Bringing in the First Woman
originally titled: Sunnyvale
I
Jim Grimaldi, projects manager in the Sunnyvale division of
Universal Corporation, has just learned that in two weeks the
headquarters in Los Angeles will be sending him a project
engineer, Joan Dreer. Her job will be to supervise small groups
of engineers involved in automotive brake design. The Los
Angeles headquarters is anxious to move women into all company
levels, and it has targeted Grimaldi's engineering division at
Sunnyvale as a good place for Joan Dreer.
Joan Dreer will be the first woman engineer at Sunnyvale. On
learning that their new supervisor will be a woman, several of
the engineers inform Jim Grimaldi that they don't like the idea
of a woman supervising their work.
What, if anything, should Jim Grimaldi do to prepare for
Joan Dreer's arrival?
II
Joan Dreer has been with the Sunnyvale division for several
months now. As project engineer she has been supervising the
work of several engineering groups involved in automotive brake
design. As a projects manager, Jim Grimaldi is Joan Dreer's
supervisor. The contracts Joan Dreer's groups have been working
on have tight deadlines and allow only extremely narrow margins
for error. So, the engineering groups have had to work at
maximum speed and under a great deal of pressure. Jim Grimaldi
has become increasingly concerned about the work of the groups
under Joan Dreer's supervision. He comments:
A couple of months ago I was sent a new engineer from our
plant in Los Angeles, Joan Dreer, and told to put her to work
right away as a project engineer. The company was making a push
to move women into all company levels but had apparently run
into a lot of problems with their engineers down in Los
Angeles. They had decided that our place would have the fewest
problems adjusting to women and they were pretty insistent that
we find a way to work things out. When I first took Joan around
our plant so she could get to know the men and the kind of work
we do, several of the engineers took me aside and let me know
in no uncertain terms that they didn't want a woman to
supervise their work. To make matters worse, Joan came on as a
pushy and somewhat aggressive feminist. When one of the young
engineers asked her if she was a "Miss" or a "Mrs.", she
retorted that her private life was her own affair and that he
should get used to calling her "Ms."
Jim has not found any of the groups under Joan's supervision
outrightly refusing to work. But they do seem to have been
dragging their feet in small ways so that sometimes they miss
their deadlines. The other groups have also been showing some
reluctance to cooperate with the groups under Joan Dreer's
supervision. So, Jim has become increasingly concerned about
the impact Joan Dreer's presence seems to be having on his
ability to meet deadlines, and he is concerned about how this
might affect his own career. He is also worried about the
safety factor involved in the brake design. He concludes:
I agree that it's important to move women into supervisory
positions in the company, but I don't know whether we can
really afford to do it just yet. Women aren't really suited for
this kind of work. I don't want to fire any of my engineers.
That would be unfair since they have worked hard in the past
under a lot of pressure. What should I do?
What do you think Jim Grimaldi should do? Explain. What are
the ethical issues involved, and how should they be
approached?
[Parts I and II of this case study are from Manuel
Velasquez, Business Ethics, lst ed. (Englewood
Cliff, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1981, p. 6.]
III
Parts I and II provide little information about Joan Dreer
and how she happened to come to the Sunnyvale division.
Consider the following possible background information.
Joan Dreer was excited about her transfer to Sunnyvale. But
she was also apprehensive. Although she had received very high
marks for her work at the Los Angeles headquarters of Universal
Corporation, she just gone through an unpleasant experience.
Her immediate supervisor made it very clear that, in return for
her recent promotion in Universal at Los Angeles, he expected
sexual favors. When she resisted, he became verbally abusive
and tried his best to make life miserable for her at Universal.
His derisive remarks about women engineers did not go unnoticed
by others--several of whom found them quite amusing.
Fortunately, her complaints to the corporate ombudsman were
taken seriously. Disciplinary action was taken against Joan
Dreer's supervisor. Joan Dreer also requested to be transfered
to a Universal division that might be expected to be more
receptive to women engineers. So, she hoped that the Sunnyvale
division would give her a fresh start.
Unfortunately, Joan Dreer's first day at the Sunnyvale
Division proved to be quite a challenge. She took a small group
of engineers by surprise as when she entered the Sunnyvale
lounge. A young engineer with his back to the door was
commenting that he didn't like the idea of being told how to do
his work by a woman, but that he would figure out how to handle
the situation once he found out whether she was a 'Miss' or a
'Mrs'. Another added, "Right, Johnson, what are you going to
say to her, "Should we call you 'Miss Honey' or 'Mrs.
Honey'?"
The laughter ended abruptly when Joan Dreer's entrance was
noticed. Realizing that she was facing her first challenge, she
tersely announced, "Mr. Johnson, my private life is my own
affair. You'd better get used to calling me 'Ms'."
How, if at all, does this background information change your
understanding of situation described in Part II? What do you
now think are the major ethical concerns? How would you suggest
they be approached?