Real-Life Decision Making
In your job as a shipper-receiver for Nuts and Bolts Hardware Distribution,
you are responsible for ensuring that all items are packaged and shipped correctly.
Sometimes you are required to ship tanks of propane, which are considered
to be hazardous goods, since propane is a flammable gas. Government regulations
stipulate certain requirements and regulations that must be observed when
shipping propane and other hazardous substances.
Late one afternoon, you are getting a shipment ready to send to one of
your best customers, Johnson Supplies, Inc. Johnson Supplies has ordered three
tanks of propane and five cartons of hardware. They are in a hurry for their
shipment, and your supervisor has promised them that it will arrive today.
Your company's truck and driver arrive to pick up the shipment, along
with several items for delivery to other customers. After all items are loaded
in the truck, you realize that someone has made an error in preparing the
propane tanks for shipping. A safety regulation has not been observed.
To correct the error, you will have to unload much of the truck's
load, since the tanks were loaded ahead of many other items. If you do this,
the time spent making the correction will mean that Johnson Supplies Inc.
will close for the day before their shipment can be delivered.
Your best customer will be angry. The distance to Johnson Supplies is not
very far, and in truth, the possibility of a problem developing with the tanks
is very small. If you send the shipment, it's unlikely that anything
will go wrong.
What do you do?