| You are employed in a small company that is trying to build a plant
to produce chemical X. As a result of your low overhead and other factors, you should
be able to underprice your competitor significantly. You have sized all the pieces
of equipment except the reactor(s). You cannot do this because you don't know the
kinetic parameters, nor do you have laboratory equipment to determine them. Time
is of the essence and your boss suggests that you take a photograph of your competitor's
reactor which is located outside, and use that to size your reactor. He suggests
that you hire a plane for aerial photographs or a truck similar to those used to
repair telephone lines that could see over the fences (see Figure 2-7). Your boss
also suggests you could get an estimate of the production rate by monitoring the
size and number of trucks shipping the product from the plant.
Using an estimate of
the reactor sizes in Figure 2-7 as a basis,
how confident are you that your estimates of the sizes will be reasonably accurate?
Do you feel it is ethical to estimate the reactor sizes and production rates in this
manner? Make a list of reasons and arguments as to why your boss might feel that
it is ethical to request you to do this. If you don't feel that this is ethical,
make a list of reasons and arguments as to why it should not be done. Suggest alternative
ways to obtain the desired information. You may wish to consult the book The Power
of Ethical Management by K. Blanchard and N. V. Peale (New York: Fawcett
Crest., 1988) to identify and evaluate the ethical issues. If you feel that the situation
above is clearly ethical or unethical, revise the scenario so that it is in a gray
area. For example, would it be ethical if the reactor were in full view from the
street? What if your boss suggested that you get a tour of the plant with a Boy Scout
troop, and try to take pictures and obtain other information (e.g., read gauges)
while on the tour at the Annual "Engineering as a Profession Day" three
weeks from now? Use Blanchard and Peale's Ethics Check List Questions (Is
it legal?, Is it balanced? How will it make me feel about myself? ) to help
take the grayness out of the situation and make it black and white. |