Heng Tien
Assignment #4: The Warhead Cable Test Dilemma
This is a prime example of how unethical business decisions can hurt entire populations and end
up costing the company and our government not to mention the people of this world a lot more money
and even lives. Harry, as the manager, was the key component into the Bryson Corporation acting
unethically. There are various reasons to why the Bryson Corporation should act ethically such as to
meet demands of business stakeholders, enhance business performance, comply with legal
requirements, prevent or minimize harm and promote personal morality.
One the major stakeholders is the customer. Just from the pure business point-of-view, the
defense contractor would not be pleased with getting defective cables and most likely never order from
the manufacturer again. This would in turn lower stocks and stakeholders may begin to lose trust in the
success of this corporation. Once that happens, all stakeholders will be effected such as employees who
may be laid off, customers’ orders may not be filled and there might be a lack of manufacturers in the
market. With just one small shipment that was defective and just one manager acting unethically, the
whole company could be brought down and thousands of employees could be fired. This relates to
another reason that businesses should act ethically is to enhance business performance. When a
company acts ethically, their order history will become more positive and create a trusting reputation
for the company. That will then increase revenue by introducing new customers and fulfilling bigger
orders from previous customers.
Another reason that Bryson Corporation needs to act ethically is to comply with legal
requirements. According to the US Corporate Sentencing Guidelines, there are certain guidelines that
need to be followed which will determine the sentencing of those who acted unethically. Bryson
Corporation have adhere to none of these guidelines by hiring a risky individual, not having and
enforcing standards with disciplinary measures along with other crime inducing acts. This means that
when the unethical is discovered by the government and the public, sentencing and fines will be very
heavy.
This reason to me was the most important one especially in this situation. No company should
let their unethical decisions hurt any innocent bystanders. The results of such an unethical decision
made by Harry and the Bryson Corporation could mean the loss of innocent lives of soldiers who used
the specific cables with their missiles. The pros and cons of this mistake by the Bryson Corporation are
completely unequal because of the fact that a simple new batch of the cables could be made at the cost
of the company and save possibly thousands of lives. Prime examples of unethical decisions changing
the lives of thousands are oil and chemical companies that dump their waste in bodies of water
occupied by humans and animals. Such decisions end up costing many lives as well as millions of dollars
in clean-up fees. Lastly, acting morally at work will promote ethical behavior in personal lives. For
example, if it was very difficult to hide unethical decisions and mistakes made by managers, it might
prompt Harry to act more ethically throughout his life. By promoting ethical behavior, a company not
only get more ethical employees but also all-around ethical human beings. For Harry this means that he
will not hurt his family by carrying on extramarital affairs and treating his employees badly.
The unethical decision made by Harry and encouraged by the Bryson Corporation because of
lack of standards and testing can end up with a lot of repercussions. These repercussions could be
simply avoided by remaking a batch and suffering some complaints from the defense contractor.
Instead, thousands of lives could be in danger, millions of dollars lost and the environment could be
greatly altered. Harry is responsible for the actual action of being unethical. He chose to hide the fact
that he was an irresponsible manager and let mistakes occur during the manufacturing process.
However, he was not the only unethical person. The Bryson Corporation can also be blamed because of
their lack of structure and standards for ethical behavior. Not only to let defective products go out to
customers but also to allow inappropriate behavior in the workplace. By all these different instances of
unethical behavior, the stakeholders will see that Bryson Corporation are more worried about their
revenues instead of growing competent employees who also care about the company and those who
use their products.