Question

You are the general manager of a regional chemical company. In the course of producing your bulk chemicals, large amounts of particles and smoke are emitted through your plant’s smokestack. The level of pollutants is below current EPA regulations, and you are violating no laws, but neighborhood groups are complaining about minor health problems caused by the smoke. After investigating numerous alternatives, you find the most effective solution would be to install a “scrubber” system which will remove 90% of the pollutants and ash. Cost =$1 million. Do you install the system?

Identify three stakeholders and at least two specific ethical considerations or questions for each of the stakeholders you select.

Answer 1

I would put in the system since of how it would make me feel about myself at the end of the day. Three stakeholders that would be considered would be the owner of the company, my employees, and most of all the community that backdrops my business. The owner would want to know how this decision is the most profitable for the company and they might also query why they should care. This option provides the likelihood for a long-term relationship with the neighborhood. If we do this and broadcast it, this will show the neighbors that we are safeguarding our commitment to them and in return they’ll feel better about buying our products. The owners should care because this could be the difference between the company’s surviving in that community for 10 years versus 100. When a neighborhood feels favoured for they tend to support the local company in return. My employees would wonder why they are getting sick and what we are doing to limit their coverage. My commitments to my employees would promote my decision towards installing that scrubber system because, again if we look at the numbers, more health insurance claims will go up and there might even be lawsuits that would prove more detrimental to the company than a million dollar fix-all. I would also like my employees to feel safe coming to work so that they could maximize their job performance. If the employees don’t feel valued then they won’t feel the need to go above and beyond for their job. Finally, every business has an obligation to serve the community in which they are established. It doesn’t matter how many fundraisers are thrown, if the company is getting the neighbors sick, then that’s all that they’ll see. The questions of the community might be what are you doing to fix this problem and how do you know that it won’t return. Going back to publicizing the event as a means of free advertising, the public would be able to see just how costly the system is and they would be provided with information about how it works. This would generate good Public Relations and strengthen the bond between the company and the community. Most importantly at the end of every day as a general manager I too would get sick from long term exposure so this option works for everyone involved.