Business Ethics Now 3rd Edition by Andrew Ghillyer

Exercise 54

The sole remaining supplier.
Divide into two groups, and prepare arguments for and against the following behavior: Back in the mid-1970s heart pacemakers ran on transistors before advances in technology replaced them withthe silicon computer chips we are all familiar withtoday. Your company has found itself in a situation where it is the last remaining supplier of a particular transistor for the current models of heart pacemakers on the market. Your competitors have all chosen to get out of the business, claiming that the risks of lawsuits related to malfunctioning pacemakers was simply too great to make the business worthwhile. Your management team has now arrived at the same conclusion. The chief executive officer defends the decision by arguing that as a business-to-business supplier to other manufacturers, you have no say in how the transistors are used, so why should the fact that they are used in life-saving equipment factor into the decision Your responsibility is to your shareholders, not to the patients who depend on these pacemakers. You are not responsible for all the other manufacturers getting out of the business.