Case Study:-
The Fitzgerald Machine Company is a $25MM per year custom metal fabrication shop. It has a work force of 30 machinists and 15 office personnel. Don Bradish was hired from Peptine Corporation three months ago as Fitzgerald's production scheduler. His background includes an undergraduate industrial engineering degree and three years of purchasing experience with Peptine immediately after college. He is a good fit for Fitzgerald's needs. He was hired by Jane Fitzgerald, Vice President of Operations and daughter of the company president.
Recently the company has been having difficulty meeting delivery schedule deadlines. Don was hired to improve the company's performance in on-time deliveries. So far, he has been learning the systems of the operations and studying possible solutions, but he has not yet determined the best course of action to recommend.
On Friday, June 21, a $300,000 order, which had been in the shop for nearly two months, was scheduled for shipment. On the Wednesday before scheduled delivery, the customer called and asked that delivery be delayed due to a labor dispute and work stoppage at his location. Although he expected the strike to be settled within one week or less, he was concerned that delivery of the order from Fitzgerald during the strike might cause unnecessary misunderstandings in the labor dispute. Don discussed this request with Jane, and they agreed to accommodate the customer's request on the condition that the customer agree to being billed on the originally scheduled delivery date and to pay on the originally contracted payment terms. The customer accepted those terms.
On Friday morning, June 21, the production manager reported to Don that the order would not be completed as scheduled and would probably require at least one more week to finish. Concerned about the impact of this delay on his job status, Don decided to investigate the cause of the delay before informing Jane of the problem. Before he could complete his inquiry, Jane called to inform him that she had just mailed the invoice for the order as agreed. She also suggested that Don negotiate with the customer a storage fee for the order, which would be paid in addition to the billing arrangement.
Don wondered what he should say to Jane next.
Questions on Approach to answer:
Think about the relevant facts and ethical issues involved. Answer the following questions based on the three approaches and provide answers to the response to action questions.
NOTE: Each answer and response should a minimum of 10 sentences in length and provide detail and examples.
Utilitarian approach
1. Provide a minimum of 2 options for Don to say to Jane. Provide positives and negatives to support your options. Note: these options will be used in other questions.
2. How would you measure costs for the options in this case study? Use examples applying the utilitarian approach.
Justice approach
1. How fairly does each of the options balance the benefits arid burdens among the various stakeholders (Don, Jane, customer and production manager)? Use examples for the benefit and burden.
2. Which stakeholders bear the most burden if Don withholds information from Jane? Apply the justice approach.
Rights approach
1. Who has the right to know about the missed deadline (customer, Jane, production manager)? Be specific and use examples.
2. Whose rights(customer, Jane, production manager) are addressed by each of the options? Be specific and use examples.
Action to take questions:
Describe your response to each of the following actions and defend the action. Provide the question with the answer.
1. Which ethical approach (utilitarian, rights, or justice) seems most appropriate in this case study? Be specific and use examples.
2. For each option, how should the Fitzgerald Machine Company treat the customer?Be specific and use examples.
3. What must be done to avoid such a situation in the future? Be specific and use examples.
4. What is the best course of action for Don to fix the delivery schedule problem? Be specific and use examples.