The Ethics Scenario
Your division is competing with another division of your company to produce a new component for use by an undisclosed purchaser in the technology sector. The success of the tender will depend, in part, on being able to demonstrate meeting specific manufacturing standards. Testing shows that your division is not reliably meeting the quality standards or cost targets required, but your plant engineers are absolutely confident that the bugs will be sorted out in due course. However, the client requires immediate assurance that your company’s process is meeting the standards required for production. The success or failure of this tender could jeopardize the continued operation of your division. It is suggested to you that the current results might be ‘massaged’ in order to keep the tender alive and provide time to sort out the production problems and either match or exceed the results disclosed to the client. In not more than 300 words, explain to your colleague the best way to proceed.