ENGR9742 - Gilbane Gold Case: Ethics in Engineering Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the Gilbane Gold case study, focusing on the ethical implications of improper waste management by Z CORP, a computer component manufacturer. The case highlights the discharge of heavy metals, arsenic and lead, into the city's sewer system, exceeding allowable levels and endangering the soil quality for local farmers. The primary ethical issue revolves around whistleblowing, as an employee, David Jackson, contemplates exposing the company's misconduct. Secondary issues include the environmental responsibilities of engineers and the management's honesty with the community. The report explores the factors leading to whistleblowing, its potential effects on the organization, and offers recommendations for addressing similar ethical dilemmas. Desklib provides access to similar case studies and solved assignments for students.

Running head: GILBANE GOLD CASE
GILBANE GOLD CASE
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1GILBANE GOLD CASE
Executive summary
This report aims to discuss the case study of Gilbane gold case. Gilbane gold is the product
manufactured from the processed sewage of the city of Gilbane. The city generated a sizeable
growth from this fertiliser project. The city established numerous limits on the amount of
discharge of heavy metals in the sewers to protect the soil of farmers. The primarily raised
ethical issue concerns regarding this case was whistleblowing. The secondary issues of
ethical of ethical misconduct raised are responsibilities of the engineers with reference to
issues related to environment. The management issues were related to trust and honesty
between the business organisation and its community.

2GILBANE GOLD CASE
Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................3
Discussion......................................................................................................................3
Key issue....................................................................................................................3
Factors leading to the ethical issue of whistleblowing...............................................4
Effects of whistleblowing on an organisation............................................................5
Conclusion......................................................................................................................7
References......................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
This report provides a detailed study of the Gilbane Gold case study. A current situation
analysis of the case study is provided. The key issues related to the case study is stated in this
report. An alternative of the problem mentioned in the case study is stated. Lastly, a suitable
recommendation is provided along with an appropriate conclusion is drawn from this report.
The ethical issue concerning this case study is the violation of standard laws that were
implemented in the city for monitoring proper waste management. Gilbane Gold is the dried
slush from the treatment plant for the wastewater of Gilbane. A manufacturer of computer
components, ZCORP, discharged wastewater comprising of arsenic and lead in the sewer
system of the city. The discharge generally meets the heavy metal allowable levels of the
city standards. However, it was discovered by the analysts of Z CORP that the discharge
level exceeded the allowance level of heavy metal discharge of the city standards. Additional
investment is required for the acceptance of innovative tests. An employee of the
organisation, David Jackson wished to go public with his views on the case.
Discussion
Key issue
The issue related to this case study is the issue of improper waste management and the
violation of the sewage standards of the Gilbane city, by the manufacturer of computer
components, Z CORP. Arsenic and lead components were discharged from the company
from the company, which affected the soil of the farmers. The soil of the farmers were getting
depleted and there were some issues with the scarcity of production. Prolonged waste
dumping on the soil of the city resulted in depletion in soil quality and the farmers were
affected due to decrease in production. There were some violations in the city standards of
waste management implemented to protect the soil quality of the city and protect the people.

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Restrictions on heavy metal discharge were implemented to ensure proper utilisation of the
sewage generated by the organisation. The city laws allow the disposal of lead to be in a
diluted form in the soils of the farmers. The costly and valuable land of the farmers were
depleted due to the toxic waste disposal above the standard levels set by the city laws. The
landfills generated the wastes of the company polluted the groundwater and the incinerators
caused air pollution. An employee of the Z CORP organisation decided to blow the whistle
on the case of violation of standard laws. Another issue related to the improper waste
management is that, it lead to severe water pollution in the city. The toxic heavy metals
shifted to water sources in the city, which led to scarcity of good water and the water required
for proper farming was reduced.
Factors leading to the ethical issue of whistleblowing
The ethical effects of whistleblowing can be negative as well as positive. The positive
effect of whistleblowing is that the unethical situations can be rectified and unethical
activities can be prevented in the future (Slade and Prinsloo 2013). The negative effect on the
organisation and the employee can be popularity decrease in the name of organisation or the
employee can face severe repercussions from the organisation and the fellow employees
(Miller and Blackler 2017). Whistleblowing is connected with ethics as it represents the
understanding of an individual at a profound level where some actions taken by the
organisation of the individual is interfering with the well-being of the society (Harris Jr et al.
2013).
The conscious act of an employee of an organisation where high degree of risk and
ethical conduct is involved is known as whistleblowing (Miceli, M.P., Near, J.P. and
Dworkin, T.2013). Whistleblowing is referred as the ethical condition in which an employee
of an organisation gains knowledge of some type of crime and decides to inform the proper
authorities about the situation (Brown et al. 2014). David Jackson became aware of an

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unethical condition executed by Z CORP, which involved dumping of heavy metals above
regulated level fixed by the city of Gilbane. David Jackson is motivated by the purpose of
Protection Drive. This drive is focussed towards the organisation. Whistleblowing can be
categorised in two categories Internal and External whistleblowing (Liu, Liao and Wei 2015).
Internal whistleblowing is the kind of whistleblowing where an employee informs on any
unethical behaviour to the higher authorities within the organisation. Employees generally
report various situations that are caused in an organisation (Taylor and Curtis 2013). Some
individuals report for the motive of promotion or recognition and some report for the intent of
prizes or any kind of material gain. Sometimes whistleblowing leads to strengthening of the
position of the individual within the organisation (Henik 2015). Conflict circumstances and
lack in communication among the employees are some of the factors that lead to the unethical
situation of whistleblowing. In external whistleblowing, any individual informs on any
unethical situation to the authorities outside the organisation (SURYANTO 2017). In this
case, David Jackson is planning to blow the whistle on the organisation to the government
authorities. In this case, study, the employee intends to inform on the authorities to protect the
citizen of the city of Gilbane from the exposure of heavy metals dumped in the soil of the
farmers. This dumping will lead to the depletion of the quality of soil and the dumping of
heavy metal can affect the water sources of the city and cause sickness or worse. The
individual believes that the interest of the community can be saved and the wellbeing of the
society can be ensured. For example, Edward Snowden, became a whistle-blower to protect
the common people from the unethical crimes done by the government (Di Salvo and Negro
2016). A transparent and accountable structure of an organisation is important for the survival
of the organisation (Vandekerckhove 2016).

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Effects of whistleblowing on an organisation
Whistleblowing has several effects on the organisation as well as the individual within
that organisation. The effects of whistleblowing are as follows:
Challenges trust: Trust breakdown is the main effect of whistle-blowing in an
organisation. Internal communication is mostly preferred by any organisation to
report any activities that in causing any discomfort to the employees. The company
gains an opportunity to rectify the mistakes and prevent any future repetitions. The
trust among the employees can be maintained with this kind of informing but when
the matter is disclosed to any outside individual then the chance to rectify is not
achieved (Bjørkelo 2013). David Jackson, in the case study intends to disclose the
wrongdoings of the organisation to government authorities to safeguard to interests of
the citizens of the city of Gilbane.
Retaliation: A situation of hostility and hatred towards the individual that has done
whistleblowing can rise from within the organisation. The culture of retribution can
create a hostile workplace for the individual who has done whistle-blowing and it can
distract the employees from their respective tasks (Trongmateerut and Sweeney
2013).
Breakdown of chain of command: When the superiors of an organisation do not
pays attention to the grievances of an employee, then the individuals tend to contact
some outside authorities to discuss the troubles. The individuals fear the repercussions
from the employees or the superiors of the organisation and so they take outside help
to inform any unethical activities occurring in the organisation (Gao, Greenberg and
Wong-On-Wing 2015). The dilemma that David Jackson is facing is that whether he
should contact outside individuals or inform the higher authorities within the

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organisation. If he does not get any help from the superiors from the organisation,
then he has to contact the government authorities. If some help is gained from the
organisation and they look into the matter and solve it then there is no need to break
the trust of the organisation.
Organisational repercussions: Organisation can get affected by market or legal
consequences due to whistle-blowing.
A previous case of Snowden whistle-blower that is related to whistle-blowing can be
considered. In this case, the whistle-blower Edward Snowden provided some evidence
regarding the surveillance done by government authorities on the people. This led to
the invasion of privacy of the common people. Several documents were released to
the proper authorities to take action on the criminal activities conducted by the
governments. The documents protected the identity of the employees of several
organisation but it brought proof of the wrongdoings that were being done. The effect
of the release of the documents was that the government banned the use of
surveillance methods on the common people and the privacy of common people is
now secured. The effect of this whistleblowing on Snowden was that he was declared
a terrorist and he had to flee the country to survive (Scheuerman 2014). In the above
case study, David Jackson needs to consider all the options that are available to him
and protect his interest first so that there is no repercussions of this act on him.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that the company of computer components
manufacturer, Z CORP, is involved in the unethical situation of dumping heavy metals in the
sewage produced by the sewage treatment plant that is used by the farmers in their farms. The
dumping of heavy metals will lead in the depletion of the quality of soil and effect the

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production from these farms. The key ethical issue related to this case study is the case of
whistleblowing by an employee of the organisation, David Jackson. As the company has got
a contract of twice the amount of production they normally execute, the threat of disposal of
heavy metal into the sewage generated from the sewage treatment plant has significantly
increased. He is facing a dilemma of whether to inform about the unethical practices by the
organisation or to simply keep quiet. Whistleblowing has several effects on the individual as
well as the organisation. Some of the reasons for the act of whistleblowing is to protect the
interests of the people and the interests of the organisation. Some of the reasons why an
individual performs whistleblowing is due to the lack of communication between the
employees and higher authorities of the organisation.

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References
Bjørkelo, B., 2013. Workplace bullying after whistleblowing: Future research and
implications. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 28(3), pp.306-323.
Brown, A.J., Lewis, D., Moberly, R. and Vandekerckhove, W. eds., 2014. International
handbook on whistleblowing research. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Di Salvo, P. and Negro, G., 2016. Framing Edward snowden: A comparative analysis of four
newspapers in China, United Kingdom and United States. Journalism, 17(7), pp.805-
822.
Gao, J., Greenberg, R. and Wong-On-Wing, B., 2015. Whistleblowing intentions of lower-
level employees: The effect of reporting channel, bystanders, and wrongdoer power
status. Journal of Business Ethics, 126(1), pp.85-99.
Harris Jr, C.E., Pritchard, M.S., Rabins, M.J., James, R. and Englehardt, E.,
2013. Engineering ethics: Concepts and cases. Cengage Learning.
Henik, E., 2015. Understanding whistle-blowing: a set-theoretic approach. Journal of
Business Research, 68(2), pp.442-450.
Liu, S.M., Liao, J.Q. and Wei, H., 2015. Authentic leadership and whistleblowing: Mediating
roles of psychological safety and personal identification. Journal of Business
Ethics, 131(1), pp.107-119.
Miceli, M.P., Near, J.P. and Dworkin, T.M., 2013. Whistle-blowing in organizations.
Psychology Press.
Miller, S. and Blackler, J., 2017. Ethical issues in policing. Routledge.

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Scheuerman, W.E., 2014. Whistleblowing as civil disobedience: The case of Edward
Snowden. Philosophy & Social Criticism, 40(7), pp.609-628.
Slade, S. and Prinsloo, P., 2013. Learning analytics: Ethical issues and dilemmas. American
Behavioral Scientist, 57(10), pp.1510-1529.
SURYANTO, T., 2017. Cultural Ethics and Consequences in Whistle-Blowing among
Professional Accountants: An Empirical Analysis. Editorial Board.
Taylor, E.Z. and Curtis, M.B., 2013. Whistleblowing in audit firms: Organizational response
and power distance. Behavioral Research in Accounting, 25(2), pp.21-43.
Trongmateerut, P. and Sweeney, J.T., 2013. The influence of subjective norms on whistle-
blowing: A cross-cultural investigation. Journal of business ethics, 112(3), pp.437-
451.
Vandekerckhove, W., 2016. Whistleblowing and organizational social responsibility: A
global assessment. Routledge.