Making Ethical Production Decisions

As has been evident in so many cases in recent years (i.e., Enron; Lehman Brothers, etc.), there are serious ramifications when an organization disregards acting in an ethical manner. It is not enough to have a corporate code of ethics if employees do not act in line with those espoused ethics and values. Sometimes the results can even have fatal consequences.

Please review the articles listed below
Articles:
Belt, D. (2011, January). Challenger: The beginning of the end. U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, 137(1), 64.
Porter, B. (2011, August). Serving two masters. Mechanical Engineering, 133(8).
Zeller, S. (2001). Blowout. (cover story). National Journal, 33(17), 1216.

Instructions:
After you have read the articles above, write a paper responding to the questions after reading the scenario.

Discussion1:
Scenario:
Kim Cidvak is a consultant for one of the largest public accounting firms. He has been called in to review compliance documentation regarding human rights violations at Nogle Manufacturing Conglomerate’s contracted overseas manufacturing operations in China. The contracted manufacturing operation has workers using equipment that must be handled carefully by trained personnel and in the U.S. requires the expensive safety equipment to be worn at all times. Reading the existing report from the Human Resources executive sent there to prepare it, Kim notices there is no report concerning safety compliance just simply training hours, and hours worked on shift.

Questions:
What are the risks and who are the affected stakeholders? What actions would you take as Kim in this situation and why?
What ethical responsibilities do Kim and the accounting firms have versus Nogle Manufacturing Conglomerate and the contracted manufacturer? What are the considerations in terms of the financial implications versus the ethical ones and for whom do these apply? Explain your reasoning.

Discussion 2
Risk and Ethical Responsibility

Minnie Lee is an engineer with a multi-national aerospace company that produces fuel-line components for all types of air and space craft. Minnie discovered a potential defect in a particular fuel-line component. Minnie is the lead-engineer for this particular division and scheduled tests that would indicate the failure potential for the component. The tests indicated a very low risk that at certain very low, or very high temperatures, the component might fail, which in turn might lead to a catastrophic failure of the entire system.

Questions:
What ethical responsibilities do Minnie and the companies have? For example, should the decision to repair the system be considered in terms of the potential liability risks of failure versus the costs of the repairs?

Making Ethical Production Decisions As has been evident in so ma...