Hostedby

Jack Bauer and Agent Pierce

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What Happened?

Role Responsibility

Decision Points in IM

Characters

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Row 1, Col 1

The product manufactured byPhaust Chemical.

What is Old Stripper?

1,2

This character is (role) responsiblefor signing off on the new plant

design for Phaust

Who is Fred?

1,3

Fred’s wife, Maria, a compliancelitigator for the EPA, raisesthis problem when they are

at home watching TV.

What is the need to line the waste ponds proposed for the Morales plant to prevent toxic contaminants from leaching into the

local drinking water?

1,4

Chemical engineer hired by Phaust to design a new plant to

manufacture paint remover.

Who is Fred Martinez?

2,1

Chuck tells Dominique that itwas OK to hire Fred because

Fred’s contract with his old employer (Chemi Toil) did not include this.

What is a non-compete clause?

2,2

I’m here to make sure that youdon’t mess things up by bringing

people who are three stagesremoved from what’s gong on

and screw things up.

What is Wally’s vision of his role responsibility as Fred’s supervisor?

2,3

When Wally asks Fred if Phaust’splans are similar to those he

helped develop at Chemi Toil, he is inviting Fred to violate

this employee duty or responsibility.

What is the duty or responsibility of confidentiality?

2,4

Corporate liaison from Chemistre(parent company in France) to

Phaust

Who is Dominque?

3,1

Because Mexico’s environmentalregulations are not as strict as

those set forth by the EPA.

What is, for Wally, one of the main reasons for building the new chemical plant in

Morales, Nuevo Leon, Mexico?

3,2

Upholding the healthsafety, and welfare of the

public

What is the paramount role responsibility of a professional engineer

like Fred Martinez?

3,3

In order to save money and respondto Chemistre’s request for a 20%

cut in budget for the Morales plant, Chuck recommends passing

off long term costs for reducedplant size to this division within

Phaust.

What is (plant) operations?

3,4

Vice president of engineeringat Phaust.

Who is Chuck?

4,1

Fred decided to go with differentcontrols than these because theywere cheaper and because their

range was OK below 350 degreesand 200 PSI.

What are Lutz and Lutz Controls?

4,2

While they might dispute this, they should supervise the com-panies they have acquired by

setting and enforcing standardsof safety and good business

practice.

What is the role responsibility of the Chemistre, Phaust’s parent company from

France?

4,3

Fred suspects that Chuck is invested in Lutz and Lutz controls

for this reason.

What is the fact that Chuck’s brother-in-law is the Lutz and Lutz

salesman?

4,4

Plant manager for the new Phaustplant in Morales, Nuevo Leon,

Mexico.

Who was Manuel Ortega?

5,1

Phaust’s response when they studied samples from Chemi

Toil’s new product, EasyStripper.

What is changing the chemical formulation of New Stripper by raising the temperature

and pressure of the emulsion during preparation?

5,2

Doing an on-sight inspection to examine the safety and reliability

of product manufactured.

What is Phaust company policy (and possibly Fred’s role responsibility) when taking on a

new supplier?

5,3

The last minute reformulation of the emulsion at the Morales plant requiring

higher temperatures and pressures, censors and controls with limited ranges requiring on-sight visual inspections, and

couplings and flanges that were not properly spec’d by the engineer

in charge.

What are some of the elements causally responsible for the “incident at Morales”?

5,4

Fred’s supervisor at Phaustwho insisted on his “One Rule.”

Who is Wally?

Definition of Role Responsibility

• To stand committed to carrying out the goods, values, duties, and tasks around which a social or professional role is oriented.

What is the responsibility of confidentiality in this case

• As a former employee of Chemi Toil, Fred has a role responsibility not to reveal proprietary information to competitors

• Frequently companies review proprietary information with employees when they leave the company

• Some companies insert clauses into the employment contract limiting the right of ex-employees to work for competitors

What are maquiladores?• These are twin plants built by a developed nation in a

neighboring developing nation to escape the stricter environmental and safety regulations as well as higher labor costs in developed nations.

• The video is suggesting that Phaust is engaging in the practice when it states (in more than one occasion) that environmental regulations, supplies, and labor are much cheaper in Mexico

• Does this represent a violation of distributive justice? Are citizens of developing nations being asked to bear environmental, safety, and low wage burdens to provide citizens of developed nations high quality goods at low cost?

What is Wally’s real Role Responsibility?• Wally is concerned that Fred will sacrifice profits to pursue

exclusively engineering concerns.• According to the Hitachi Report, finance-driven companies

exclude engineers from day-to-day decisions• Other companies expect engineers to advocate quality and ethical

issues in team-based decision-making• The Harvard Business School sees managers as balancing the

often competing interests of investors, employees, customers, and the public

• Which of these stakeholders is Wally neglecting when he holds as his primary responsibility to maximize profits and, by implication, his bonus?

• Are these bonus incentives temptations to do wrong?

Engineering Codes of Ethics• This responsibility appears in engineering codes

(such as the National Society of Professional Engineers) in their Fundamental Principles section and as the first canon

• The engineer’s responsibility is to inform the client/manager of the consequences of his or her decision to the public

• If the health, safety, or welfare of the public is still at risk, then the engineer is enjoined to notify “proper authority.”

Did Manuel understand the additional risk he was being asked to take?

• Martin and Schinzinger tell us that “a thing is safe if, were its risks fully known, those risks would be judged acceptable in light of settled value principles.”

• But this assumes that the engineer has assessed these risks, fully communicated them to risk bearers, and have aligned risk information with the risk perception of the public.

• Has Fred fully assessed and communicated the risks to Manuel?

What is Wally’s One Rule

• Basically, Wally is telling Fred to respect the chain of command.

• If he has an issue to take to Chuck or anyone further up the chain of command, he must tell Wally first. In other words, he must not circumvent or go around Wally.

• How can Fred balance his responsibility to Wally as his supervisor with his responsibility as an engineer to make risk information publicly available?