...The McWane Way Case Analysis Preeti Thakkar & Leisa Allen Southern CT State University Author Note This Paper was prepared for MGT 450, Section 04, taught by Dr. Nodoushani Abstract According to Fortune 500, McWane Inc. is one of America’s largest privately owned companies that specialize in manufacturing of iron waterworks and plumbing products. While they may have achieved fame for the above-mentioned reasons, their infamy stems from their flagrant disregard for employee safety and the environment. One of the main factors contributing to this type of behavior is corporate culture. While McWane is clearly focused on productivity and the bottom line, there are other similar companies that focus far more on employee safety and well-being, such as American Cast Iron Pipe Co. (ACIPCO), located in Birmingham, Alabama. Although the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have the authority to conduct inspections and impose fines and penalties, said punishments are not nearly severe enough to dissuade unscrupulous employers from breaking the law. The McWane Way McWane’s “disciplined management practices” have repeatedly overworked and overextended their employees, thereby placing them in harm’s way on a daily basis. McWane Inc. owns 25 foundries and has over 6,000 employees nationwide. During a seven-year period between 1993-2000, McWane’s plants reported 9 deaths and 4,600 injuries. (Bergman , Rummel & MacIntyre...
Words: 2228 - Pages: 9
...The basis for the corruption by McWane executives was motivated by the same greed that led to the great fire. Since 1995, McWane has been cited for more than 400 safety violations which is 4 times more than its 6 major competitors combined. The goal of the McWane higher ups was to produce quantity over quality. They wanted to employ less people and make more products. This impractical philosophy is eerily similar to the mindset of the Triangle Shirtwaist owners. Neither company was willing to invest the proper time, money and management into their workers. As a result, damage occurred. The fire in 1911 was responsible for 146 deaths and many other nonlethal injuries. McWane cannot claim to have as many killed on the job, but they do boast an estimated 4,600 employees that were injured while working. In the PBS article on McWane it is said that scars, disfigurations and amputations are prevalent among the factory workers. In addition, working conditions are detailed as deplorable by former employees. They have been compared to the likes of a coal mine, if not...
Words: 863 - Pages: 4
...length of your critical viewing form responses should be approximately one-half to one page, single spaced. This form will be graded on a pass/fail basis. To pass, you need to provide reasonably detailed and insightful answers to the items below. 1. Briefly summarize the basic plot, or issue that the movie addresses. McWane, one of the largest iron pipe foundry companies in North America, is responsible for multiple employee deaths and violation of safety laws that they believe were accidents. McWane was more concerned about productivity and profit and had little care for the well being of their employees. After investigating and hearing information reported from whistleblowers, McWane and upper management was convicted of 125 safety, health and environmental crimes. After jail time for an official and 20 million in fines, McWane claims they have paid over 300 million on safety improvements. 2. What do you think is the most interesting point in the movie? I think the most interesting part of the movie was how McWane ignored the injuries to its employees. I cannot believe how much time went by until they finally took responsibility. McWane blamed an employee injury on the employee even though thousands of employees were disfigured, amputees and even killed. One employee getting injured may be an accident, but if there is a continuous pattern, action needs to be taken immediately to prevent employee’s lives from being put in jeopardy. 3. What is the most controversial...
Words: 469 - Pages: 2
...Mr. Gertten’s reputation, film, reputation, first amendment right, money and jobs of his employees were all at risk. He refused to and due to his determination and persistence, Dole withdrew the law suit at 1 hour 25-27 minutes. So Fredrik Gertten risked everything in hopes to prove as a filmmaker he couldn’t be silenced or pushed around and neither could his workers. In contrast, Mr. Rester, former McWane manager was not so fortunate. When deciding to speak out he was risking his job in order to help the current and future workers at risk of McWane treatment. The time interval of 50-52:05 minutes in the video, he explains how he lost everything. He lost his job, he was making 130,000 a year as a manager at McWane. He makes about 20,000 plus as a garbage man. He his house, cars, land, horses, guns, etc. However, he states he doesn’t regret it, he felt like he did the right thing. This is the mindset a hero should have, to know that the risk was worth it because the right thing will be done. Although the outcomes for both individuals were different, the underlying risk for both were if the workers of these companies experienced no change. Due to the risk of both heroes, the employees from both case studies are in better conditions. These case studies tell me it only takes one David to win against...
Words: 911 - Pages: 4
...213-255_Trevino_08p4.qxd 6/21/06 5:18 PM Page 213 PA R T IV ETHICS AND THE ORGANIZATION 213 213-255_Trevino_08p4.qxd 6/21/06 5:18 PM Page 214 CHAPTER 8 ETHICAL PROBLEMS OF ORGANIZATIONS INTRODUCTION In the third quarter of 2002, the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C., think tank, estimated that the corporate scandals that began with the Enron debacle in late 2000 would cost the U.S. economy $35 billion. That is the equivalent of a $10 increase per barrel of oil.1 It is, in a word, staggering. And we may not have seen the end of it. Long before Enron’s collapse, a number of business ethicists and business professionals watched with concern as Wall Street analysts demanded increasingly strong corporate financial performance to support rising corporate stock prices. At the same time, the gargantuan compensation packages (including stock options) of the top executives running these companies became inextricably linked to their companies’ stock prices. In 1990, average CEO pay at major corporations was 107 times the pay of the average worker. By 2004, CEO pay had risen to 431 times the pay of the average employee. (If the pay of average workers in the United States had risen as fast as CEO pay, the lowest paid workers would be earning $23.03 an hour, not $5.15 an hour.)2 It was an “accident” waiting to happen, although everyone was making so much money in the market that no one wanted to admit that something could be fundamentally...
Words: 20980 - Pages: 84
...Abide by Your Code of Ethics | Skill Set: Economics | TOPIC OR UNIT OF STUDY | Business Ethics and Social Responsibility | CONTENT STANDARD(S) AND OBJECTIVE(S) | Students will * point out the areas in which businesses demonstrate social responsibility and ethics. * recognize consumerism. * determine current trends to improve the workplace for employees. * research how regulatory agencies protect consumers, workers, and the environment. | INTRODUCTION | Review with students how to prepare unbound reports. Have a class discussion of the 4 components of social responsibility and ethics. Discuss how business people use values to make decisions that are acquired through family, educational, social and religious institutions. Discuss business code of ethics and how it serves as a guideline to help managers and other employees in any organization make better decisionsStudents will conduct on-line research of 5 major corporate websites in order to write a code of ethics for a fictitious company they will create. The students will then describe how these ethical guidelines relate to any or all of the four (4) components of social responsibility. Students will look at 2-3 companies that have practiced unethical behavior. The students will make a multi-media presentation to the class describing any relationship between their company’s code of ethics and the four components of social responsibility. | ESSENTIAL QUESTION | What is ethical behavior and social responsibility...
Words: 2051 - Pages: 9
...ASTC Travel Passport Program Participants – May 1, 2011 to October 31, 2011 The Travel Passport Program entitles visitors to free GENERAL ADMISSION. It does not include free admission to special exhibits, planetarium and larger-screen theater presentations nor does it include museum store discounts and other benefits associated with museum membership unless stated otherwise. Acquaint yourself with the family admittance policies (denoted by “F:”) of Passport Program sites before visiting. PROGRAM RESTRICTIONS: 1. Based on your science center’s/museum’s location: Science centers/museums located within 90 miles of each other are excluded from the Travel Passport Program unless that exclusion is lifted by mutual agreement. 90 miles is measured “as the crow flies” and not by driving distance. Science centers/museums may create their own local reciprocal freeadmission program. ASTC does not require or participate in these agreements, or dictate their terms. 2. Based on residence: To receive Travel Passport Program benefits, you must live more than 90 miles away “as the crow flies” from the center/museum you wish to visit. Admissions staff reserve the right to request proof of residence for benefits to apply. Science centers and museums requesting proof of residence are marked by (IDs). Visit www.astc.org/passport for a list in larger type font. CALL BEFORE YOU VISIT TO CONFIRM YOUR TRAVEL PASSPORT PROGRAM BENEFITS. DON’T FORGET TO BRING YOUR MEMBERSHIP CARD! ALABAMA Anniston...
Words: 10876 - Pages: 44
...Fourth Edition Reframing Organizations Artistry, Choice, and Leadership LEE G. BOLMAN TERRENCE E. DEAL B est- se l l i n g a u t h o rs of LEADING WITH SOUL FOURTH EDITION Reframing Organizations Artistry, Choice, and Leadership Lee G. Bolman • Terrence E. Deal Copyright © 2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Published by Jossey-Bass A Wiley Imprint 989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741—www.josseybass.com No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-6468600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-7486011, fax 201-748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Credits are on page 528. Readers should be aware that Internet Web sites offered as citations and/or sources for further information may have changed or disappeared between the time this was written and when it is read. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer...
Words: 193447 - Pages: 774
