Question

Write 3 paragraphs on the following paragraph by answering this question: How would you use the ethical criterion of Utilitarianism to evaluate Jane’s suggestion in “Fitzgerald Machine Company” that Don negotiate with the customer a storage fee for the order?

Article: The Fitzgerald Machine Company is a $25 million per year custom metal fabrication shop. It has a work force of 30 machinists and 15 office personnel Don Bradish was hired from Peptine Corporation three months ago as Fitzgerald's production scheduler. His background includes an undergraduate industrial engineering degree and three years of purchasing experience with Peptine immediately after college. This made him a good fit for Fitzgerald's needs. He was hired by Jane Fitzgerald, Vice President of Operations and daughter of the company president. Recently the company has been having difficulty meeting delivery schedule deadlines. Don was hired to improve the company's performance in on-time deliveries. So far, he has been learning the systems of the operations and studying possible solutions, but he has not yet determined the best course of action to recommend. On Friday, June 20, a $2,400,000 order, which had been in the shop for nearly two months, was scheduled for shipment. On the Wednesday before scheduled delivery, the customer called and asked that delivery be delayed due to a labor dispute and work stoppage at his location. Although he expected the strike to be settled within one week or less, he was concerned that delivery of the order from Fitzgerald during the strike might cause unnecessary misunderstandings in the labor dispute. Don discussed this request with Jane, and they agreed to accommodate the customer's request on the condition that the customer agree to being billed on the originally scheduled delivery date and to pay on the originally contracted payment terms. The customer accepted those terms. On Friday morning, June 20, the production manager reported to Don that the order would not be completed as scheduled and would probably require at least one more week to finish. Concerned about the impact of this delay on his job status, Don decided to investigate the cause of the delay before informing Jane of the problem. Before he could complete his inquiry, Jane called to inform him that she had just mailed the invoice for the order as agreed. She also suggested that Don negotiate with the customer a storage fee for the order, which would be paid in addition to the billing arrangement. Don wondered what he should say to Jane next.

Answer 1

“The act utilitarian states a person is morally right if the act produces at least as much goodwill and positivity as any other act a person can perform at that time.”

Don was hired by the organization Fitzgerald Machine Company to streamline production schedules. He is still trying to understand how the system operates and what recommendations to make. Meanwhile, a purchaser of a large order worth $ 2,400,000 requests delay by about 1 week as he facing some labor issues. Don discusses the matter with his boss Jane who agrees as long as the customer makes the payment on time and is ready to pay for the cost of storage. Meanwhile, Don is informed the production is delayed by a week. Jane meanwhile sends the invoice to the customer and asks Don to negotiate the storage costs.

Don faces the follows dilemmas should he tell the company about the delay and defer the payment. Should he charge a storage cost for the goods not yet ready? Should he tell Jane about the delay in production?

The stakeholders are Jane, the customer, the stockholders of Fitzgerald and Don. As per the utilitarian theory of ethics, Don needs to understand how the alternatives will benefit the stakeholders. How informing the customer will affect Jane, the stockholders, the customer. Will the benefits which accrue to Don and Fitzgerald offset the potential costs to the customers.

Don as per the utilitarian theory should inform Jane bout delay in production which is ethically correct and also it will benefit Fitzgerald in the long run because they have been transparent with the customer. Jane can inform the stockholders that the goods were delayed in production. The company should not ask the customer for storage charges, as the goods are not yet ready so there is no goods too store. It would be ethically incorrect to demand storage charges. This will generate maximum good and has the largest benefit to all as the customer gets benefitted by not having to pay storage fee and Fitzgerald benefits by being honest and creating a better understanding with the customer who will gain confidence in the Fitzgerald as an ethical supplier.