Ethics Around the Globe: Project for Business and Accounting students
You are the controller at a medium sized sports apparel company. Your sales manager has
just signed a contract with the US Olympic committee to produce warm weather clothing for
the downhill ski team. This contract would increase your revenues by 20% for next year as
well as create exposure for your name and brand. In short, you think it would bring in future
business. Your business model focuses on American Made products as well as quality.
As you investigate the sales manager’s proposal to the Olympic committee you find that the
mark-up on the products is just 10% of total costs. This concerns you because on average,
your mark-up percent is 40% of total costs. This means if anything unexpected happens with
production, this contract could quickly go from being profitable to losing money for the
company.
As you gather a team to discuss the risks and opportunities associated with this project, the
sales manager is strongly pushing to accept the contract and to “let production deal with the
risks”. The Vice President (VP) of Production states that if the cutting and sewing were
outsourced to an emerging market producer, the labor costs could be reduced and the risk
of the project losing money would be greatly reduced. He reasoned that the materials are
still American made; just the assembly is done in another country. The VP of Production has
a country in mind. The wages paid in this foreign country are one fifth those paid in the US
and there are no benefits attached to those wages. This country does not impose any tariffs
so shipping and importing costs would be very low. The VP’s knowledge is coming from his
brother-in-law who works in this country. He could take care of any government fees, setting
up the factory and finding workers. The VP has never seen the workers who would be hired
or the working conditions in the factory.
Part 1:
Reflect on this scenario and respond to the following questions:
1. What are the ethical responsibilities of the organization, and you as an employee, in
this case?
2. What would an ethical egoist do in this situation? Why?
3. What would a utilitarian do in this situation? Why?
4. What would you do in this situation? Why?
Your responses should total 1-3 pages in APA format.
Part 2:
You have been introduced to additional ethical perspectives since you last considered the
scenario presented to you for this project. Reconsider the scenario originally presented to
you.
1. How would someone who follows Aristotle’s virtue ethics act regarding this situation?
Why?
2. What would a Confucian do in this situation? Why?
3. Which of these two perspectives do you believe presents the better moral action and
why?
Please present your summary in APA format. The total length should be 1-2 pages.
Part 3:
In this last part of the project, imagine yourself as the CEO of this company. Consider the
four ethical perspectives you addressed so far for this project. Choose the ethical
perspective you believe is best. Using this as a foundation, explain in detail what the
company will do in this matter and why. Describe the benefits and draw backs of your
decision. How would you explain this decision to shareholders and employees?
Your response should be 2-4 pages in APA format.
