The New Bioco
II
Jack got a new job at a biotechnology company called Bioco. Bioco manufactured drugs
to treat diabetes and high cholesterol. Jack’s job was to use a tiny mechanism to get nectar
from flowers. The nectar was a main ingredient in the drugs. Jack liked his job, and he
thought that Bioco was a caring company. However, Jack soon learned that the company
wasn’t as kind as he first thought.
Bioco’s motto was “Make the Earth a Better Place.” However, this motto was deceptive.
The company actually did a number of really bad things to the environment. The company
produced a lot of smog and harmful acid. Bioco poured the acid in a nearby river, which
caused erosion and made fish prone to illness.
After a few weeks at the new job, Jack saw all the bad things Bioco was doing. He had
always had strong ethics, and he knew he had to do something. One day, while the Bioco
workers were eating in the cafeteria, Jack stood up and gave a speech. He said, “My fellow
coworkers, I know you have all seen the evil things our company is doing. I have a notion
that we can fix them if we form a coalition. We can go to the administration and tell them
we’ll quit if they don’t eliminate the problems. They’ll have no choice but to listen to us.”
Jack explained what they were to do. His coworkers liked his explicit plan. They went
to the administrative offices and demanded that Bioco stop damaging the environment,
or they all would quit. One supervisor said to them, “Thank you for being straightforward
about this issue. Since I can’t afford to lose all of you workers, I guess we’ll just have to fix
things.”
Jack, his supervisor, and his coworkers spent the next
month designing a new framework for the company. They
cleaned up the acid from the river and minimized the amount
of air pollution the company released. At last, the company
motto became apt.