Reference no: EM133517000

Problem

1. Provide an example from your personal or professional life of when you met the expectation and when you may have fallen short.

2. Explain any challenges that you confronted that may have influenced your conduct, and considering what you have learned about organizations and individual responsibility and accountability, what you might have done differently.

3. Do you think you would have acted differently if you worked in the public or private sector, as the case may be?

On April 25, 2014, Flint switched its water supply from the Detroit water system to the Flint River. City leaders hoped that the move would save $5 million. Faced with crippling debt and under the leadership of an emergency manager, the change made financial sense. Almost immediately, however, residents began complaining about water quality. Testing revealed elevated lead and iron levels from untreated water and corroded pipes. Thus began Flint's public health emergency and a corresponding loss of public trust arising from government failure at every level. Flint's mayor said the cost to replace Flint's water pipes could be as high as $1.5 billion. The estimated annual cost for bottled water, filters, and associated supplies could reach $43 million. Conservative estimates of the public health costs related to lead exposure are likely to add $395 million. There is plenty of blame to go around. Complacent government officials who knew or should have known the risks have been indicted, and class action lawsuits have been filed. High-ranking federal and state administrators have resigned. For over a year, while government officials debated water sample test results, falsified documents, and ignored complaints, Flint's residents were being poisoned. Providing essential services is the one thing that public administrators must always get right and be accountable for getting wrong. In Flint, they got it wrong.

Based on this information and supplemented by your research, identify individual ethical failures. In what ways did each contribute to the crises?

In Unit 4, we will discuss the regulatory and organizational ethical shortcomings that contributed to the crisis.