“Defective products with serious consequences”
Tom is the production manager at HTI, an advanced machine producer that exports to China. HTI is ready to export a new shipment to Beijing on Friday. Each machine is very expensive, and each one sold will provide a great deal profit to HTI. All of the shipment is already produced. Any machine that is not shipped can be considered a major loss to the bottom line.
On Monday morning, Tom is informed that a few of the machines that are set to be shipped could be defective. The defective machines have the potential to explode.
Tom has significant concerns about sending them and approaches his boss. His boss demands the complete shipment be sent, as he does not want to swallow the profits associated with scrapping the units.
Tom leaves his Boss’ office with more than lost profits on his mind…
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What kind of damages can result from the explosions? Are the profits worth lives of people working close to the machine?
What does sending these bad products say about HTI’s integrity?
Are there other options besides scrapping the 3 units and losing the profit?
Can Chinese law be applied to the person responsible for shipping the defective products? What kind of jail time could he take for this?
What priorities are at stake here?
Ethics Experiences