Expertly Crafted Essay On Scaffold Plank Incident

Bob is faced with the dilemma of whether to be involved in an unethical trade of lumber or not. On one hand, Bob may decide to close the trade and impress his boss, Mr. White, his client, Mr. Stan Parrish and the construction site foreman. On the other hand, proceeding with the sale means that substandard planks of lumber will be used as scaffolding planks therefore putting the lives of innocent construction workers in danger.
The stakeholders that are going to influence Bob’s decision include; Mr. White, Mr. Parrish and the construction workers. If Bob does not go through with the sale, Mr. White is likely to fire him since he is not able to bend his morality for the “good” of the business. If Mr. White does not fire Bob, Bob’s stay at the company is going to be rough. Both Mr. White and his co-workers are going to segregate against him branding him a ‘zealot’ or a ‘moral person’ who cannot get the job done. Bob will not enjoy his stay at the company because Mr. White’s establishment calls for a person with fluid morality while Bob’s principles are solid and firm.
Bob was faced with two alternatives. The distinguishing characteristic between the two alternatives is that one of them is going to be void of morality while the other one is going to call for Bob to stick to his moral principles. The morally-void decision will involve Bob ignoring what the lumber will be used for and deliver it to Stan Parrish who will in turn deliver it to the construction site to be used as scaffolding plank in spite of the fact that it is not up to standards. The consequences of this decision will be putting the lives of the workers at the construction site in grave danger. On the other hand, Bob may decide not to deliver the lumber to Stan Parrish. Bob will not receive the commission for the trade but another trader at White Lumber may pick it up and close the trade. Bob may end up losing his job at the Lumber-selling company but at least he wouldn’t have to live with the guilt of putting the lives of other people in danger.
When faced with such a dilemma that is currently facing Bob, it is paramount to take into consideration how the majority will be affected. If Bob decides to proceed with the order, he may be putting the lives of tens of workers, who will be standing on the “scaffolding planks”, on the line. However, if he doesn’t proceed with the order, he might end up losing his job. Therefore, in order to solve this dilemma I suggest using the utilitarian model. The model suggest that we pick a decision that will yield the greatest good to the highest number of people. This, model unlike the egoistic model which suggests doing an action that will yield the greatest yield to a select few, will prove to be the most appropriate in this scenario. Using the egoistic model, Bob will choose to proceed with order and deliver the lumber to Stan Parrish. However, under the utilitarian model, Bob will not deliver the wood. He might end up getting fired, but at least he did not put a risk in the lives of people for a mere payday.