Part A There are two important questions that I would ask myself before deciding whether or not to blow the whistle. If I do blow the whistle, will I be able to live with the consequences of revealing the food safety problems that are present at Delectables Corp., knowing that it may hurt the company and the people that work there? On the other hand, if I don’t blow the whistle, will I be able to live knowing about the food safety concerns and not doing anything about them to save the face of the company and the jobs of its employees? As Hosmer’s personal virtues theory points out, we should never take any action that is not honest, and that you would not feel pride to see reported in national newspapers and on TV. In
No one seems to have any respect for the process that has been established. To overcome this challenge we need to have better lines of communication throughout the company. We need to make sure that people understand the process and understand the consequences if the process is not followed. It is a conflict of interest because you want to get as many products out the door as possible, while keeping your costs down. However, you have to consider first and foremost, the quality of those products. Delectables has a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of others, in this case, its consumers. You must never put your personal interests before that duty.
Part B I think it is very evident from this case that the government should play a huge role in assuring food safety in the food industry. Consumers have a right to expect that the food they buy is going to be safe to eat. The government has an obligation to make sure that safety standards are being met. In the Delectables case, we see how the employees abuse the processes that are in place to ensure food safety. This clearly shows that self-regulation cannot be trusted. There is a definite need for some type of government control to oversee food safety procedures. Similarly, due to the fall of Enron and other corrupt corporations, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was created so that there were set standards in place that corporations now have to follow to avoid these