Ford Case as Viewed by: Citcy Councilman

FORD PLANT CASE STUDY

Member of City Council

As a member of the governing body of the city, you are responsible to its residents for such things as clean air and parks--such as granting Ford a tax break for donating the land for a park on the east side of the plant, and planning the bike and jogging trail along the Mississippi to the west of the plant. You are also responsible to individual citizens for promoting an economy that will keep the city thriving. Consider also the elderly and your responsibility for seeing that low-cost housing is available for them.

On weekends, like many Minnesotans, you and your spouse enjoy fishing--and as your recreational vehicle, you own a two-tone Ford truck, produced at this plant. The plant manager is a friend of yours from college.

You are concerned about addressing the competition with Japanese industry as much as the competition on the Little League baseball field next to the plant. You want both to protect health and to promote a "healthy" economy and prosperous lifestyle for all St. Paul citizens.

Some particular questions that you need to resolve:

List all the persons for whom Ford and community are responsible, and describe the nature of those responsibilities. What general principles does one use to balance responsibilities to different stakeholders? Are there creative solutions that can accommodate everyone (without retreating to "compromise" or sacrifice for some)?

Be sure to read the Background carefully for information that is relevant to these questions and your position.

Remember that the aim in adopting a stakeholder's perspective is not to "act out" someone else's role or to make decisions according to some stereotyped view of how another person "should" act. Rather, you should focus on the stakeholder's concerns and consider how YOU would act in a similar situtation.