John Manville Case

Living and Dying with Asbestos

Group Members

NAME ID
1. Abid Ahashan Tarafder 1110774030
2. Md. Nakib Ahmed 1520536030
3. Sheikh Faiaz Mahmud 1521330030
4. Asif Kamal 1531059630
5. M Ishrak Bin Ikram 1620958030
6. Farha Tabassum 1632078630
7. Israt Farha 1711397630
The Johns Manville

 Est. on 1858 at New York.

 Products offered:
 Insulation
 Roof Material
 Engineered Product.
 Raw Material required: Asbestos
 During the Early 20th century they became one of the global leader as a manufacturer of
asbestos-containing products.
 Headquarter: Denver, Colorado
What is Asbesto?

PROBLEM

Workers working with

asbestos develop
bronchitis ,lung
related diseases &
cancer
Issues identified

 Involvement of Journal editor in liaison with Insurance company head on

publishing report
 Controlling the flow of the right information about the hazards of exposure to
asbestos for long
 Medical director’s negligence on informing the workers about their medical
condition.
 Absence of warning labels on products containing asbestos.
 Denial of workers compensation.
 Elimination of the right of study and research on asbestos, asbesto-cancer
relation .Hiding information regarding the disease and its extremity to
Issue 01: Report issue

Unethical from the standpoint of:

 Aristotle’s Virtue Theory.

Perspective from outside:

 Officials lack ethical and moral diligence towards workers and public.

Alternative actions that could be taken by the management:

 Publishing the correct report for the benefit of the workers publish .
Issue 02: Control of flow of information.

 Unethical from the standpoint of :

 Utilitarianism.
 Kant’s theory of duty.
 Management’s point of view:
According to Freidman the sole purpose of business is to make profit. Therefore, their perspective was:

 Losing workers ,which would lead to greater loss in terms of profit.

 Compensating lump sum amount to the employees.
 Perspective from outside :
violating workers right to correct information

 Alternative actions that could be taken by the management:

clear information regarding the heath hazard of asbestos
Issue 03: Medical director’s lie

 Unethical from the standpoint of :

 Aristotle’s Virtue Theory.
 Utilitarianism Theory.
 Management’s point of view :
 compensation.
 Lying would allows the workers to work without going through mental trauma which would affect the
productivity.
 Perspective from outside :
 Union organizations clearly states workers right to information.

 Alternative actions that could be taken by the management :

 Enabling the doctor to provide right information to the workers , for faster diagnosis or preventive measures
Issue 04: Absence of warning label

Unethical from the standpoint of :

 Kant’s theory of duty
 Aristotle’s virtue theory
 Utilitarianism theory.
Management’s point of view :
 A cost reduction strategy
 Extra expenditure to provide label and information
 Can create panic in workers & users.
Perspective from outside :
customers and workers have the right to full information, which they are being denied of
Alternative actions that could be taken by the management :
 Providing proper labels.
Issue 05: elimination of study

Unethical in the light of:

 Aristotle Virtue Theory.
 Mills utilitarianism theory
 Virtue theory
Management’s point of view :
 Release of research information will shed more light on the diseases extremity in relation to cancer
Possibility of legal action against them would be severe.Poses as threat in the form of proof.
oPerspective from outside:
 Self-centered view of the companies , showing lack of ethics & moral behaviour
 Every individual coming in contact of asbestos has the right to know the information & its relation to cancer
Alternative actions that could be taken by the management :
 Allow the independent reasearch and study to take place , might produce possible result from which cure can be so.
Critical Decision Points

 Allowing of proper information by John Manville to the knowledge of

workers and consumers about the health hazards.
 Providing detailed label or not.
 If the doctor should provide correct information to the employees or not.
Approach Developed from this case

 Takeovers from case:

Companies should inform workers of their job hazard .As well has have
certain rules of providing health insurance to the workers, free medical
benefits and also certain sum of reserves for compensation.

 Role of the government:

Government should play active monitory role , strengthen workers right
law & provide independent inspection ensuring equality for all.
Any Question?
Thanks