Taken from: Business Ethics - Ethical Decision Making and Cases A Real Life Situation pages 62-63 Farrell & John FraedrichAfter three years with the company, Sandy was promoted to assistant plant manager. This was a big step for Unity Welding and Construction, as well as for the industry; Sandy was one of only a handful of women who had broken through the glass ceiling and made their way into management. She had proved to the men around her that she deserved the job, and she was now being toasted by assistant managers from other plants across the country John, her boss, had been her advocate with the company. He had personally lobbied upper management in her behalf.Unity Welding and Construction is a national firm with twenty fabrication plants, primarily in the South. The company does contract work for other companies that require welding or fabrication of metals into items used in the construction of aircraft, ships, bridges, and component parts for consumer durables. Each plant caters to specific industries. Sandys plant produces parts primarily for the automotive industry and is located in Arizona. Arizona is perfect for Sandy because of her acute asthma problems. As a teenager, she once visited relatives in Atlanta and had to be hospitalized because of her reactions to the different plants and foliage. Sandys doctor told her at the time that she would have fewer problems with her asthma if she resided in one of the arid regions of the United States.Six months had passed since Sandys promotion, and her first performance rating from John was excellent. John told her that if she continued this type of performance, she would probably be a plant manager in three to six years.Sandy developed some innovative ways to increase productivity during her six months on the job. For example, she successfully implemented a team concept, which gave responsibility for certain projects to the workers on the plant floor. She offered incentives if th...
