The company you work for has spent years developing a new, innovative product. The company has spent large sums on a product which management believes will be cutting edge. Forecasts look promising and indicate the device will be highly profitable. It goes without saying the company will gain a dominant position in its industry.
The CEO has already shared a prototype of the product with the business press, along with a production date. Expectations are extremely high for the product. The company has a growing sense that the product could be wildly successful, and that failure would be disastrous. You work in an engineering group that is responsible for several components of the new product. You have final sign‑off on the components in terms of quality and reliability. Recently, you discovered a small flaw in one of the component parts.
While not a fatal flaw, your analysis suggests that the part might fail in less than 2% of the products. That failure would result in the product not functioning and would require warranty repairs. You go to your supervisor with your concerns, and you’re told not to pursue the issue, because reworking the part would significantly delay getting the new products to the marketplace.
Address these questions:
- What would you do?
- How does leadership affect the organizational culture?
- How will that engineer respond to the issue when there is no one looking over his shoulder?
Appy ethical theory in your response.
