Real-Life Decision Making
You've seen plans for the new University of the North, which will
be perched on top of a hill overlooking the city of Rainier. The designs show
beautiful wooden and concrete buildings surrounded by forest. In addition,
you have heard that great programs such as innovative natural resource science
and forestry programs are being planned for the site.
Your geological engineering firm has been asked to assess and design a
roadway from the plateau up to the entrance of the university. "It's
our job to recommend where roadways should be built," says Ken Simonar, a
geological engineer.
No problem. You and a team of engineers go to the site, take soil samples
and survey the slope of the hill. Back at the office, you're satisfied
with the tests you have done, and so you recommend where the road should be
placed.
Unfortunately, after the road is well under construction, one of your associates
comes to you with terrible news. Some test samples that had previously been
lost have resurfaced, and it's been discovered that the road is being
built on unstable soil!
The road may be used for years with no incidents, but the tests show that
there is a remote possibility that the road will slump and wash away under
the right circumstances.
You have a decision to make. Do you halt production of the road, requiring
the university to spend a great deal more money creating a new road? You know
that the university will be upset to learn that the road already carved into
the forest area is unusable. Making this error known will certainly cost you
the contract.
Or do you say nothing, and hope that the road won't slump?