27 Oct Halting a Dangerous Project In the mid-1980s, Sam was Alpha Electronics’ project Bureau of Export.

Halting a Dangerous Project In the mid-1980s, Sam was Alpha Electronics’ project Bureau of Export. Administration, as well as the leader on a new contract to produce manufactured Defense Department. He ruefully acknowledges that weaponry devices for companies doing business with the issue would have been brought to a close much NATO government agencies. The devices were more quickly. advanced technology land mines with electronic con- The contract that Sam unilaterally voided by his trols that could be triggered with capacitor circuits to action was for nearly $2 million over 15 years. Sam go off only at specified times, rather than years later noted that no further hiring or equipment would have when children might be playing in old minefields, been needed, so the contract promised to be highly NATO provided all the technical specifications and profitable. There was a $15,000 penalty for breaking Alpha Electronics fulfilled the contract without pro- the contract. blems. However, Sam was concerned that one new On the basis of global corporate citizenship, it end user of this device could negate the safety aspects was clear that Alpha Electronics could legally produce of the trigger and make the land mines more danger- the devices for the NATO countries but not for the ous than any others on the market. Eastern European company. The Cold War was in full After the NATO contract was completed, Sam swing at that time. was dismayed to learn that Alpha Electronics had On the basis of local corporate citizenship, it was signed another contract with an Eastern European clear that Alpha Electronics had to consider the firm that had a reputation of stealing patented devices expected impact on local communities. In particular, and also of doing business with terrorist organiza- there was no guarantee regarding to whom the Eastern tions, Sam halted the production of the devices. He European company would be selling the devices and then sought advice from some of his colleagues and how they would end up being used. contacted the U.S. State Department’s Office of Sam took matters into his own hands without any Munitions Controls. In retrospect, he wishes he had foreknowledge of how his decision would be viewed also contacted the Department of Commerce’s by his company’s upper management, board of

CASE 9 . Highway Safety Improvements 219 directors, or fellow workers, many of whom were also World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War company stockholders. Happily, Sam was never pun- who thanked him for his action. ished for his unilateral action of halting production. He Sam strongly believed his action was the right recently retired from Alpha Electronics as a corporate- thing to do, both for his company and for the public level vice president. He was especially gratified by the welfare. What ideas typically covered in an engineer- number of Alpha employees who were veterans of ing ethics course might support that conviction?