSION

Studying ethics from fictional storyline is the way ancient Greeks approach their curiosity
and questions. But we are in the 21st century, and this method may not be that suitable to be applied
in our context. Therefore, our group had chosen a semi-fictional movie in order to internalize and
make sense the ethical dilemmas occurring around us, whether we notice it or not. Catch Me if
You Can contains the wisdom of morality in an exciting yet complicated sense, the same with
reality. Taken from the life journey of Frank William Abignale Jr., who became one of the most
notorious, cunning, and most importantly youngest, conman in the world. We would argue, it is
the product of his parent’s conditions, his upbringing in the family, his social life, and his
experiences in the developmental stage of his life, even the attitude of the corporate sector and the
government towards individuals like him. But in takes a mixture of all of this to create him.
Therefore, generalization is an impossibility, yet we try to make ethical sense of it, the best of our
ability.

First of all, the dilemma of breaching the confidential integrity of the institution or
company that we work with. This is mainly subject to the notion of integrity, and the clear
understanding of the lines in protocol. The Management could be at fault, because of the blur codes
of conduct, and the lack of ‘leadership-by-example’. Nevertheless, there is the perspective of the
employee conducting the breach. Employees should have adhered to the rules and regulation I
place, not exposing any internal information at any cost, be it isolation by peers, by a love interest,
as portrayed in the movie, or by orders for a superior. This is one of the lessons implied by the
movie.

Secondly, is the principle of ethics of care self-serving? This is the question imposed by
the movie. Ethics of Care implies that the impartiality of morality should be thrown of a cliff and
burned, as we should care for those depended on us first, and foremost. Frank had this tendency,
and he ran with it to the extreme. The posed as many different professionals, with the main
intension of bringing his family together again. He had been a doctor and most notably a pilot.
Both of which needs real technical ability, if not, the consequences would be certain death.
Although he never did have to actually pilot a plane, as he posed as a co-pilot and he never did
need to attend to a patient of administer an emergency procedure as a doctor, but all of these would

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spell fatality, if the odds were turned against him. Therefore, we had learned that it is not easy to
define the line between caring for the masses or for our own, if it were ever actually possible.

Next, we would conclude on the perspective of a utilitarian based on the sense from our
movie, ‘Catch Me If You Can’. The basis that everything can be sacrificed if it would yield a
greater benefit had been touched by this movie in the part where the security checks and the privacy
of a few, can be abolished for the greater good. The security checks in the airports, in the banks,
in the hospital, in the judicial institution of the state of Louisiana, is not sufficient to prevent an
imposter from entering their system. Therefore, it is logical, to forgo the ‘perceived’ privacy of the
masses in order to safe guard the institutions that their lives depends on. We argued that Frank had
been able to enter these institutions due to the lack of proper control in the part of the institutions
itself, be it outright neglect, or justified as upholding individual freedom.

We would like to conclude by saying the phrase, ‘In a nutshell’, but as you can see, it
simply would not fit. This debate on ethics is on human behavior, and if there is one thing that
human beings are not known for being static. This debate would continue on for generations to
come, for the rest of the life of human race. But our objective here is not to simplify things, but to
acknowledge its complexity, our complexity. It is suitable in our perspective to end this piece of
work of ours, with a quote from the great 21st century thinker, Prof. Noam Chomsky,

“It is quite possible--overwhelmingly probable, one might guess--that we will always learn
more about human life and personality from novels than from scientific psychology”.

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4.0 REFERENCES

1. Velasquez, M. G. (2012). Business ethics: Concept and cases (7th edition). New Jersey: Prentice
Hall.

2. Bowie, N. E. 1999. Business ethics: A Kantian perspective. Oxford: Blackwell.

3. George Gotsis, Katerina Grimani, (2015) "Virtue theory and organizational behavior: an
integrative framework", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 34 Issue: 10, pp.1288-1309,
https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-02-2015-0021

4. Fraudulent Business Practices. (n.d.). Retrieved October 19, 2018, from

https://www.buckleybeal.com/Practice-Areas/Business-Litigation/Fraudulent-Business-
Practices.aspx

5. Catch Me If You Can. (2018, October 13). Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch_Me_If_You_Can

6. Velasquez, M. G. (2012). Business ethics: Concept and cases (7th edition). New Jersey: Prentice
Hall.

7. Plot. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264464/plotsummary

8. Steven Spielberg. (Director). (2002). Catch Me If You Can [Amblin Entertainment].

9. Velasquez, M. (2012). Business Ethics Concept and Cases 7th Edition.

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