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Case Study

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Values Engineering (B):
The Story of a Supply Chain

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01/2024-6783
This case study was written by Elin Williams, case writer, and N. Craig Smith, INSEAD Chaired
Professor of Ethics and Social Responsibility. It is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion
rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation.
INSEAD has made this case study free for anyone to read or use, as the writers believe that the story
deserves wider international attention and should not be a source of revenue. The case writer's fee
was donated to the Grenfell Foundation (link to http://grenfellfoundation.org.uk), and we invite fellow
business schools who use Values Engineering A and B to make a similar contribution.
To access INSEAD teaching materials, go to https://publishing.insead.edu/.
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The small cast of characters in this story are real people. So were the 72 Londoners who lost
their lives in the fire of June 14th, 2017. One lawyer told the subsequent Grenfell Tower Inquiry:
“The companies responsible killed those 72 people as sure as if they had taken careful aim
with a gun and pulled the trigger.”

The names of the employees and companies who appear in our true story about the Grenfell
Tower renovation project that ran from 2012 to 2016 are as follows:

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• Bruce Sounes, associate, Studio E Architects Ltd;
• Simon Lawrence, contract manager, Rydon (and Rydon’s client contact Peter Maddison,
director of assets and regeneration for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Tenants Management Organisation);
Ben Bailey, project manager, Harley Façades (and his father, Ray Bailey, director);

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•
• Deborah French, UK sales manager, Arconic (previously known as Alcoa) and her France-
based technical director, Claude Wehrle;

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• Jonathan Roper, product manager, Celotex.

The names of the people who died are too numerous to include and are therefore listed in
Exhibit A.
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They are not the only victims. There were 305 traumatized survivors and hundreds of
bereaved friends and relatives. There are also an estimated 3 million British people living in
properties that are virtually unsaleable and potentially firetraps until the government and the
construction industry resolve their dispute over responsibility for repairs.

The Grenfell tragedy began with a tiny spark in a fridge-freezer on the fourth floor. Many of
the cavity barriers (remember those?), designed to prevent the spread of internal fires to the
outside of the building, were poorly fitted. Once outside, the flames rapidly traveled up, down,
and horizontally, as the highly flammable combination of external cladding effectively acted
as a source of fuel. Within 30 minutes or so the entire building was engulfed.

Source: Image by Natalie Oxford - https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59913134

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Most of the quotes in the case study are taken from the published edition of Richard Norton-
Taylor’s verbatim stage play, Value Engineering: Scenes from the Grenfell Inquiry 1 It is a vivid
and shocking distillation of the vast amount of material collected by the Grenfell Tower
Inquiry 2 itself, including emails, meeting notes, and video testimonies. In parallel, the police
are investigating criminal offences, including manslaughter, corporate manslaughter, and
breaches of fire-safety regulations. However, the causes of the Grenfell fire and loss of life
go beyond the elements captured in the case. It is noteworthy that there was no loss of life

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in the Dubai fire attributed to aluminium cladding that was referenced in a news article
forwarded by Deborah to her company head office.

It is difficult not to sympathize with the representatives of the companies concerned, as they
squirm their way through their testimonies in videos now in the public domain. After all, their

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ethical failures are sometimes small and comparable with our own. But, as Sam Stein QC, the
lawyer quoted above, put it:

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Those companies failed to consider the safety of others. They killed when they promoted
their unsuitable, dangerous products in the pursuit of money and a place within the market.
And they killed when they entirely ignored their ultimate clients, the people of the Grenfell
Tower.
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1 Norton-Taylor, R., with Kent, N. (2021), Value Engineering: Scenes from the Grenfell Inquiry. London: Methuen
Drama.
2 Grenfell Tower Inquiry (2022), Evidence and Hearings. Available at https://www.grenfelltowerinquiry.org.uk
(Accessed: October 3rd, 2022)

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Exhibit A
The Victims of the Grenfell Disaster

• Mariem Elgwahry • Sirria Choucair • Khadija Khalloufi

• Eslah Elgwahry • Bassem Choucair • Mohamednur Tuccu

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• Fatemeh Afrasiabi • Nadia Choucair • Amal Ahmedin
• Sakina Afrasehabi • Mierna Choucair • AmayaTuccu
Ahmedin
• Mohammed Neda • Fatima Choucair
• Amna Mahmud Idris
• Rania Ibrahim • Zainab Choucair

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• Isaac Paulos
• Hania Hassan • Hashim Kedir
• Vincent Chiejina
• Fethia Hassan • Nura Jemal

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• Joseph Daniels
• Debbie Lamprell • Yahya Hashim
• Steve Power
• JessicaUrbano • Firdaws Hashim
Ramire • Abufras Ibrahim
• Yaqub Hashim
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• Hamid Kani • Isra Ibrahim

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• Gary Maunders
• Berkti Haftom • Fathia Ahmed
• Anthony Disson
Elsanousi
• Biruk Haftom
• Ligaya Moore
• Mohammed Alhajali
• Raymond Bernard
• Sheila Smith
• Denis Murphy
• Abdeslam Sebbar
• Victoria King
• Zainab Deen
• Hesham Rahman
• Alexandra Atala
• Jeremiah Deen
• Husna Begum
• Mary Mendy
• Abdulaziz El-Wahabi
• Kamru Miah
• Khadija Saye
• Faouzia El-Wahabi
• Mohammed Hamid
• Farah Hamdan
• Yasin El-Wahabi
• Mohammed Hanif
• Omar Belkadi
• Nur Huda El-Wahabi
• Rabeya Begum
• Malak Belkadi
• Mehdi El-Wahabi
• Marjorie Vital
• Leena Belkadi
• Maria del Pilar (Pily)
• Ernie Vital
• Logan Gomes Burton
• Marco Gottardi
• Ali Yawar Jafari
• Gloria Trevisan

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