Ethics case study assignment: Sam Colt

Sam Colt is a sales representative for Midwest Hardware that manufactures nuts and bolts. He hopes to obtain a large order from a construction company that is building a bridge across the Missouri river near St Louis.

The bolts manufactured by Midwest Hardware have a 3% defect rate, which, although acceptable in the industry, makes them unsuitable for certain types of project, such as those likely to be subject to sudden, severe stress. The new bridge will be located near the New Madrid fault line, the source of the USA’s greatest earthquake in 1811. The epicentre of the earthquake, which caused extensive damage and altered the flow of the Missouri, is less than 200 hundred miles from the site of the new bridge.

Experts believe that there is a 50% chance that an earthquake with a magnitude greater than 7 on the Richter scale will occur on the New Madrid fault line by 2017. Bridge construction in the area is not regulated by earthquake codes. However, if Colt wins the sale he will earn a commission of $25,000 on top of his salary. However, if he tells the contractor about the defect rate, he may lose the sale to a competitor with a better defect rate. Thus Colt’s ethical problem is whether he should point out the dangers to the contractor i.e. that in an earthquake the bolts may fail perhaps leading to the collapse of the bridge and the death of anyone crossing it at the time.

• What are the options for Sam Colt?
• What are the consequences for all parties?
• Can you relate your answers to any theory about ethical reasoning?

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