The case study “Desperate Air” shows an example of the type of ethical dilemmas
managers have to face in the workplace. Most of the time, these ethical dilemmas, don’t
have an evident right or wrong answer. In this case study, George Nash, Desperate Air
Corporation’s Vice President of Real Estate, is faced with the dilemma of, whether or not
to disclose to the potential buyers of a land owned by DAC, the presence of potential
hazardous material in the land.
Mr. Nash’s situation is very similar to the one of the CEO in Jeffrey Seglin’s article, “How
to Make Tough Ethical Calls.” They both adhered to the law when reaching a decision and
made the choice that was best for the company and its employees, disregarding the lives of
human beings that may have potentially been at risk.
It is understandable that Mr. Nash decided not to disclose the presence of potential
hazardous material on the land. Doing so could have potentially delayed or cancelled the
sale, as a consequence the company would have possibly gone bankrupt, and its employees
would have been left without a job. However, Mr. Nash failed to care about the lives of all
the people that could have gotten hurt as a result of the sale. Mr. Nash should have
considered that his ethical responsibility is not only to the company and its employees; he
also has an ethical responsibility to the community in general.
In Mr. Nash’s position, I would have considered the “mirror test” mentioned in Seglin’s
article, “How to Make Tough Ethical Calls.” In this article Seglin (2003) mentions that
