Question

Mini Case:

Kirk was a bright individual who was being groomed for the Controller’s position in a medium-sized manufacturing firm. After his first year as Assistant Controller, the officers of the firm were starting to include him in major company functions. For instance, today he was attending the monthly financial statement summary given at a prestigious consulting firm. During the meeting, Kirk was intrigued at how all the financial data he had been accumulating was transformed by the consultant into revealing charts and graphs.

  

Kirk was generally optimistic about the session and the company’s future until the consultant started talking about the new manufacturing plant the company was adding to the current location and the costs per unit of the chemically plated products it produced. At that time, Bob (the President) and John (the chemical engineer) started talking about waste treatment and disposal problems. John mentioned that the current waste facilities were not adequate to handle the waste products that would be created by the “ultramodern” new plant in a manner that would meet the industry's fairly high standards, although they could still comply with federal standards.

Kirk’s boss, Henry, noted that the estimated cost per unit would be increased if the waste treatment facilities were upgraded according to recent industry standards. While industry standards were presently more stringent than federal regulations, environmentalists were pressuring strongly for improving regulations at the federal level. Bob mentioned that since their closest competitor did not have the waste treatment facilities that already existed at their firm, he was not in favor of any more expenditures in this area. Most managers at this meeting resoundingly agreed with Bob, and business continued on to another topic.

Kirk did not hear a word during the rest of the meeting. He kept wondering how the company could possibly have such a casual attitude toward the environment. Yet he did not know if, how, or when he could share his opinion. Soon he started reflecting on whether this was the right firm for him.

Source: http://public.tepper.cmu.edu/ethics/AA/mgmt02-case.pdf

Questions

• 1. What was the issue?

• 2. Why Kirk was so upset?

• 3. What Business ethics issues you can identify from this case?

• 4. If you have been given the authority to handle the situation how you would take the decision?

Answer 1

Ans1 In this case issue was that the company has no adequate facility for waste management and the management also does not want to upgrade the waste treatment facility because of its cost. Kirk was not happy with this decision as this improper waste treatment can adversely affect the environment.

Ans2 Kirk was upset because company’s management does not want to upgrade the existing waste treatment facility and this negatively or adversely affect the environment. Kirk was upset because of the management’s decision for not investing money in waste management facility.

Ans3 In this case the main issue is environmental ethics issue which defines business’s moral and ethical obligations toward the environment. Company is not focusing on this issue. It is not ethical to destroy the environment for own benefits. Management is also ready for this no-one is taking action against it. Management is satisfied with the existing waste treatment facility, which they know is not adequate and can cause major harm to the surrounding. Management is only concerned about cost and profit, which is not ethical.

Ans4 If I have the authority to handle the situation, then I will first talk to the financial department that how can we manage to invest some money in adequate waste treatment facility, and after that find ways to reduce the negative effect of waste on the environment. Upgrade the waste treatment facility and also set an example for competitors that it is important to save the environment and encourage them to do so. Make a team of employees who are more responsible towards the environmental issues and business ethics.