OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Ethical Communities Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Understand the four ethical communities
2. Apply an ethical community to your personal case situation

Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and
other course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to
update this and format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.

Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

I work as a Business Analyst at The Boeing Company on the 777 program.

Recently there was a quality and safety incident that occurred on a 737 Alaska airlines
flight bound from Portland Oregon to Ontario California where a mid-fuselage door plug.
flew off the plane. This has led to multiple companywide changes, but the most drastic
was. a complete quality stand down happening across the entire enterprise completely.
stopping production to engage in conversation about quality and how we get better.

Describe how the ethics of the organization influenced the situation.

Ethically speaking this situation was heavily influenced by the ultimate outcome of this
situation. The door was disassembled, reassembled, and then sent down line. This led to
multiple “escapements” as described in the words our of own CEO, Dave Calhoun, and it
was all done in the name of profits. The CEO on multiple occasions referred to it as an
escapements which would then lead us to ask why and how this could happen.

These escapements were ultimately caused by traveled work in our production line which
is when a aircraft leaves a position to a new one with still work attached from the
previous position. All traveled work is the cause of a rushed production line that cannot
be stopped because it will hinder the profitability of the organization. Ethically, this is
putting production over the safety and quality of the product putting countless lives at
risk.

Recommend how you would apply one of the ethical community metaphors (see
Exhibit 20.1 in Bolman and Deal) for an alternative course of action regarding your
case.

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 The metaphor that I would apply to this situation would be ‘The Factory: Excellence and
Authorship.’ Allowing our organization to be a factory of excellence would result in us
producing quality products that are as safe as possible. “The ethical imperative of the
factory is excellence: ensuring that work is done as effectively and efficiently as possible
to produce high-quality yields.” (Bolman & Deal, 2021, pg 415” the growing stress on
the workers to comply with the schedule of the factory does not hold true to the factory
metaphor.

Allowing our workers to communicate clearly and effectively what they need to provide
excellent work would be the first step in applying this ethical metaphor. Not shoving the
product down the production line unsure if the quality is yielding a high result. Holding
back, ensuring that it is of high quality, and then sending it to the next position is the best
course of action for the factory.

Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about ethics.

The one thing that I would do differently in my organization is put the aircraft first, not
the money associated with the aircraft. The majority of companies get lost in how much
money is coming in instead of focusing on what is making us the most money. If we
allow our products to be of the highest quality, then they will be sought after instead of us
trying to find customers for our products.

The one thing I would not get rid of is the schedule for the aircraft’s movement in the
factory, but I would give it the opportunity to be modified in the name of quality and
safety. If we are beholden to our customers, it should not be hard to explain the delay in
their plane due to our excessive need to produce them a high-quality product we are
proud to provide, and they are proud to use. A schedule is great to show the customer of
the aircraft when they can expect the delivery of their plane, however, having that be
provided with an asterisk would yield impressive results in our quest for quality and
safety.

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 Reference

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership
(7th ed.). SanFrancisco, CA: Jossey-Bass