1. Should Pat raise this issue with management? If so, what should he say?
2. What if he does raise the issue and the company does nothing? What should he do then?
3. Does this use of our technology breach a core value? Or is this a case where we should respect local cultural practice? Is there some compromise position in between?
4. Should the company be anticipating additional government regulation?
5. What is the risk to the company’s reputation of doing nothing? Of doing something?
6. How might the company think about our responsibility from a supply-chain perspective? Might they learn anything from companies in other industries that have had to deal with this issue? For example, would it be appropriate to initiate a policy to engage with customers who certify that they will sell exclusively to authorized users? Even if the company did that, how could they be sure customers were complying?
7. Should the company also be educating and training employees and clients on ethical uses of our products? Or, would that be seen as ethical imperialism?
8. What should a sales representative do if he or she suspects that a client will be using the ultrasound equipment for sex-selective purposes?
9. The company provides service for these machines. Might that be a way to monitor use?
10. Can the company do anything to better understand the root cause of the problem and tackle that?

A surprising ethical dilemma arose for a young engineer during his first business trip to Asia to work with customers of his company’s ultrasound imaging technology. On the long airplane ride, Pat was dutifully reading a travel book to learn more about Korean and Chinese cultures when he was shocked to learn how ultrasound technologies were being used in these countries. A technology that he had always considered to be a way to help people by diagnosing disease was being commonly used to intentionally identify and interrupt pregnancies when the fetus was female. As an engineer, Pat had been trained to be passionate about innovation and problem solving. He was used to thinking about these technologies as innovative high-tech solutions to serious health problems. He was also committed to developing higher-quality, more efficient, affordable devices so that they could be used more widely. It had never occurred to him that in some Asian cultures, where overpopulation combined with a strong patriarchal culture led to a preference for sons over daughters, this technology that he considered to be innovative, helpful, and supportive of people’s well-being might be used to eliminate female lives.