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Decision Point Three

15 January, 2016 - 09:08
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Decision Point Three

  • Margaret Gooderal works in a supervisory position in the environmental testing group at Hughes Aircraft. Her supervisor, Donald LaRue, is also the current supervisor for environmental testing. The group that LaRue and Gooderal together oversee test the chips that Hughes makes in order to determine that they would survive under the drastic environmental conditions they will likely face. Rigorous testing of the chips is the ideal, but some chips (the hot chips) get in line ahead of others. Gooderal has found out that over the last several months, many of these tests are being skipped. The reason: Hughes has fallen behind in the production schedule and Hughes upper management and Hughes customers have been applying pressure to get chip production and testing back on schedule. Moreover, LaRue and others feel that skipping certain tests doesn't matter, since many of these chips are being used in systems that are in the testing phase, rather than ones that will be put into active use.

Dialogue

  • Construct a dialogue that acts out Gooderal's response to her knowledge that LaRue is regularly skipping tests
  • Address these two issues in your dialogue:
  • Should Gooderal first talk directly to LaRue? What if he responds defensively?
  • Should Gooderal go over LaRue's head and discuss his skipping the tests with one of his supervisors? To whom should she go? How could she prepare for possible retaliation by LaRue? What should she know before doing this?

Debriefing for Decision Point Three

  • Each drama point revolves around one or more conflicts. What is the conflict in your drama point. How did you play this conflict out through your dramatization?
  • Your drama takes place over a socio-technical system. Look at the above table. What are the key values at play in the Hughes STS? How did these values enter into your dramatization? For example, did a value conflict drive and confrontation between characters in your dramatization? Think, in this section, about how the STS and its values enter into your dramatic portrayal of the events in this case.
  • What kind of narrative form did your drama take on? Was it a tragedy? A comedy? A story with a happy ending? Something else? What is it about the case that led you to pick the narrative form that you did?
  • Finally, did you learn anything about the case by constructing and acting out your drama? What was it? What is different about these dramatic rehearsals in comparison with other learning activities you have undergone this semester?
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