The Scaffold Plank Incident

Group 3

Prateek Mehta(A23) Banner id @03168413, Nanjappa Babu(A21) Banner id@

Kiran kumar kulal(A14) Banner id@, Teena Merlain(A39) Banner id@
Slow moving business was not a new thing for them as the company was still struggling to break
even. The Scaffold Plank incident just puts Bob Hopkins in a situation where he had to choose
from two alternatives the suitable and right one according to him that would satisfy him.
1. What are the relevant facts in the case?

Bob Hopkins has been working in the company as a trader for three years. In spite of that
he is still not aware about the companys product and he needs to come out of the college
world and act according to the real world.
The White Lumber company is running at $5000, below the breakeven point and was
about to hit recession.
The end user is looking for Scaffold Plank which is a highly graded material from
Quality Lumber.Stan Parrish, the lumber buyer makes a deal with White Lumber
Company who is not dealing with this kind of product. Unaware of this Bob makes a deal
with Stan Parrish at a good price.
Bob has been honest to his customers, and when he gets to know about the particular kind
of product Stan ordered he faces a dilemma whether he should stick to his honesty or sell
the under graded good.
John White insists on selling his goods knowing the fact that Stan ordered for a different
product, trying to be productive and doing simple business.
John cares about his employees giving examples of two staffs, Steve and Janet. If they
stick to their ethics there is a possibility that the company may shut down and fear of
employees losing their jobs.
2. What are the ethical issues?

Business ethics is not what is studied in the classroom; it is difficult to apply it in the real
business world.
Applying rules in the real world may cost the companies to lose their margins n hence
employees will lose their jobs, lives can be destroyed because there will be sales only
four times a year.
Ethics involves making tough choices, weighing costs and benefits. We need to look at
the situations differently and individually.
Bob has made deals for a large number of lumbers with Quality Lumber. But he faced
four inquiries for Scaffold planks which concerns him whether the order called in by Stan
is supposed to be for Scaffold graded good or for the normal graded good. To get things
clear in his mind, Bob decides to call up Stan and confirm upon it. But Bobs partner,

Mike Fayerweather suggests him not to call Stan as it might appear that Bob is accusing
Stan of being unethical and could harm the business relationship.
Stan wanted to sell the product which is similar to what the customer wants by stating
that the particular product is used for regular construction lumber, which protects him
legally. But Bob is not convinced with this and Stan finally says Bob to provide the
product what he is requesting for or else he will lose his customer.
3. What are the possible alternatives?

Bob needs to resolve the dilemma he was undergoing. On one side were his own morals
and ethics which he has been learning from school and on the other side was his
company he had been working for, for the past few years.
He could refuse the deal what he had made with Stan and be informed that the product is
not available. He could have suggested the customer that the product is not the one
which he had ordered and is not good for the application where the end user is looking
for. He could have requested to ensure that the life of the people who will be using the
product is not safe.
The other thing what Bob can do is to go ahead with the order placed by Stan which will
help White Lumber company to make some profit. There will be fewer chances that the
product might fail and the job will be done without coming to anyones notice. John
white makes it clear that the classroom ethics does not lose anything whereas in the real
world it does. In order to survive in the real world one should approach the situation
differently and independently.
4. What philosophical approach as described in Chapter 2 are you using for these
alternatives?

The first possibility will be to make sure that the end user knows every single bit about
product that it is not suitable for scaffold planks making. So in this he is showing his
honest side and being true to people about the workings of the company. Hence showing
interest in safeguarding the societal ethics which falls under utilitarian model.
The second possibility is to go ahead with the companys decision of selling available
material by making sure that it wont affect the companys image in the market. So this
shows his professional ethical approach by being practical highlighting the mature side of
himself and his working ways which is part of Justice Model.
In our opinion, the Bob should do the honorable things and resign his job. By doing so he
would safeguard his personal integrity and his ethical aspect would remain clean. This is
the best practice and right attitude to adapt by someone who wants to set a trend for
others to follow. Mentioning about todays business activities he may face a tough time in
the short run but in the long run he will survive. This is basically the individual ethics
which falls under the moral right model i.e., this decision best maintains and protects the
fundamental rights and privileges of the people affected by it.