Webber, Inc., recently developed a new glass casserole dish. Webber promotes the dish as being not only highly attractive but also able to withstand intense oven heat for extended periods. In advertising the new product, marketing personnel have stressed the reason that its price is higher than competitors’ is because it is more durable and easier to clean.

Inspection occurs at different stages of the manufacturing operation. Webber can rework dishes rejected during testing at the firing stage if the cracks are not large and only appear in the top surface. Webber then sells these dishes as first-quality products.

Mary Brown, the cost accountant, has become close friends with Jane Stone, one of the marketing managers. Recently, Stone mentioned that they were spending much time answering customer complaints concerning excessive breakage of these casserole dishes.

That prompted Brown to ask the quality control engineer to check into the matter. After many tests, the engineer ascertained that reworking does not bring the product up to standard.

In fact, test results reveal that 1 in 12 of the reworked dishes will break within three years’ usage.

At Brown’s request, the engineer investigated other types of reworking techniques but found that their costs outweighed any benefit. Further, after using the current reworking procedure, there is no test to determine which dish is likely to be the one that breaks.

Brown has followed the long-standing policy of highlighting to the board of directors any cost data that has potential adverse effects. Thus, she believes it is her responsibility to include the rework problem in a report she prepared for the next monthly board meeting.

However, when the plant supervisor and other production personnel previewed the report, they immediately called Brown’s supervisor, the controller, and demanded that the information given to the board not mention the rework problem. Instead, they convinced the controller to mention the problem only briefly in the oral presentation rather than highlight it in a written report. They rationalize that consumers expect all glass cooking utensils to break eventually anyway. Brown felt strongly that the data are important and believed the quality engineer would agree with her. However, his only remark was “Well, Mary, you just have to go with the flow and hide the problem.”

Required:

a. What ethical considerations do the following individuals have in this matter?
(1) Mary Brown, cost accountant.
(2) Quality control engineer.
(3) Controller.
(4) Plant supervisor.

b. Explain what Mary Brown should do in this situation.