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Discretion Under Curfew: A Manager's Ethical Dilemma
A. Uma Maheswari
Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship, Chennai, India
Volume 18: 2025, pp. 139-146; ABSTRACT
A final-round recruitment process for ten mission-critical positions at Axion Global
Services is abruptly disrupted when Section 144 is imposed in Hyderabad, shutting down all
business venues and restricting movement. AGS, already facing declining SLA (service level
agreements) performance, rising attrition, and contract-linked staffing deadlines, had identified one
finalist per role after an extensive multi-stage national search. With candidates already in transit,
some holding competing offer deadlines and one having resigned, the on-site manager must
determine how to proceed without procedural guidance from headquarters. The case highlights
tensions between legal compliance, organizational continuity, stakeholder expectations, and ethical
decision-making under regulatory uncertainty.
Keywords: ethical decision-making, regulatory ambiguity, crisis leadership, managerial discretion,
recruitment and staffing.
