MORTAL MINISTRY: SEEKING AFTER VIRTUE IN BUSINESS Bradley R. Agle, PhD George W. Romney Endowed Professor, Brigham Young University resented at the and Abundant Life Conference” sponsored by the Wheatley “Virtue Institution at BYU on Oct. 22, 2010 Imagine you run an aluminum extrusion business. You are operating 15 manufacturing locations globally. Eight locations have been shut down and are for sale, and four locations have already been sold to others. One location, in Texas, has not operated for over four years and is in the process of being sold. Although the closing has not yet occurred, the business and property are under a signed sales agreement. You get a call at 5:00 PM on a Tuesday evening from your Environmental Manager. She reports to you that trichloroethylene (TCE) has just been found in the groundwater at the Texas Plant. The sample was taken at the property boundary of the plant. Some things you quickly learn include the following: 1) there are 125 families who live in the town, 2) they all drink well water, 3) TCE is a known carcinogen, 4) there is no easy way to determine the source of the TCE, 5) your corporate lawyer advises that positive action (e.g. delivering water) would be viewed as an admission of liability, and advises against taking such action, and, 6) a decision to deliver water and install filters on 125 wells would cost about $1 million. would be your response?” “What
MORTAL MINISTRY: SEEKING AFTER VIRTUE IN BUSINESS Bradley R. Agle, PhD George W. Romney Endowed Professor, Brigham Young University resented at the “Virtue and Abundant Life Conference” sponsored by the Wheatley Institution at BYU on Oct. 22, 2010 Imagine you run an aluminum extrusion business. You are operating 15 manufacturing locations globally. Eight locations have been shut down and are for sale, and four locations have already been sold to others. One location, in Texas, has not operated for over four years and is in the process of being sold. Although the closing has not yet occurred, the business and property are under a signed sales agreement. You get a call at 5:00 PM on a Tuesday evening from your Environmental Manager. She reports to you that trichloroethylene (TCE) has just been found in the groundwater at the Texas Plant. The sample was taken at the property boundary of the plant. Some things you quickly learn include the following: 1) there are 125 families who live in the town, 2) they all drink well water, 3) TCE is a known carcinogen, 4) there is no easy way to determine the source of the TCE, 5) your corporate lawyer advises that positive action (e.g. delivering water) would be viewed as an admission of liability, and advises against taking such action, and, 6) a decision to deliver water and install filters on 125 wells would cost about $1 million. “What would be your response?”