Slade Plating Department Case
The Slade Plating Department case details a department of a company where volume sales
are high, production is adequate (not necessarily efficient), and the managers are generally
pleased with the division. However, that description merely covers the surface. The issues
within the plating company are deeply rooted in ethics, which is not uncommon at all. To
make the case even more complicated, the supervisor of the division, Mr. Porter, knows of
these issues at hand.
First, it is easy to suggest that Mr. Porter simply do nothing about the current concerns –
specifically below-average workers and time-punching strategies between coworkers –
given that the division is a profitable one, and that “blowing the whole thing up” as Mr.
Porter hinted at could ultimately do more harm than good. But taking this route would not
be effective management by any means, and even more so, ethically sound management.
The primary issue at hand here is workers producing below expected levels. While
time-punching schemes and the deliberate stretching out of one’s work hours are of great
importance, that is a much more difficult issue to handle, and one that workers will
probably find a loophole to even if given a new system of recording their time worked
(nevertheless, suggestions will still be made on to improve that system). Now, in terms of
Herman’s work productivity, there are two ways this could be handled. Mr. Porter could
either place Herman in an aisle that requires little effort, either polishing or rack
assembly/repair, or he could place him in an aisle that required attention and skill. Since it
