Reference no: EM133298174

Vivian was injured playing rugby, cracking several vertebrae and was on unpaid leave from her job for 3 months. She loved staying home actually so she could spend more time with her2 and 3 year old girls. Unfortunately, money was very tight. Her husband had been injured on vacation in California and had extensive uninsured US hospital bills, totaling more than $100,000. This is in addition to her mortgage, car lease, and other bills. The hospital was getting ready to sue but has agreed not to as long as Vivian pays $3000 per month to pay down their debt. This will be half her take home pay. Consequently, even though she is not fully recovered, she decided to return to work. Vivian works for AAA Manufacturing Inc., a manufacturer of drill components for drilling rigs. She was recently promoted to Production Manager for the diamond drill bit production, after serving five years as Crew Chief for the night shift prior to her injury. Upon returning to work, Vivian discovered that the previous Production Manager, Norm, had been buying an inferior (lower) grade of steel that makes up most of the diamond drill bits. Because drilling is so unpredictable at the best of times, it will be very difficult for customers to know the drill bits were inferior. They would assume most of the time that the rock they are drilling in is extra difficult to drill. There is a very increase in the chance the drill bits will shatter when hot and injure workers. When Vivian revealed this information to her boss, she was told that Norm the previous Production Manager was following orders from the Board of Directors. The company was unprofitable and had to cut costs. The change in steel quality was a quick way to cut costs. Vivian argued that selling inferior bits as quality product was no way to solve financial problems, but her boss ignored her. She said the bits might injure someone! We could get sued! Her boss pointed to very fine print in their sales contract limiting AAA's liability. AAA's products are marketed as premium quality and extra durable which Vivian had stressed to her purchasers when she major buyers toured AAA's facilities. AAA even has an endorsement by a celebrity from a home repair show. She could envision their positive image eroding as consumers began to experience premature replacement of their drill bits. Not only would AAA's reputation be damaged, but the reputations of the buyers purchasing the drill bits for their own employers would also suffer. Also, the image of workers injured by a shattering drill bit gave Vivian nightmares

1. Identify and introduce the primary ethical issues you found in this fact pattern? You will be able to provide a more in-depth coverage of the issues in depth in later questions.

2. Identify the stakeholders and briefly state why you believe they are stakeholders?

3. a. What are the primary alternatives (options) available to Vivian in this case.

b. Explain the ethics of each alternative and identify which how the different philosophical approaches would view these options. Include references to materials or cases covered in class you believe are relevant.

4. Which alternative you identified would you recommend if you were in Vivian's position?