Q: First, describe the ethical dilemma that Amy is facing. Discuss the pros and cons of each option, using appropriate ethical theories to support your position. What should she do now? Second, based on your recommendation, comment on how this decision will shape the leadership profile that Amy seeks to establish. Third, comment on what this case highlights about the broader moral issues that arise when businesses expand their global reach, particularly in developing nations.

Amy Johnson graduated two years ago from the business program at a well-known local university. Immediately after her graduation, the Seinfeld Textile Corporation (STC) in Truro hired her as a junior manager in the production department. Her boss is the Vice-President for Production, Tom Harris. She is mostly happy in her new job, but feels that her pay should be higher. She and her partner have recently become engaged to be married, and they would like to be able to buy a house. Amy would like to do a good job helping STC become more profitable, and she would like very much to get a good year-end bonus and a promotion as soon as possible. Amy is from Truro, Nova Scotia and knows many of the people who work at STC. She has made friends at the company, both with some of the managers and with some of the workers. She does find the other managers to be rather competitive, particularly the older and more senior ones. She worries about the demands of her work, about the sort of person she must become to compete in the company, and the effect of her time commitment to the company on her relationship. The shareholders of STC are dissatisfied with the company's returns. The Board of Directors has told the CEO that profits must improve. The CEO, in turn, told Tom Harris to cut costs, but did not say how. Tom has convened a cost-cutting committee to make a recommendation. Amy has thought about this problem and is wondering to herself, "Should I propose to the cost-cutting committee that our firm outsource the production of our most popular clothing item to an offshore contractor operating in a lower wage environment?" From her research, Amy has identified a particular operator in Bangladesh, the Chittagong Clothing Company (CCC), which can do this sort of work well and cheaply. Amy also knows that this company has had complaints against it for how it treats its workers, who are mostly young women. She knows that it pays its garment workers reasonably well by Bangladesh standards, but realizes that these wages are far less than they are in Truro. She has also found indications that CCC is rather lax about the safety standards in its factories. CCC's factories are often shoddily constructed, and its supervisors often pressure its employees to work faster than is safe. However, Bangladesh sorely needs the new jobs that this contract will bring. Amy realizes that if the company implements her proposal, and the strategy works, then she will receive a handsome year-end bonus and possibly a promotion. She believes that this might help establish her leadership profile within the organization. Amy also understands that if her firm implements her proposal, then it will fire many of its present employees as there are no other jobs within STC for which they could be retrained. Her proposal will simply take jobs from members of the local community and give the jobs to people overseas. As well, moving production offshore will mean that STC will not renew contracts with its present suppliers. As Amy considers this proposal, she knows that STC would not be violating any laws and would not be doing anything that many of her competitors have not already decided to do, and as a result may help make her own company more competitive.