Response to case study scenario 1

It is unclear from the case study whether or not the manager is actually encouraging wrong behaviour. The case study gives this impression but we need to step back and consider if, in fact, this is the case. The following sets out the two possible alternative motivations of the manager. In both scenarios I need to respond to the situation and not ignore. However what action I take depends on why the manager is telling me to ignore it.
There are two alternatives interpretations of this situation:
1 The manager is unethically and unprofessionally – and arguably criminally – seeking to ignore the faulty USB sticks.
The manager could be doing telling me to ignore the situation because he considers that it might reflect poorly on him or that it might involve disruption in the contractual arrangement with an important customer or it could mean extra work for him. In this case the manager’s advice is plain wrong and unethical. This cannot be ignored as to do so could lead to people being harmed should the devices be a source of fire and this would have serious implications for my employer, myself, colleagues in addition to those exposed to harm. My company would be sued, almost certainly found liable, and the financial impact on the company would be serious. In addition to this myself, and all those involved to the testing process, would be face dismissal and perhaps criminal prosecution for endangering life. My actions would be as follows:
Discuss with the manager to see if he will change his mind given the risks presented.
If you does not change his mind, I would alert the appropriate authority in the business. This could be the manager’s direct superior and/or the HR department. My position is not significant enough to challenge the manager’s authority though of course I can challenge his point of view. This is why it is necessary for my to consult with those in the business who are in a position to take appropriate action.
I would also feel obligated to maintain an active interest in ensuring that the matter was acted on appropriately and being kept informed. It could be that poor practice is a long standing part of the organisational culture. I would not assume that merely informing a superior is sufficient. An important point in all of this is that I would expect an immediate recall of the products.
If matters are not actioned as I expect and think appropriate, I would contact the police. This is necessary as there is a material chance that life and human well-being are at risk.

As stated the above is on the basis that the manager has an unethical motivation, however there could be an alternative basis for his response to me.
2 The manager knows something that I don’t, that is, the number of faulty devices in within an acceptable range for production purposes.
It is unlikely that the business is going to produce perfect devices each time. That being the case there will be an expected level of faulty devices produced. This is also something that the buying company is aware of and it may have been discussed between the two companies. Both companies are likely to understand the implications of a faulty device and the fact that it could lead to fires. The possible risk of fire may not be significant but could be remote.
If it is understood that a certain number of devices are going to be faulty then it is likely that some agreement between the supplier and buyer has been established. However, this does not justify me ignoring the situation. My actions would be as follows:
Establish if this is the reason for the manager’s advice. If so, then find out all details re acceptable failure rates, consult the company policy, document the failure rate over which I have responsibility, get signed confirmation from the manager and another suitably qualified manager to this effect. My responsibilities would not go beyond this as all other “stakeholders” in this situation are fully aware of level of production flaw.
The costs to me, my employer and the business we are selling to could be significant and would include a financial cost, a legal cost and personal costs. If there is a fire, my employer will probably face a legal action and will have to pay damages and legal costs. These will be high and possibly lead to the company suffering a great and perhaps a fatal blow. The reputational harm to the business will be high and this could be reported in the media and trade press. This could lead to a loss of business. The cost of insuring the manufacturing activities of the business will increase a lot and might make production unsustainably high cost and the business uncompetitive.

The customer could suffer significantly if a fire breaks out. The most important concern is that people would be harmed or killed. If this happened compensation would need to be paid to families and other indirect costs would arise such as health and safety measures, adverse publicity, concern among other employees/stakeholders etc. The business might have to stop operations for a period of time if the damage is substantial. The company would initiate an action against my employer which would consume management time and effort and represent another indirect cost.
The cost to me could be devastating. I would probably lose my job and concealing the reason for my dismissal from future, prospective employers may be difficult. I could become unemployable as an engineer and trust in my character and my risk assessment would be seriously questioned.
In addition the above there is also the potential emotional and moral fall out if life is lost/harmed, and if businesses fail or people lose their jobs.