Abstract
This case study focuses on Roger Boisjoly's attempt to prevent the launch of the Challenger and subsequent quest to set the record straight despite negative consequences. Boisjoly's experiences before and after the Challenger disaster raise numerous ethical issues that are integral to any explanation of the disaster and applicable to other management situations. Underlying all these issues, however, is the problematic relationship between individual and organizational responsibility. In analyzing this fundamental issue, this paper has two objectives: first, to demonstrate the extent to which the ethical ambiguity that permeates the relationship between individual and organizational responsibility contributed to the Challenger disaster; second, to reclaim the meaning and importance of individual responsibility within the diluting context of large organizations.
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Russell P. Boisjoly is Associate Professor and Chairperson, Department of Finance at the University of Lowell where he specializes in Corporate Finance. His research focuses on applications of finance to regulated firms, especially in trucking and electric utility industries. He has published a number of articles on capital structure, mergers, bankruptcy prediction, and ethics.
Ellen Foster Curtis is Associate Professor of Management at the University of Lowell where she specializes in Business Policy, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Transportation. Her research focuses on labor relations, impacts of transportation deregulation, and ethical issues in business. She has published a number of articles on these topics, labor relations in the transportation industries, and ethics.
Eugene Mellican is Chairperson of the Philosophy Department at the University of Lowell. He describes himself as “a student of philosophy concentrating on issues in applied ethics.”
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Boisjoly, R.P., Curtis, E.F. & Mellican, E. Roger boisjoly and the challenger disaster: The ethical dimensions. J Bus Ethics 8, 217–230 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00383335
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00383335