What ethical issue or dilemma was Bob Hopkins facing?
Bob was a trader in White Lumber Company. One day during a slow sales period, he received a call from Stan Parrish, a retailer who bought his products from While Lumber Company. Stan placed an order for planks that were 3 inches and agreed to the price offered by Bob. However, he said that he would get back to Bob to clarify the details of the purchase. Later on, Bob Hopkins heard from Mike Fayer-Weather about an order for scaffold planks that appeared similar to the one placed by Stan Parrish. After confirming that Stan had asked for 3-inch planks to cover for the scaffold plank, Bob Hopkins did not want to sell the lumber to Stan since it would be wrong for him to provide planks that were not scaffold. However, after talking to his boss John White the following day, Bob began to question the concept of ethics and how it applied to his particular situation. He did not know whether to sell the planks to Stan who would pass them on to the customer as scaffold lumber. In doing so, he would save the company by making the huge sale. Or, Bob Hopkins could cancel the order and lose their best retailer as well as put many people who required their jobs out of work (Malone and Brown, n.d.).
Who were the stakeholders and what were their conflicting values in Bob’s decision?
Stakeholders include every party that has an interest in the enterprise such as the employees, customers, owners, suppliers, distributors, public, government, etc. The ethical dilemma that Bob Hopkins found himself in would affect the interests of the stakeholders in the White Lumber Company. First, if he decided to sell the 3-inch planks to Stan Parrish from Quality Lumber, he would secure White Lumber’s business interactions with the buyer as well as the jobs of the employees in the firm who desperately need the employment (Malone and Brown, n.d.). However, he would have interfered with the rights of the final buyer of the planks who would think that they were scaffold planks and carry out his construction work as usual only to endanger the lives of the engineers and laborers. The second option for Bob Hopkins would be to decline the order from Quality Lumber and risk losing their best retail partner and the jobs of many people in White Lumber Company. However, he will have protected the final buyer and the public from harm.
What alternatives did Bob have? Analyze the consequences of each alternative
Based on the excerpt, Bob Hopkins had two alternatives to solve the ethical dilemma. The first one entailed upholding the ethical principles that he had gathered from the several years he was a student in college. As a professional, Bob Hopkins was expected to maintain integrity and objectivity. The aspect meant denying Quality Lumber the opportunity to buy the planks since it would be unethical to sell the final consumer products that do not satisfy his or her wants. The second option involved protecting the business, securing the retail partner, and safeguarding people’s jobs by going ahead with the sale since White Lumber Company had quality products that would serve the interests of the buyer. The 3-inch planks could act as a substitute for the scaffold planks based on the assertions of Stan Parrish and John White (Malone and Brown, n.d.).
What should Bob do? Provide your evidence and rationale to support your solutions.
As a pristine capitalist, I believe that the business of an enterprise is business. The aspect involves securing more returns and focusing on the revenue-generating functions. However, the trend in today’s corporate environment has a strong inclination towards ethics and social responsibility. Hence, companies that do not conform to moral guidelines and social perspectives can find themselves on the wrong side of the law or lose everything as they secure the short-term gains. It is thus essential to go beyond the concept of revenue-maximization to do the right thing. However, this particular situation is quite critical and I believe that the best solution would be to act as a pristine capitalist to secure the future of the business by protecting the interests of the best retailer and the employees. White Lumber Company had quality planks; therefore, the 3-inch lumber could serve as a replacement for the scaffold (Malone and Brown, n.d.).
Reference
Malone S. C. and Brown B. (n.d.) Case 6: The Scaffold Plank Incident.
