Question

Use this textbook to supplement the below scenario and answer the below questions: Hitt/Ireland/Hoskisson's Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization 13th Edition

Scenario

•Sally has spent the last six months working as part of a team that has developed a piece of software to control a widget grinding machine. The software is due to be completed within one week but Sally knows that it will take at least one month to fully test the software. Sally accompanies her boss, Liz, at a meeting with the client who commissioned the software. The client has just landed an important order, and is anxious that the software is delivered and installed on time. At the meeting, Liz says to the client, "Sally and the rest of the team have done an excellent job on this software. It has all of the functionality you asked for and it can be delivered and installed next week. Isn't that right Sally?“ Sally knows that the software may still contain bugs that could cause machine to malfunction and be dangerous to its operators. If Sally contradicts her boss in front of the client she knows it will be the end of her career with that company - a well paid job that she enjoys. What should she do?

Questions

•What are Sally's legal responsibilities?

•Does Sally have any legal protection?

•Would your analysis of the ethics of this case change if Sally had been present during her boss's conversation with the client, but had not been asked to agree with his assurances?

•What if the client had asked Sally a question, the honest answer to which would contradict her boss?

•Would your analysis of the ethics of this case change if the software was for stock management rather than the control of machinery – with no potential threat to human safety?

Answer 1

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What are Sally's legal responsibilities?

Sally’s responsibilities including signing legal bonds with the company and making rules for all the people who work under her. It is her responsibility to carry out the assigned tasks and take decisions that would be needed and make sure that only the truth is being told in any situation and she should handle these problems ethically so that the people would not fall into any trouble because any important fact was hidden. Her responsibilities also include the health and safety of employees who work under her. This responsibility is not solely on her but on the company as well since it is all their employees. The right resources and equipment needed should be provided by the company to all the staff to make sure that all the employees are safe. If any problem arises for the company or the employees due to lack of resources or due to the employees’ carelessness in using safety equipment then Sally does not stand responsible for any of the damage caused.

Does Sally have any legal protection?

As Sally is a professional following the ethical code of conduct she did not hesitate to tell the truth even though she gave a negative answer. Though this would have acted as a disadvantage to her she would manage to convince the client to give a month’s time in order to allow the testing that should be performed to take place. This is because she was brave enough to actually take up the responsibility that most others would simply ignore or try to get rid of. This also leads to a condition where the client would feel very satisfied and therefore this trusted feeling towards the company would make him feel like not cancelling the agreement due to their honesty. Therefore, he would make the whole company and Liz boss feel happy that it did not cause any loss for the company and at the same time it ended up in gaining trust from the client as well. This in turn will make the boss to be proud of Sally for sticking to the truth throughout and revealing it by stating the actual way that it was affect all of their lives. This makes everyone feel safe with her decision and also makes everyone build a sense of trust around her. This gains a legal protection for Sally and also leads to her protecting others ethically and raising knowledge about the issues they can face with this particular decision which finally leads to protecting them from being terminated unlawfully.

Would your analysis of the ethics of this case change if Sally had been present during her boss's conversation with the client, but had not been asked to agree with his assurances?

Since Sally is a professional, she would have given the same answer even if the the boss would not have asked to agree with his assurances. this is because Sally follows the code of conduct related to moral values therefore telling the truth out would be way better as there is no pressure on possible thoughts that might occur.

What if the client had asked Sally a question, the honest answer to which would contradict her boss?

If the truth is exposed by Sally it does not mean that her boss has been placed in any kind of troubled situation or that the deal has not been broken. This has to be done in a proper way so that the boss would not get a bad name and also the actual project should benefit the client as well. By doing this Sally is helping the company by solving this critical issue instead of hiding it and confronting any problems in the future for the whole company even though the choice is difficult to make when considering ethical issues.

Would your analysis of the ethics of this case change if the software was for stock management rather than the control of machinery, with no threat to human safety?

The stock management software is a very important part of the company therefore it would lead to loss for the company. The software for stock management is needed for the transactions with stock good’s details, inwards, outwards and editing information on records. Although this does not lead to direct physical threats to the company these can cause indirect losses and it can leave to a human to have a mental illness. to prevent this every software should be thoroughly tested and corrected for mistakes before implementing and using it.

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