Assume you are the owner of a small apparel manufacturer with approximately fifty employees. Yourbusiness is located in a blighted area of town where the jobs you provide are important, but theinsurance costs of doing business there are significant, too. Recently, fire and theft coverage hasescalated in cost, but it is essential to protect your premises and inventory, and local ordinances requirethat you purchase it. You have customarily provided health coverage for your employees and theirfamilies, which many of them would not be able to afford if they had to bear the cost themselves. Youwould like to continue providing this coverage—though, due to your small employee base, you are notlegally obligated to do so—but these costs have risen too. Finally, you would prefer to stay in thislocation, because you feel an obligation to your workers, most of whom live nearby, and because you feelwelcomed by the community itself, which includes some longtime customers. Still, you may be forced tochoose between paying for your employee health care costs and moving to a different area of townwhere fire and theft coverage would not cost as much.

How will you make the decision within an ethical framework?
What will you, your business, and your employees gain and lose based on what you decide? What, if anything, do you and your business owe the community of which you have been a part for so long?