WAS NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR MORALLY RESPONSIBLE ?????

OVERVIEW
US Department of Defense charged that National Semiconductor had sold them computer parts without testing.
They had falsified their records in order to hide the fraud. The computer parts were installed in ships, planes, weapons and nuclear bombs around the world.

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The company was indicted and fined for the crime as a corporation.
No individuals within the company were ever charged with any crimes in the case. The department of defense objected to the above point as according to them a corporation acts only through its employees and managers.

WHO IS RIGHT IN THIS DISPUTE ?

The Department of Defense is right in this dispute.
It is wrong to think that an employee who knowingly does something wrong is absolved of all responsibility when following orders. An employee has no obligation to obey an order to do what is immoral. In this case both the superior & the employees are equally responsible for the wrongful act.

PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCES OF ACCEPTING THE POSITION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

It is right on the part of the Department of Defense who want the employees and managers to be charged for the crime. Department of defense has many responsibilities on them as any mistake on their part can lead to the loss of innocent lives. The position of the Department of Defense was that it had to have some assurance that the individual perpetrators of the fraud were no longer in positions within the company where they might repeat the same testing short-cuts and falsification of documents. The company should have punished them for the act so that they realize the gravity of the situation and not repeat such mistakes in future.

PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCES OF ACCEPTING THE POSITION OF NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR

It is ideal for a company to be able to conduct its own investigation as well as its own punishments. It is best for a company to determine what specific departments are responsible rather than having a court of law impose a burden on every employee in its corporation. In the opinion of the executives, they were acting in a sensible manner.

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Every decision that a business makes is gauged by the financial responsibility to their corporation instead of their social responsibility.

Their business sense lead them to do what all companies want, i.e., maximum profit.

WHICH POSITION SHOULD THE SOCIETY ADOPT ?

The society should adopt the position of the Department of Defense.
As the parts sold to the department are used in ships, planes, weapons and nuclear bombs, a little deviation may lead to the loss of life and property. The company should conduct a thorough investigation so as to find out that the fault lies with which department and employees. In case the company fails to investigate into the matter then there are further chances for the company to face similar consequences in future.

CONCLUSION
The two sides that must be balanced are the self interests of the company and the impacts that a corporation can cause on society. As for the financial aspects of the corporation, they have to start moving away from the thought of instant profit and start realizing both the long term effects and benefits. If employees started to think more in long term benefits many of the ethical dilemmas that we face today would be greatly reduced.

LATEST NEWS
The Department notified National Semiconductor
that it was undertaking steps to bar National from all future military contracts because of the company's refusal to name the individuals involved in the fraud. The Department of Defense's own investigation had uncovered the names of seven individuals that it alleged to have been among those involved in the fraud, and these individuals were also notified that they would be barred from all future government work.

Thank You