Minnie Lee is an engineer with a multi-national aerospace company that produces
ID: 401097 • Letter: M
Question
Minnie Lee is an engineer with a multi-national aerospace company that produces fuel-line components for all types of air and space craft. Minnie discovered a potential defect in a particular fuel-line component. Minnie is the lead-engineer for this particular division and scheduled tests that would indicate the failure potential for the component. The tests indicated a very low risk that at certain very low, or very high temperatures, the component might fail, which in turn might lead to a catastrophic failure of the entire system. What are the risks associated with this situation? That is, describe the various risks and the affected stakeholders. What ethical responsibilities do Minnie and the Company have? For example, should the decision to repair the system be considered in terms of the potential liability risks of failure versus the costs of the repairs?Explanation / Answer
Things to look into would be a risk model that can determine potential losses if the problem goes unresolved. E[profit]=purchased profit value * quantity sold - P(system failure)*(estimate of payout). Large insurance undwriting issues for insurance companies that are backing the company. Also, marketing issues regarding failed sales due to unresolved problem. Compare costs for repairs vs. payout due to system. Publically traded investor confidence comes to mind, loss potential would cut cap size of the company dramatically if this information was public. Plus corporate responsibility to reveal the flaw. Ethical responsibilities to disclose information to the public without which the company would face negligence charges. Sorry, its very general. Hope it helps.