

Boeing as a whole took a huge hit because of the choices made by them and ended up having to pay $1.1 billion in ethics settlements to the U.S. government. Government officials have also appointed two new task forces to investigate Druyun operations since 1992. Lastly, it hit the government because they had to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution's for the cost of the illegal government bids won by Boeing. The stakeholder in this case were Mike Sears, Darleen Druyun, anyone involved at Boeing and also within the sector of the government where these contracts were given to Boeing.
Ethical theory consist of five main parts, Kantianism, Individualism, Utilitarianism, Social Contract theory, and lastly virtue theory. Individualism is defined as the moral emphasis of the individual. It is an ego based ethical theory that has right based restraints. Basically it is the ability to pursue ones own interests but do not make choices for others that alter their interest in anyway. In this case it could be seen as quick business decision by Sears and Druyun that made them millions and in Druyun's case jobs and futures for family members. Long-term though on the other hand the public view was terribly diminished and it crushed the economical standpoint of the company. As far as this theory goes, Sears and Druyun followed it to a tee. They acted completely out of one's own interest instead of society as a whole. They saw their own worth as more important than the value of the entire company's worth and acted based upon that principle. Utilitarianism states that you must maximize happiness for yourself and others. This clearly was violated in this case because it was all for themselves and nothing good came out of this scandal for the company. Stakeholders on each side of the scandal's happiness was not maximized in anyway therefore this theory would have to disagree with the actions by Sears and Druyun presented in this case. The company suffered a major set back by the amount of money they had to pay back to it's contracts and government, but more importantly lost the name it ha worked so hard to achieve. Sears and Druyun made millions with the scandal so at the time it seemed that their happiness was considered to be at almost the highest level possible, but when both were sentenced to lengthy prison sentences and hefty fines that took a dramatic change for the worst. Kantianism consist of many principles but the main ones that apply to this case are to act rationally, respect people and their autonomy, and be motivated by good will. It also consist of the idea that good will only comes from doing an act out of duty instead of out of personal need and desire. A constant word used by Kant in his philosophies is universalise. All principles behind choosing an action must by universalise. In other words the formula for humanity is clearly derived as motivation for every action must be the good of humanity. Druyun and Sears clearly did not act ethically or follow any of the previous principles because they kept their deal going with each other which only benefited themselves. They completely shut out their company and only benefited themselves as a result of their actions. Kantianism clearly does not agree with the actions that took place in this scandal because their actions were not derived from the good of humanity. Virtue Theory has 4 main characteristics that are as follows; courage, honestly,Self control, Justice/Fairness. All of the previously stated problems with this scandal violate every single characteristic of the Virtue Theory. There was absolutely no honesty and self control during the scandal but when they were found out and exposed the other two kicked in played their role to the fullest. For courage, they both openly admitted to their mistakes and faced the consequences professionally, and for justice they "got what they had coming to them". They deserved the jail time and extensive fines that they received. The last ethical theory is Social Contract, which states that " the view that persons' moral or political obligations are dependent upon a contract or agreement among them to form the society in which they live". Druyun's actions were not socially benefiting, they were self-benefiting. This also goes along with Boeing Company itself. They worried about ways to maximize profits instead of reasonable profits for their top grade company.
In the end, on major hit was the biggest one of all. Their brand name took a huge smack by the public for what they did. Here was this incredibly huge company that absolutely crushed the competition and they hurt themselves by being conceited and completely self centered. This can be fixed by educating employees on ethical decisions, monitoring top employees, and carrying out punishment to the fullest extent so an environment is created where ethics are displayed correctly.
This analysis is based on an original research paper by James Ciejka and Keith Maynard.
References
Boeing Reaches Settlement with US Government Over Druyun Scandal. (n.d.). Daily defense news for military procurement managers, contractors, policy makers. Retrieved from http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/boeing-reaches-settlement-with-us-government-over-druyun-scandal-02263/
Ciejka, James. Maynard, Keith. "Boeing PH 211." Diss. Western New England University, 2012. Print.
Ciejka, James. Maynard, Keith. "Boeing PH 211." Diss. Western New England University, 2012. Print.
CorpWatch : Boeing Scandal Part of Deeper Problems at Pentagon. (n.d.). CorpWatch : Index. Retrieved from http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=11780
Guilty plea in Boeing hiring scandal - seattlepi.com. (n.d.). Seattle news, sports, events, entertainment | seattlepi.com - seattlepi.com. Retrieved from http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Guilty-plea-in-Boeing-hiring-scandal-1159626.php
The Seattle Times. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2002994954_boeing15.htmlEnter URL
No comments:
Post a Comment