Business Capstone Project: Ethical Decision Making in Aviation

This business capstone project presents a scenario where a newly hired mechanic reveals unethical "pencil maintenance" practices at a competitor airline, raising serious safety concerns. The assignment challenges the maintenance chief to determine the appropriate course of action, considering ethical responsibilities, potential consequences, and company regulations. The paper analyzes several options, including reporting the incident to authorities, contacting the competitor's president, or taking no action, and justifies the recommendation to report the incident to the authorities. The analysis emphasizes the importance of ethical decision-making, the potential risks associated with inaction, and the need to prioritize passenger and employee safety while navigating competitive pressures. The conclusion reinforces the chosen action as the most responsible and potentially beneficial for all stakeholders.

RUNNING HEAD: BUSINESS CAPSTONE PROJECT
BUSINESS CAPSTONE PROJECT
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Introduction
This paper aims to analyze the scenario. Based on the scenario analysis, suitable actions
will be recommended. The justification for recommending the action will be analyzed. It will be
useful to enhance the ability to analyze the critical scenario. The actions, which will be ethically
right, will be selected in this paper.
Scenario
A newly recruited mechanic, who was the former employee of competitor’s airline, said
that the previous airline did not follow the ethical business practice. According to the newly
recruited mechanic from the competitor organization, the competitive organization would face an
accident. Instead of repairing and upgrading, the mechanics of that organization were logging in
about the repairs. So it can be said that another regional airline, which is the competitor, follows
pencil maintenance. The regional competitor wrote several things about repair and maintenance.
However, in reality, they did not maintain appropriate up-gradation and repair. So it can be said
that the regional competitor is following an unethical business practice. Due to this unethical
practice, the life of other passenger, employees are in danger. As a maintenance chief what
should be done to manage this critical situation will be discussed in the next part of this paper.
Recommended action
Based on this scenario, it can be recommended that the maintenance chief should report
the incident to the authorities. It will be a safe option for the maintenance chief. By taking this
action, the maintenance chief can fulfil his responsibilities. After that, the authority can decide
the incident. To manage this situation what should be done must be decided by the authority.

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Justification for the recommended action
The justification for recommending this action will be discussed here. The maintenance chief
needs suggestion about the action. There are five actions among which the maintenance chief has
to select one action. He should report the incident to the authorities. To justify the
recommendation, evaluation of other alternative actions will be done.
In the second option, the maintenance chief can call the president of other airline and tell him
about the incident. By choosing this action the maintenance chief can be on a neutral side.
However, by taking this action the maintenance chief may violate the rules and regulation of the
business organization. It can disrupt his service life. The maintenance chief of this organization
has the responsibility to abide by the rules and regulations set by the company. The authority of
the organization can take strict action against the maintenance chief if he selects the second
action. On the other hand, the allegation is against the regional competitor of this company. So
choosing the second option will not be good for the maintenance chief.
The third option is the maintenance chief can drop a tip to the local investigative reporter at
the newspaper. It will not be a good decision for the maintenance chief. It may be true that the
mechanic is not telling the truth. It might be possible that the former mechanic of the regional
competitor is interested to defame the organization. As an employee, the maintenance chief
should follow the rules and regulation set by the authority.
The fourth option is the maintenance chief can report about the incidents to the official of the
Airline Association. Though it is uncertain that the official of the association will take any action
against the regional competitor yet it can be said that the conscience of the maintenance chief
will be clear. However, by taking this action the maintenance chief may face problem from the

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authority. It can be said that decision making is and significant part of the business organization.
Board of directors, senior executives and senior members decide for the company (Graham,
Harvey & Puri, 2015). Without reporting the incident to the higher authority of the company, if
the maintenance chief reports the incidents directly to the official staff of the Airline Association
then he might have to face problem from the company.
The fifth action refers that the maintenance chief may decide that the incident is none of his
business and instead of reporting the incident he can decide to do nothing. However, it can be
said that this decision is unethical (Hoffman, Frederick and Schwartz, 2014). Though it is not
proved that the former mechanic of the regional competitor’s airline is telling the truth yet it can
be said that if the incident is true then the life of several passengers and employees of that
organization are in danger. The maintenance chief of this organization should take the right
decision. It may save the lives of several passengers and employees of that organization. So
instead of ignoring the incident, the maintenance chief should report the incident to the authority.
Instead of doing nothing, the maintenance chief should report the incident to the authorities. The
authority might decide what should be done to manage the situation. As the regional competitor
of this company is creating intense competition in the market. Taking the right decision can be
beneficial for this company.
That is the reason, the maintenance chief should report about the incident to the authority and
let the authority to take the final decision. By doing this, he can fulfil his responsibilities.
Without violating the rules and regulation, set by the authority, the maintenance chief can do the
right thing. That is the reason this action is recommended for the maintenance chief.

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Conclusion
Thus, this paper can be concluded that the maintenance chief should choose the first
action. It will help that person not only to fulfil his responsibilities but also take the right
decision. This action may save the lives of several passenger and employees of the competitor’s
airline. By taking the right decision, this organization can take reduce the competition in the
market. It can be beneficial for this organization.

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References
Graham, J. R., Harvey, C. R., & Puri, M. (2015). Capital allocation and delegation of decision-
making authority within firms. Journal of financial economics, 115(3), 449-470.
Hoffman, W.M., Frederick, R.E. and Schwartz, M.S. eds., 2014. Business ethics: Readings and
cases in corporate morality. John Wiley & Sons.