Tony works for a small company that tests electronics products before they are released to the market.
Question:
Tony works for a small company that tests electronics products before they are released to the market. The company performs independent quality assurance tests to certify that the products meet all government regulation standards.
Tony's company signs a contract with a large cell phone company; this contract is the first major contract the company has received and has the potential to greatly increase their revenue. Tony is then assigned to conduct all the tests on the cell phone company's latest product.
Tony conducts all the tests and finds that the phone is up to regulation on almost all tests. However, the product fails to meet the regulation requirements for interfering noise transmittance. Tony knows that this test is not always reliable and repeats it a couple more times.
While he is repeating the test, the president of the phone company visits Tony in the lab to see how the testing is going. When Tony tells him that the product is consistently failing one test, the president proceeds to tell him, "There are hundreds of people whose livelihood depends on the release of this new product." Additionally, he tells Tony he has worked as a test engineer and knows the test is not always accurate, and it would be in everybody's best interest if Tony could approve the phone.
Tony is shocked that the president would come up to him in the lab and imply that he should falsify data. He is unsure of what to do, and knows that if he stands up to the president, his company could lose out on the large phone company's business. But if the product is not certified for release, hundreds of people could lose their jobs.
How should Tony handle this situation?
For this assignment review the case of the case above and write a case analysis paper answering the following questions:
1. Identify the ethical and legal issues in the two decision scenarios in the case. Create a 2 X 3 table to state the two possible courses of action Tony can take and the positive and negative implications of each, viewed through the ethical and legal framework.
2. Discuss the importance of ethical and legal behavior in the context of Tony's ethical and legal dilemmas.
3. State the two choices Tony can make. Identify and explain the ethically and legally sound choice. Which ethical lens is employed to perceive the dimensions of Tony's choice?
Operations Management Processes And Supply Chains
ISBN: 9781292409863
13th Global Edition
Authors: Lee Krajewski, Naresh Malhotra, Larry Ritzman