Question of Delegating Responsibilities
originally titled: A
Vacation
I
Dan Dorset had been looking forward to this trip for weeks.
Once he was assigned to help Rancott install its equipment for
Boulding, Inc., he arranged his vacation at a nearby ski
resort. The installation would be completed on the 12th, and
his vacation would begin on the 13th--a full week of skiing
with three of his old college buddies.
Unfortunately, not all of Rancott's equipment arrived on
time. Eight of the ten identical units were installed by
mid-morning on the 12th. Even if the remaining two units had
arrived that morning, it would have taken another full day to
install them. However, Dan was informed that it might take as
long as two more days for the units to arrive.
"Terrific," Dan sighed, "there goes my vacation--and all the
money I put down for the condo."
"No problem," replied Boulding engineer, Jerry Taft. Jerry
had worked side-by-side with Dan as each of the first eight
units was installed. "I can handle this for you. We did the
first eight together. It's silly for you to have to hang around
and blow your vacation." Jerry knew why Rancott had sent Dan to
supervise the installation of his firm's new equipment.
Rancott's equipment had to be properly installed in order to
avoid risking serious injuries to those who use the equipment.
For years Rancott trusted its clients to follow the carefully
stated directions for installation. But several recent
accidents were directly traceable to failure to follow proper
installation procedures. It was now Rancott's policy to send
one of its engineers to supervise all installations. Dan was
confident that Jerry was as fully capable as he to supervise
the installation of the remaining two units. What should Dan
do?
- Decline Jerry's offer and stay until the job is
complete.
- Call Rancott's home office and ask if it is alright to
let Jerry take care of the last two units.
- Accept Jerry's offer, and leave for his vacation.
- Other.
II
[Following I. 1.]
Tempting as it is to leave early, Dan decides to stay until
the job is completed. He loses all but the last two days of his
vacation, but he feels he has done the right thing. Some time
later Dan and his unit's chief of engineering, Ed Addison, are
having a drink after work. Eventually the conversation turns to
Dan's vacation.
Dan: What would you have done if you found out I left before
all the units were installed?
Ed: Honestly? Probably nothing. It sounds like Jerry Taft
had everything under control.
Dan: So if I had called, you would have told me it was okay
to leave before the job was completed?
Ed: I didn't say that. I don't think it would be wise for me
to officially approve something like that. Then it would be my
neck, too, if anything went wrong.
Dan: Meaning it would have been on my neck if anything had
gone wrong?
Ed: Sure. My only point is that I probably wouldn't have
done anything about your leaving early--unless something went
wrong. That's a chance you would have been taking. But it
sounds like it wouldn't have been a very big risk.
Dan: Would you have taken it?
Ed: That depends on how badly I wanted to ski. Actually, I
never have cared for skiing--it's too risky.
What do you think of Ed's position on this matter? If Dan
had known Ed's position when he was at Boulding, would it have
been all right for Dan to leave early?
III
[Following I. 2.]
When Dan calls his home office, he talks with his chief
engineer, Ed Addison. Ed tells him that he is very sorry, but
he cannot officially approve Dan's leaving before the job is
completed.
Dan: So you can't officially approve. What happens if I
leave early anyway?
Ed: You'd better not tell me about it. I gave you your
assignment. The rest is up to you.
Dan: But what if you never found out?
Ed: Look, I don't like hypotheticals. The bottom line is
satisfied customers and keeping Rancott out of trouble. So, I
sent you to Boulding to make sure the installations are done
correctly. I've done my part. The rest is your job.
Dan: Are you telling me not to leave before all the units
are installed?
Ed: I'm telling you to make sure the units are installed
properly.
Dan has no doubt that Jerry is now quite capable of handling
the remaining two installations. In fact, he believes that
Rancott has been engaged in "overkill" by having Rancott
engineers oversee all installations. All anyone has to do is
follow the very clearly stated instructions--a task that is
easily manageable by engineers like Jerry. Furthermore, Rancott
is not required by law or contract to supervise installations.
Given this, and given what Ed has said, would it be all right
for Dan to leave for his vacation?
- Yes, as long as he is quite certain that Jerry will do
the job right.
- No, he does not have official approval by Rancott.
- Other. Explain your choice.
IV
[Following I. 3.]
Dan decides to leave for his vacation. However, he tells
Jerry that he will stop at Boulding on the way back for a final
check. Although he won't be able to check all points of the
installation (since this would require some dismantling of the
units), he can give the units a general check-over. "When I
return," Dan says, "we can sign the papers, and everything will
be set." "Sign the papers?" Jerry asks. "Yes," Dan replies,
"the papers verifying that I've supervised the installations."
Does Dan's signing of the papers raise any ethical questions?
How about Jerry's signing them?
V
Suppose the reason Dan wants to leave before the
installations is that he will be late for his next assignment
if he does not leave early. A late start on the next assignment
will result in failure to meet the contractual deadline of a
major customer who is very insistent on having the work
completed on time. If Dan's phone conversation with Ed is
essentially the same as in III above, should Dan leave
early?
- Yes, Dan should leave early.
- No, Dan should not leave early without Ed's official
approval.
- Other. Explain your choice.
VI
Although the probability of things going wrong if Dan leaves
early is quite low, the improbable can happen. If he does leave
early and something does go wrong, what evaluation of Dan's
decision should be made? If nothing ever goes wrong, would you
make a different evaluation? [That is, does the appropriateness
or inappropriateness of Dan's decision depend on the actual
outcome of his decision or the possible outcomes of his
decision?]