Ethical Dilemma Description

The scenario involves a small beverage manufacturing company. The company has a number of
departments distinguished by the activity involved in the production process. Overall, the
company has about 55 employees with the production department having the highest number of
workers due to the high demand for labor in this department. In the production department,
casual employees are included in to assist in reducing the overall load on the other employees.
Production department is the core of the company and is responsible for the majority of the
company’s assets and revenues. The production department oversees the transformation of
products from raw materials to a finished product desired by the market. Every month the
company conducts a maintenance and repair activity on its equipment and machinery to ensure
smooth production with minimum stoppages.
Joshua is a mechanical engineer and the manager in the production department. Michael a new
member of the team with strong academic credentials. He is experienced in beverage
manufacturing machinery, having worked in leading beverage companies in the country. He
offers a new perspective to the company and has considerably contributed to positive changes in
the business that have seen the business reduce its expenses and increase its revenues. He is
projected to be the manager of production department due to his unique problem solving and
team management skills. Andrew is a long standing member of the company who works as a
technician in the company. Andrew has over 15 years in experience in the company as a
technician and considered a senior in the production department due to his experience and
elderly age compared to other technicians. In this instance, Michael is Andrew’s supervisor and
responsible for the technicians in the production department.
During one of the maintenance activities while Andrew is working on the production equipment,
an accident happens. The accident injures his hand leading to bleeding that cannot be handled by
the company’s first aid team. Seeing this, Michael intervenes and asks if he can call the
ambulance to pick Andrew and take him to the hospital where the doctors can look up Andrew’s
injury due to the dire extent of the injury. Joshua the production manager stops Andrew from
making such a move. He calls Michael to the side and informs him of the reasons they cannot
call an ambulance.
He informs Michael that calling an ambulance to the company would result in the company
being flagged for having poor occupational safety and health administration measures. The
company will have to undergo inspection for compliance. The company is also vulnerable to
incur fines and lawsuits due to negligence from labor unions. The company might face closure
due to lack of the Occupational Safety and health policies that would have prevented the accident
from happening. Joshua thus advises Michael to figure out how they can take Andrew to the
hospital without having to call the ambulance to the company’s location. Michael is faced with
the dilemma of calling an ambulance to save his colleague. However, the consequence of doing
this would be disobedience to his superior who advised against it.
The consequence would see Michael lose his job which is promising. The company would also
face a hurdle in getting compliance and paying the employee for the damages experienced in
their vicinity. The company might also face closure due to lack of systems to avoid such
accidents from happening. The good deed of calling an ambulance would be needed to avoid
further suffering by Andrew. This presents an ethical dilemma for Michael.
Best solution: Best Practice
Michael is faced with a dilemma on the best course of action to take. If he listens to Joshua, he
might risk losing the life of Andrew in favor of the company. This can later haunt the company
in the future due to the investigations on the cause of death. However, his ethical duty to do as
his superior has advised is accepted. The second alternative, disobeying his superior and
proceeding to call the ambulance which saves the injured technician. This puts Michael at
crossroads with his superior and the company. This action is giving Andrew, the injured
technician, his right to access medical care when he needs it in spite of the manager’s
recommendation. Michael takes this option knowing he risks his job and would have no future
with the company. It would also be included in his resume, going against his superior and
company. This option also puts all the other employees at an economic risk as the company faces
closure. The third option, Michael negotiating with Joshua and agreeing to deal with the
consequences but have an ambulance come for Andrew is the best practice. Here the alternative
allows the two to be responsible and alleviating the blame on one person. This helps in
cementing the bond between Andrew and Joshua as well as demonstrating the staff are important
too. The third alternative is the best scenario as the company does not lose its employees nor
does it have to face the issue with conflicting staff. It is evident that the company lacks any
Safety and Health Measures that would guide the employees in case of an accident. It is highly
important that the company clearly articulates its values and policies for the staff to understand
their roles and actions to take in a critical situation. Also, the company needs to have regular
Occupational Health and Safety trainings for the staff to avoid such incidents in the future.

References.
Paine, L. S. (2007, May). Ethics: A basic framework [Note 307059]. Harvard Business School.
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