OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:
PCA-Ethical Communities Worksheet
Worksheet Objectives:
1. Understand the four ethical communities
2. Apply an ethical community to your personal case situation
Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other
course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to update this and
format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.
1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.
I work for a medical device company that experienced a major safety notice recall that
escalated to total recall of a particular set of devices. This flaw in the design led to a
potential problem that could result in elevated blood sugar levels or, if not addressed, can
result in death. My role was data retrieval centric once we were made aware of a major
injury or death associated with the recall.
2) Describe how the ethics of the organization influenced the situation.
As the situation with the safety notice recall happened, the company took their time in
making sure what was happening was becoming a trending problem before wanting to cause
mass panic or economic loss. Little did they know the effects the delay would cause them and
other people who were personally affected by the situation. It quickly went from a situation of
letting people know there might be a problem, to yes, there is a problem and we need to get these
devices back to us ASAP.
On the back end of things, it was handled in a way that any company should aspire to. They
know the backlash they were going to have. They set up system to educate, confirm if a swap
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was needed, and if deemed necessary then they would without question for the life that device,
regardless of the warranty status of the it.
3) Recommend how you would apply one of the ethical community metaphors (see
Exhibit 20.1 in Bolman and Deal) for an alternative course of action regarding your
case.
I would apply the “extended family” (Bolman, 2021) metaphor for an alternative course
of action. They were more so focused on the “factory” (Bolman, 2021) metaphor and it
cost them greatly. The different between the two would have made a big difference in the
outcome and on their future endeavors, as they are still plagued with the gossip
surrounding it all.
For the extended family metaphor, I would have considered my patients as if they
were my own family. To care about their safety over the possible profits. I would have
taken more time in research and development vs rushing out a device just so they could
release ahead of their competition.
4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about ethics.
From an ethical standpoint, I would be sure to be consistent in my plan of action
and not delay just to save face or money. I would have not lost focus about the main
mission of the company about putting the patiences ahead of the stakeholders. I would
have been more consistent in my communication and made a point to keep the same
values across the board.
From an action perspective, I would have made it a safer environment for
reporting of noticed issues during the development states, to assure that results like this
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don’t happen. I would have allowed the delay of the release to make sure it wouldn’t
have harmed our customer base.
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Reference
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership
(7th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, Chapters 15,17-18,20
