SAFETY? WHAT SAFETY?KIRK’S FIRST YEAR
Kirk was a bright individual who was being groomed for the controller’s position in a mediumsized manufacturing firm. After Kirk’s first year as assistant controller, the officers of the firm started to include him in major company functions. One day, for instance, he was asked to attend the monthly financial statement summary at a prestigious consulting firm. During the meeting, Kirk was intrigued at how the financial data he had accumulated had been transformed by the consultant into revealing charts and graphs.
NEW MANUFACTURING PLANT
Kirk was generally optimistic about the session and the company’s future until the consultant started talking about the new manufacturing plant the company was adding to the current location and the per-unit costs of the chemically plated products it would produce. At that time, Bob, the president, and John, the chemical engineer, started talking about waste treatment and disposal problems. John mentioned that the current waste treatment facilities could not handle the waste products of the“ultramodern” new plant in a manner that would meet the industry’s fairly high standards, although the plant would still comply with federal standards.Cost Increases.Kirk’s boss, Henry, noted that the estimated per-unit costs would increase if the waste treatment facilities were upgraded according to recent industry standards. Industry standards were presently more stringent than federal regulations, and environmentalists were pressuring strongly for stricter regulations at the federal level. Bob mentioned that since their closest competitor did not have the waste treatment facilities that already existed at their firm, he was not in favor of any more expenditures in that area. Most managers at the meeting resoundingly agreed with Bob, and the business of the meeting proceeded to other topics.Kirk’s Dilemma.Kirk did not hear a word during the rest of the meeting. He kept wondering how the company could possibly have such a casual attitude toward the environment. Yet he did not know if, how, when, or with whom he should share his opinion. Soon, he started reflecting on whether this firm was the right one for him.
Questions for Discussion
1. Who are the stakeholders in this case, and what are their stakes?
2. What social responsibility does the firm have for the environment? How would you assess the firm’s CSR using the four-part CSR definition presented in Chapter 2?
3. Identify the different competing“standards” at issue in this case. Which standard seems most defensible for this company considering all factors?
4. How should Kirk reconcile his personal thinking with the thinking being presented by the firm’s management?
5. What should Kirk do? Why?
