R eview “Ethics in Action: The Human Cost of Improving Productivity.” After the implementing of many operations management techniques, layoffs occur in many companies, and, frequently, employees must perform more tasks more quickly, which can generate employee stress and other work-related problems.

Questions 1 Either by yourself or in a group, discuss how to think through the ethical implications of using a new operations management technique to improve organizational performance.

2 What criteria would you use to decide what kind of technique is ethical to adopt and how far to push employees to raise the level of their performance?

3 How big a layoff, if any, would be acceptable? If layoffs are acceptable, what could be done to reduce their harm to employees?

AppendixLO1