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“Resolving Ethical Business Challenges”

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Ognjen Vasiljevic

Business Ethics

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David Hannigan is the new Personnel Director at Emper Corp., a subsidiary of an

automotive parts manufacturer. David is a very well-liked guy and makes everyone in

the factory feel like they matter. It is because of this fact that David moved

up more quickly in the company than anyone before. One day, David had lunch with

several of the company's high-level people, including Vice President Stanley Martin.

The job of implementing a more automated and high-tech way of manufacturing parts

in Emper Corp's factories was assigned to Stanley (Stan). As a "test subject" of sorts,

Stan wants to use David's factory to implement these automations and see if they pay

for themselves in the longer run. Although Stan's accounting team at David's factory

ensures that without all the changes, their factory would run much better.

During all this, there are a few ethical dilemmas which arise. One is that the company

will lay off hundreds of employees by automating the plant. This is a huge ethical

problem that David will have to deal with, with the factory being the main source of

employment in the town. The second was Stan basically telling the accounting team

to fake or appropriate the accounting numbers so that they reflect the factory

working better with the new automations, Stan feels as though this will quell the

townspeople and they won't put up a big stink over all of the people being laid off.

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1. It seems in the excerpt that David leads with more concern for the staff, he tries

to make everyone in the factory feel valuable and maintain the satisfaction of the

worker. Stan is more of a leader geared towards development and outcomes. He

worries most about the end result and achieving the result in the most cost-

effective way.

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2. For David, it's hard to deviate from what Stan ordered. David really wants a high-

level corporate position for one, and since Stan is the vice president, doing what he

asks would get David with him in good favor. I personally think it would be in his best

interest for David to follow through with what Stan has ordered.

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3. Even if the automation is successful in increasing productivity, the firing of all

those workers in the town could reflect badly upon the company's reputation or

image. If they would rather increase production or keep a good reputation, it's really

a trade off.

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