dolution

Character: Jen Paul, Recently promoted Assistant Product Manager Jen Paul had planned on spending six months at home before returning to work after the birth of her first child. However, she and her husband had recently purchased a new home, and the high mortgage payments dictated an early return. Jen worked for Charles Furniture, a manufacturer of quality furniture. She had recently been promoted to Assistant Product Manager for upholstered furniture after serving as sales rep in the Eastern Region for three years. Upon returning to work, Jen discovered that the Purchasing Manager had recently started buying an inferior grade of padding for use in upholstered furniture. The padding would last about half as long as the regular padding, but the lower quality could not be detected by the buyer. When Jen revealed this information to her boss, she was told that the Purchasing Manager was following orders from top management. The company was having financial difficulties and had to cut costs. The change in padding quality was a quick and safe way to do so. Jan argued that selling inferior merchandise as quality product was no way to solve budget problems, but she got nowhere. Charles Furniture products projected an image of quality which Jan had stressed to her retailers when she was selling in the Eastern Region. She could envision that image eroding rapidly as consumers began to experience premature wear in their expensive furniture. Not only would Charles Furniture’s reputation be damaged, but the reputations of the retailers carrying Charles Furniture’s products would also likely suffer. Please answer the following questions

Explain the ethical issues in this case (2 marks)

Identify and explain the key stakeholders (2 marks)

Identify at least four alternatives for Jen to take (2 marks)

Pick only 2 of the alternatives you’ve listed under question 3 above and then evaluate the utilitarian and deontological models (3 Marks)

. What are the practical constraints (1 Mark)