Joseph Ellin's Commentary on "US Parts"
Author(s):
Joseph Ellin
I
One should always look first at the legal question. Clarke's
suppliers fail to provide certain American-made bolts and Clark
is tempted to violate its contract with its customer, USAWAY,
by substituting foreign bolts so that the order can be finished
on time. Is the supplier of the bolts liable under the contract
for failing to provide American-made parts? If so, any cost to
Clarke can be recovered, so Clarke is foolish not to inform
USAWAY that it can't meet its contract obligation with regard
to the bolts. Clarke would be in violation of its contract with
USAWAY, but the supplier will eventually have to pay the
costs.
But even if Clarke will have to pay a penalty which it can't
recover, it can not take the risk of concealing the violation
from USAWAY, for its hopes that USAWAY will not discover that
the bolts are foreign-made may prove groundless. Second, Clarke
has a responsibility to USAWAY. Presumably something is at
stake for USAWAY in wanting all-USA parts: patriotic image,
advertising selling point, or whatever. So it needs to know if
it's product isn't in fact all-American. It's not fair to
USAWAY and puts it in potential jeopardy not to tell it about
the foreign bolts. USAWAY can then make the decision whether to
use them, or wait until the American ones are available.
II
Under scenario 1, Clarke deceives USAWAY, which finds this
out. What does Clarke do next? Once Clarke's deception is
discovered, it's in trouble from which there is no graceful way
out. This should be a lesson to somebody! Clarke people better
consult with their lawyers to see what their liability is.
Ethically, they have little alternative but to confess to
USAWAY and try to explain and apologize.
III
Under scenario 2, John doesn't initiate the deception but is
told to do it. Presumably all John's good arguments against
deception fall on deaf ears at Clarke. So let John follow
orders. Clarke deserves whatever it gets when the deception is
discovered. (Maybe the deception won't be discovered, in which
case both Clarke and USAWAY got lucky). Should John inform
USAWAY? No, that's disloyal. Consumer safety and such things
don't seem to be involved in this, but rather client image.
This isn't important enough to justify ratting on your
employer.