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W20956

Teaching Note

TO BLAST OR NOT TO BLAST: LEANING ON VALUES

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Gerard Seijts, Vania Sakelaris, and Emily Moore wrote this teaching note as an aid to instructors in the classroom use of the case
To Blast or not to Blast: Leaning on Values, No. 9B20C051. This teaching note should not be used in any way that would prejudice
the future use of the case.

This publication may not be transmitted, photocopied, digitized, or otherwise reproduced in any form or by any means without the
permission of the copyright holder. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights

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organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Ivey Business School, Western
University, London, Ontario, Canada, N6G 0N1; (t) 519.661.3208; (e) [email protected]; www.iveycases.com. Our goal is to publish
materials of the highest quality; submit any errata to [email protected]. i1v2e5y5pubs

Copyright © 2020, Ivey Business School Foundation Version: 2020-12-07

SYNOPSIS
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After only two years on the job, 25-year-old Susan Thorn, a successful young female engineer, encountered
a critical and independent decision-making scenario in a profession traditionally dominated by males. Thorn
identified a safety risk in a construction project as she was driving to work and decided to ask the crew to
stop their work for a safety assessment. The issue raised several key factors that Thorn had to address in
her attempt to manage risk. Thorn’s decision to temporarily shut down a field project in a residential
neighbourhood was based on various considerations, given her assessment of an imminent threat to public
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safety. Was Thorn right to stop the construction project? Could she have done things differently?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

The case illustrates the complexity encountered by a young professional when an ethical dilemma surfaces
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and warrants action. The courage, sound judgement, and values-based leadership necessary to make a
decision under pressure while facing mounting opposition are highlighted, and the case also demonstrates
the importance of leaning on professional knowledge and training, when facing a situation that requires an
autonomous and timely decision.

After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to accomplish the
following objectives:

 Assess the challenges leaders face when ethical issues arise in the workplace and the importance of
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taking accountability when addressing these issues.

 Discuss ways to communicate without losing credibility and to effectively voice values.
 Examine key steps and identify relatable situations that exhibit courage.
 Reflect on effective and ineffective communication methods for a particular instance.
 Discuss what set of values guide a leader toward appropriate decision-making and actions, and the
importance of taking responsibility for those actions.

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POSITION IN COURSE

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This case is suitable for courses on leadership, communication, or career management at the undergraduate
and graduate levels.

RELEVANT READINGS

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 Andrew Likierman, The Elements of Good Judgment (Boston: MA: Harvard Business School
Publishing, 2020). Available from Ivey Publishing, product no. R2001H.
 Noel M. Tichy and Warren G. Bennis, “Making Judgment Calls,” Harvard Business Review, October
2017, 1–11. Available from Ivey Publishing, product no. R0710E.
 James R. Detert, Cultivating Everyday Courage (Boston: MA: Harvard Business School Publishing,
2018). Available from Ivey Publishing, product no. R1806K.
 Mary C. Gentile, Anne T. Lawrence, and John Melnyk, “What Is a Giving Voice to Values Case?”

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Case Research Journal 35, no. 2 (2015): 1–10, accessed August 24, 2020,
http://store.darden.virginia.edu/Syllabus%20Copy/What-Is-a-Giving-Voice-to-Values-Case.pdf.

ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS

1. What makes Thorn’s situation challenging? What situational and personal pressures does she feel?
2. Did Thorn do the right thing? Why or why not? How could she have better handled the situation?
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3. As a young female professional in a male-dominated field, what should Thorn learn from the situation?
What insights from the case related to voicing values could you apply to your own life experience?
4. What is necessary to effectively voice your values? How can you develop these skills?
5. What values did Thorn demonstrate in her decision-making process?

TEACHING PLAN
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The following teaching plan is recommended for a 90-minute class; however, specific times can be adjusted
as necessary for shorter sessions:

Activity Time (in Minutes)

Introduction 10
Ask students if they have ever faced a challenge similar to the one depicted in the
case or a situation with ethical implications that required taking an action; if yes,
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what happened, how did they feel, and what did they learn?
Assignment Question 1 20
Assignment Question 2 15
Assignment Question 3 15
Assignment Question 4 10
Assignment Question 5 10
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Conclusion 10
Ask students to reflect on the case discussion using the following questions:
How do I learn to act on my values?
What would I say and do?
How can I be most effective when acting on my values?

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ANALYSIS

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1. What makes Thorn’s situation challenging? What situational and personal pressures does she feel?

The case presents the crucial elements of a complex decision-making process. The situation requires making
an unpopular decision that may be challenged. In this instance, opposition is directed at Thorn, a young
female leader, whose decision is not welcomed by a small group of much older male construction workers.

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Thorn is alone conducting field work, without the benefit of time, access to peers, or supervisory support
for her decision-making process. Her age is a factor, which enhances the lack of credibility from the
construction crew. Gender may also be a factor contributing to the negative behaviour and resistance from
the crew members.

Thorn acknowledges that her professional training and theory has not provided adequate preparation for the
ethical dilemma she has encountered. Immediately following the incident, she questions whether her

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university training was adequate. Was she adequately prepared for a situation that could have serious
consequences, including the safety of citizens and workers, financial impact from delays and replacements,
and reputational harm—both personal and organizational? There are also values related to safety behaviour
in the industry, including speaking up and taking responsibility when a potential threat to the public is
assessed or evidenced.

Thinking back, Thorn realizes that ethics quizzes from university covered only obvious matters, while
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omitting more subtle grey areas. Her training directed her to report such issues to a supervisor, which was
not feasible in this instance given the time sensitivity and risk assessment of the situation. Upon reflection,
she felt that the training tended to remove a young person’s responsibility and autonomy. Thorn provided
her own assessment of the training’s limitations:

What’s the point in being an engineer? You are either responsible for people’s lives or you are not—
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there is no in-between in being right. That is an important message to be conveyed in cases such as this
one. The [university] ethics test is not just a joke. And public safety is not something that you don’t just
pick up the call on. You really have to embrace that public safety is in your role.

This commitment is a fundamental part of an engineer’s professional training, both at the undergraduate
level and during certification. Canadian engineers wear an Iron Ring as a reminder of their duty to public
safety that becomes a key element of their professional identity.1 However, it still takes a great amount of
courage to stand up and confront others based on decisions anchored in professional practice.
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Thorn further explained her assessment of the situation:

You can rebuild a house, but it is a big challenge to rebuild your identity. This is an underlying message
to get across [to young leaders]. . . . There is the leadership side of getting out of the truck, and there is
the ownership side of knowing no one else can do this but you.
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1
The Iron Ring is worn by Canadian-trained engineers on the baby (or pinky) finger of the dominant hand to symbolize pride
and humility, and serves as a reminder of the engineer’s obligation to live by a high standard of professional conduct; Laura
Neilson Bonikowsky, “Iron Ring,” Canadian Encyclopedia, January 28, 2014, accessed September 4, 2020,
www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/iron-ring.

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2. Did Thorn do the right thing? Why or why not? How could she have better handled the situation?

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For the discussion of this question, the instructor can ask students whether Thorn took the right action given
the circumstances in the case. Students should explain what they think she did well or could have done
differently. Was there an opportunity to call the office for information to validate her decision or action
plan? What strengths or opportunities for improvement can students identify?

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The instructor can segment this discussion into decisions Thorn made and the resulting actions from those
decisions, which included the following choices:

 Stopping to investigate a construction project being led by another utility

 Engaging construction crew members
 Not engaging peers or managers while on the construction site; choosing instead to act autonomously

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 Leaning on her values to inform actions taken (i.e., temporarily halting the proposed blasting)
 Exhibiting specific behavioural tactics while pressure was mounting

Students should comment on the value of identifying and acting on an urgent issue. In this case, Thorn felt
that her suggestion to pause the work was warranted because she identified a potentially immediate safety
risk. She felt that the proposed blast was too close to a gas pipeline, and she needed to assess the quality of
the butt welds to determine their ability to withstand the blast. Back at her office, her actions were supported
by her 60-year-old peer, whose crew had welded the original gas pipeline 16 years earlier. Her actions and
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decisions were also supported by her office.

Thorn felt that her decision would not be overruled and that her role was to be responsible for the safety of
the public. Therefore, she had to make decisions in the field, including addressing matters that warranted
her attention. She saw the incident as an example of the importance of letting professionals (like her) do
their jobs, without layers of management second-guessing relatively obvious decisions or professionals
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second-guessing themselves. Her decision to pull over and investigate reinforced her decision to become
an engineering leader. Thorn felt an obligation based on the oath she had taken as an engineer. Students
should understand that leadership actions and behaviours are not limited to association with a formal role;
these actions are what professionals are called on to perform within the context of their life’s journey.

3. As a young female professional in a male-dominated field, what should Thorn learn from the
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situation? What insights from the case related to voicing your values could you apply to your
own life experience?

This case highlighted the benefits and importance of not compromising one’s values. Specifically, the
situation provided Thorn with various learning experiences and important lessons learned:

 Staying true to herself, which can be a lesson for the future

 Trusting herself; having faith in her knowledge, experience, and skills; and respecting professional
practice guidelines
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 Doing the right thing, based on her decision to take responsibility for her actions and given the
circumstances of this incident
 Identifying and honouring moral boundaries
 Stepping into fear and tapping into courage, which can be challenging but may prove essential in
managing reputational risk

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 Acting and demonstrating courage to avoid potentially catastrophic risks to public safety and her own

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professional reputation
 Standing firm on her beliefs—not second-guessing herself—and leaning on her values

Student Reflections on the Resulting Insights

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The instructor can ask students to discuss their own beliefs and how to honour them in their own future. Students
can discuss their moral boundaries and leadership principles. The instructor can refer students to Clayton
Christensen’s work2 for a discussion on the definition of success. The discussion can cover how to develop
guidelines for a professional and life journey that ensures optimal values aligned with a sense of purpose.

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4. What is necessary to effectively voice your values? How can you develop these skills?

Identifying Values

Before students can demonstrate their values in their personal and professional journey, they must first
identify those values. Values serve as compass coordinates that help individuals find their way. These
values reflect what is important to people, what they hold dear, and what underlies their behaviour. When
situations and circumstances are aligned with values, there is resonance; when values are compromised,
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there is dissonance. Individuals are always making choices on whether to act or do nothing; in this case, on
whether to honour values or ignore them. Students should strive to align their values with difficult situations
or circumstances and use that alignment as a motivator for action.

Students can reflect on their own life experience, when their values conflicted with expected actions or
behaviours. This reflection will provide valuable insight. Students can identify whether they had a tendency
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to act or do nothing. Young and emerging leaders can reflect on their individual experiences during their
school years and during their time with families and friends to determine if they normally act or repress
actions when their values are in conflict. Did students resolve their conflict (by demonstrating values)? Did
they choose to suppress their actions? Or did they choose to not address the conflict at all? Is their tendency
to honour the values of others instead of their own?
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Using Values as Decision-Making Criteria

Much can be gained from tracking personal trends. The information that surfaces through this distillation
process can have an impact on future decision-making situations. Information is power and warrants being
reinforced in the context of both personal and professional life. Integrating information regarding personal
values, when making decisions, helps young and emerging leaders live a life that honours what they value
most. This involves checking their instincts when making choices to ensure that they feel right. Honouring
values means not suppressing them and aligning the actions and decisions that result from those values.
Doing so contributes to a higher degree of personal satisfaction and fulfillment, derived from achieving
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goals and from fulfilling values.

2
Clayton M. Christensen, “How Will You Measure Your Life,” Harvard Business Review, July 2010, 1–7. Available from Ivey
Publishing, product no. R1007B.

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Integrating Values into Actions

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Value lies in simply identifying common motivators for action or inaction. Motivation is linked to
satisfaction, fulfillment, and neuroscience.3 Connecting with one’s invaluable insights regarding personal
values through reflection, awareness, and commitment to honour them is a key factor in one’s everyday
life. Conducting personal case studies may prove effective in gaining such insight and information to help

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inform future behaviours and decision-making. Evidence-informed decisions, both in personal and
professional life, can be effective.

Many resources and tools are available online to help individuals conduct a self-assessment of their own
values mining.4 Exercises are also available to help individuals develop skills related to demonstrating or
giving voice to their values.5 Students can work on narrowing the gap between their values and behaviours
to achieve a higher degree of satisfaction in their personal and professional life. Values-based leadership is
often linked to authentic leadership. Students may feel hesitant to voice their concerns and values for many

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reasons, including fear of ridicule, alienation from co-workers, loss of clients, or harm to an important
relationship with a colleague or mentor. However, there are ways to effectively voice values and concerns,
and to minimize potential loss.6

5. What values did Thorn demonstrate in her decision-making process?

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Thorn demonstrated courage, accountability, and integrity, which she effectively applied to her critical
decision-making process. Her actions reflected those of an individual who voiced her concerns and values
by honouring them and reflecting them through her actions. Her values were not compromised, even when
she found herself in an uneasy situation. She used decision-making criteria to help guide her actions, and
followed her beliefs and knowledge that stemmed from her professional training.
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The instructor can ask students what values and dimensions of leadership character Thorn demonstrated in
her decisions and resulting actions. This discussion can be based on the 10 leader character dimensions that
shape judgement, as defined by Crossan, Seijts, and Gandz (see Exhibit TN-1).7

Students can discuss which dimensions were present or missing in Thorn’s situation. For example, were
collaboration and temperance effectively used? Should she have waited? Did she remain composed? The
instructor can emphasize that a leadership crisis can sometimes require drawing more heavily on some
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dimensions and suppressing others. Finally, students can draw from their own experience to reinforce the
values in this discussion.

3
Helle Bundgaard and Jefferson Roy, The Motivated Brain (København, Denmark: Motivation Factor, 2014).
4
“Thriving Company Culture Drives Sustainable Success,” Barrett Values Centre, accessed August 24, 2020,
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www.valuescentre.com.
5
Lisa Bliss, Paula Galowitz, Kendall Kerew, Catherine Klein, Veronika Tomoszková, and Leah Wortham, “Giving Voice to
Values (GVV): Helping Students Identify & Clarify Their Values & Fulfil Current & Future Responsibilities to Clients, Society,
& Themselves,” AALS Clinical Conference, presentation, 2017, accessed August 24, 2020, www.aals.org/wp-
content/uploads/2017/07/GVVPowerPointPresentation.pdf.
6
Lisa Cannell, “5 Tips for Voicing Values in the #MeToo Era,” UVA Darden: Ideas to Action, June 26, 2018, accessed
August 24, 2020, https://ideas.darden.virginia.edu/5-tips-for-voicing-values-in-the-metoo-era.
7
Mary Crossan, Gerard Seijts, and Jeffrey Gandz, “Leader Character Framework,” Ivey, accessed August 24, 2020,
www.ivey.uwo.ca/leadership/research-resources/leader-character-framework.

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WHAT HAPPENED

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Thorn’s request to shut down the construction project was not overturned. However, the construction crew
affected by her decision launched a criticism of her actions, which they reported to her management.
Thorn’s request for an investigative report confirmed that the butt welds were of sub-standard quality. A
recommendation was made to delay the project for two to three months, to allow time to replace the sub-

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standard pipelines and repave the street. Her assessment of potential risk was validated through the
investigative report she launched.

The instructor can emphasize to students that the report could have found the butt welds to be acceptable.
If so, would Thorn still be correct in her actions and decisions to pause the project? In this case, given the
potential risk to public safety that was assessed by Thorn, her actions were valid.

Upon reflection on her experience as an emerging female leader in a male-dominated field, Thorn had

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identified several factors that helped her in that situation and continued to work in her advantage:

 Early development of communication skills—Thorn credited drama classes she took in school as being
helpful to enhance communication skills and self-confidence. She felt that similar types of experiences
could benefit other students and emerging leaders.
 Physical size—Thorn felt that being a female leader with an average body size, rather than with a visibly
smaller, petite frame, may have helped her own self-confidence, while working in a male-dominated
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environment. Her physical size and presence, comparable to male counterparts, may have helped her
assume a position of authority, particularly as a young professional.
 Personality—Thorn also credited her strong personality to help provide confidence as a young leader
and manage daily interactions with male colleagues and counterparts in the industry.

To end the case discussion, the instructor can ask students for their opinions on gender issues in a male-
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dominated workplace. Emphasize that Thorn’s actions were decisive and based on professional authority
to issue orders, which is not considered a typical behaviour for women in the workplace. Do students have
specific gender assumptions about whether female leaders should behave similarly or differently from male
leaders? What roles and situations are appropriate for both? The instructor can remind students to be aware
of implicit bias (as well as overt bias) against women in a male-dominated field.
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EXHIBIT TN-1: LEADER CHARACTER DIMENSIONS

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Source: Mary Crossan, Gerard Seijts, and Jeffrey Gandz, Developing Leadership Character (New York, NY: Routledge
Publishing, 2016).
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No
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This Teaching Note is authorized for use only by Vaani Gandha, Amity University until May 2023. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email protected] or
617.783.7860.