Reference no: EM131415675

Assume that you’re the owner and President of a company with 250 employees. The company designs and manufactures steel beams used for bridge and tower construction. In fact, it made the steel beams used in the construction of a building standing 110 stories tall – the third tallest building in the world. The building, called the Chase Tower, has been open and occupied for two (2) years. On a typical day, 25,000 people work in the building and another 100,000 pass through as visitors. On Monday morning, your company’s Vice President of Engineering Operations (VP) asked to meet with you immediately. The VP informed you that he just discovered an engineering error that occurred during the manufacture of the steel beams for the Chase Tower. As a result, the Tower’s beams that were supplied by your company and used in the construction did not meet the legal building code’s requirements. The steel beams were supposed to be able withstand steady 100 mph winds without buckling; however, the beams that were used in the Tower can only withstand steady winds up to 60 mph. If the beams ever buckled during a storm it would likely cause the tower to collapse. If you tell the Tower's owner about the structural problem, it will probably result in your company being sued by the owner and your company probably having to close due to the bad publicity, investigations, and cost of damages. In addition, the Chase Tower would be immediately closed by the state’s building code authorities if they were informed of the problem. This would cause tremendous problems for the businesses operating in the Tower. The chances of the Chase Tower ever collapsing from a storm is about the same as the odds of winning the lottery – it might happen but it is very, very unlikely. Therefore, this structural defect might never cause a problem. On the other hand, it could collapse in certain wind conditions and produce a tragedy resulting in thousands of deaths. In your opinion, now that you know about this problem with the Tower, as president and owner of the company that manufactured the defective steel beams you would 1. immediately tell only the owner of Chase Tower; 2. immediately tell the owner of Chase Tower AND the state building code authorities; 3. immediately tell the owner of Chase Tower, the state building code authorities, and the tenants of the Tower; 4. never tell anyone; OR 5. other Please explain the reasons for your answer.