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| Aerial View of Sampoong Department Store Post-collapse |
On June 29, 1995 the Sampoong Department Store in Seoul, South Korea suffered a catastrophic failure and completely collapse. In its aftermath, 502 were discovered dead and 937 injured. Investigation of the collapse revealed that the Sampoong group failed to use good ethical judgement during the building's planning and maintenance. By examining the the decisions made by the Sampoong Group through the four step process for ethical decision making, we can truly see how it all went wrong.
During the initial planning of the Sampoong Department Store, its owners faced a major ethical question. The mall was original planned to be an apartment complex, but it was then redesigned to be a department store. This alteration required to changes such as install escalators and reworking the supports around them. Because of these changes, the owners faced an ethical decision between profit and safety.
The ethical issue that the Sampoong Group faced was a question of prioritizing profit over ensuring the building's structural integrity. The stakeholders include the Sampoong Group, the chairman of the building Lee Joon, the engineers and contractors, as well as the general public.
The consequence of prioritizing profit and sacrificing safety was the overall weakening of the building. The intent of the Sampoong Group was to make the project as profitable as possible. This intent itself was not unethical, but it was narrowminded. The Sampoong Group ultimately failed the character perspective. Though the intent was justified from a business standpoint, a person of "moral character" would have prioritized safety.
When correlating the three perspectives, we'll find that there is a discrepancy in the Sampoong case. Although the consequence and the intent both point towards a greater profit, the character perspective test revealed that profit should not override safety. This disagreement in the three perspective suggests that the the Sampoong Group should have reassessed their ethical decision.
Had the Sampoong Group used the proper process for ethical decision making, they would have realized that maximizing the profit was not the ultimate goal. The proper action would have been sacrificing some profit to ensure that the building was structurally stable.
As mentioned before, the the Sampoong Group's failure to use ethical decision making caused a large of number of fatalities and injuries. Because of the lax in judgment, several members such as Lee Joon were charged with crimes and faced years of imprisonment. The rest were stripped of all their assets in order to pay the court settlement, causing the disbandment of the group.
During the initial planning of the Sampoong Department Store, its owners faced a major ethical question. The mall was original planned to be an apartment complex, but it was then redesigned to be a department store. This alteration required to changes such as install escalators and reworking the supports around them. Because of these changes, the owners faced an ethical decision between profit and safety.
The ethical issue that the Sampoong Group faced was a question of prioritizing profit over ensuring the building's structural integrity. The stakeholders include the Sampoong Group, the chairman of the building Lee Joon, the engineers and contractors, as well as the general public.
The consequence of prioritizing profit and sacrificing safety was the overall weakening of the building. The intent of the Sampoong Group was to make the project as profitable as possible. This intent itself was not unethical, but it was narrowminded. The Sampoong Group ultimately failed the character perspective. Though the intent was justified from a business standpoint, a person of "moral character" would have prioritized safety.
When correlating the three perspectives, we'll find that there is a discrepancy in the Sampoong case. Although the consequence and the intent both point towards a greater profit, the character perspective test revealed that profit should not override safety. This disagreement in the three perspective suggests that the the Sampoong Group should have reassessed their ethical decision.
Had the Sampoong Group used the proper process for ethical decision making, they would have realized that maximizing the profit was not the ultimate goal. The proper action would have been sacrificing some profit to ensure that the building was structurally stable.
As mentioned before, the the Sampoong Group's failure to use ethical decision making caused a large of number of fatalities and injuries. Because of the lax in judgment, several members such as Lee Joon were charged with crimes and faced years of imprisonment. The rest were stripped of all their assets in order to pay the court settlement, causing the disbandment of the group.
"Sampoong Department Store Collapse." World
History Project.
N.p., n.d. Web.
30 July 2013.
"The Sampoong Department Store Collapse." 9-11
Research:. N.p., 21
Mar. 2013. Web. 30 July 2013.
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