Evelyn Case Study

Evelyn worked for an automotive steel casting company. She was part of a small group asked to investigate the cause of an operating problem that had developed in the wheel castings of a new luxury automobile and to make recommendations for its improvement. The problem did not directly create an unsafe condition, but it did lead to irritating sounds.

The Vice President of Engineering told the group that he was certain that the problem was due to tensile stress in the castings. Evelyn and a lab technician conducted tests and found conclusive evidence that the problem was not tensile stress. As Evelyn began work on other possible explanations of the problem, she was told that the problem had been solved.

A report prepared by Evelyn’s boss strongly supported the tensile stress hypothesis. All of the data points from Evelyn’s experiments have been changed to fit the curves and some of the points which were far from where the theory would predict have been omitted. The report “proved” that tensile stress was responsible for the problem.

First, please do the following:

1. Identify the core ethical issues involved in the dilemma

2. Discuss possible consequences for all of the stakeholders involved

3. Discuss how your own personal biases might influence how you are interpreting the case or might interpret a similar case in the real world

Now that you have considered all of these issues, please answer the core question:

Should Evelyn contradict her boss’s report? (Yes or No). Why Yes, or Why Not?

In addition to answering the question, reply at least to one of your group members.