When ethics clashes with business prudence...what should we choose

In 2005 when “Fast Concrete” a Ready-Mix Concrete manufacturer, won a contract to supply concrete for a Government Hospital, it was like a regular meal for them. Except, that this project was being executed by one of their oldest and most loyal clients ‘Best Constructions’ who had their head offices located in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.

The “Raft”[1] they were supplying concrete for measured almost 30 meters X 40 meters and required almost 8000 cubic meters of M30[2] grade of concrete. Though this was very much a regular kind of order, without significant technical wrangling, in executing projects such as these there are always those weak and invisible links in the entire chain which, if they snap, can create havoc with the entire execution.

The Fast team had categorically uncovered all such probable and possible links and for each eventuality - should it strike - they had a plan of action ready. Plan as you may and plan as much as you want, there is always that something which is missed out because you cannot imagine every conceivable situation - despite of the most meticulous planning that your experience and exposure permits.

The challenge is not in imagining those unimagined situations. The challenge is, how fast and how effectively you respond if any of that “not thought of” disaster strikes. Mind you, the response will depend on resilience, not capability.

Since it was a Government Project the entire concrete was over designed - that means for delivering the M30 grade, the supplied concrete was designed for M40, so even the worst-case scenario gets pre-empted. Or at least that is what the Fast’s Engineers analysed.

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As the pour progressed, the plan proved to be flawless, and the team was presumptuously waiting for the celebrations that they had promised themselves at the end of the pour.

In each of the manufacturing units supplying concrete to this project, there were 3 distinct silos dedicated to hold distinct raw material for producing Concrete. In one of these plants and in one such silo cement was over, and it was promptly replenished. There was nothing unusual about this and was regular task for the plant operations team regardless of which pour[3] was in progress.

The pour was over and as the celebrations were eagerly awaited, when the Cluster Head, Sunil Mishra called up the Head of technical services at corporate office, Mr. Sujith Nair. After an exceptionally long pause, Mr. Nair sighed and replied “So, why don’t you speak to Mr. Dixit and sort the issue out”. “But, sir,” Sunil continued, “Mr. Dixit has left the decision to me, and honestly sir, I don’t know what to do. I have never been in such situation before in my entire civil engineering career”.

Mr. Gautam Dixit was the Regional Business Head and Mishra’s boss, and he was clear that in such situations the corporate office must intervene and take charge. “We will do as instructed by HO”, Mr. Dixit had instructed the Cluster Head.

“Does the contractor know about it?” Mr. Nair finally asked. “Absolutely nothing sir!” Sunil responded nervously … Oh, I see, Nair said…” then we must meet them immediately and explain the complete situation to them. I will come down tomorrow morning. You line up a meeting with their technical head and project head both” Mr. Nair instructed Sunil and hung up.

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Next morning even as the offices were opening up for another business-as-usual day, Mr Nair was seated at Best Construction’s Vijayawada headquarters. Giving him a befuddled but brave company was Sunil Mishra.

As they sipped their morning cup of coffee, both - the technical head Mr. Atul Anand and the project head Mr. B K Naidu, could neither hide their surprise nor their irritation about this unscheduled and forced meeting.

“What is this so very urgent meeting all about? Couldn’t we have a phone call instead?” Mr. Naidu started.

“Sunil insisted that I reschedule my complete day just for this meeting” complained Atul, almost interrupting Mr. Naidu.

Mr. Nair put his hands out on the table with palms open towards both - as if to confess.

“Sirs, we come here to admit of a serious blunder that has happened from our end”.

In a low, calm, and collected voice he continued “Towards middle of the Government Hospital pour, almost 350 - 400 cubic meter of concrete got delivered which had fly ash accidentally substituted for cement!”

Mr. Nair did not wait for any reaction from his listeners. He continued, “Initially we did not know this had happened, but later when plant operations team did their raw material stock reconciliation, this fact rolled out like an old skeleton. Our team realised that while the pour was in progress, one of the cement silos was mistakenly refilled with Fly ash instead of Cement. As a result, 300 - 450 cubic meters of concrete which did not have any cement in it, got batched, delivered, and poured at the site, without any body noticing it. Since multiple pours from all three plants were running concurrently on the site, it is highly likely the bad concrete slipped through undetected as both - the good and the bad - would have similar characteristics initially. And that’s why the onsite quality teams - both yours and ours - did not notice it.”

Mr. Nair paused. Mr. Atul sat in front gazing towards the table, spinning a pencil between his fingers, while Mr Naidu was lost for words.

Mr. Nair took this opportunity and continued. “Sirs, now the good and the bad concrete both sits together in the raft. The challenge is to find out where and…”

“And do what…?” Mr. Naidu erupted. “Now that the entire raft is over, the structure de shuttered, and our men and material moved to the next stage of the project…what do you want to do or what do you want us to do?” His voice was sharp and his message curt. “What do you think can be done now, Atul?” he asked his technical head while he looked indignantly at Mr. Nair.

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room before Atul added, almost surreptitiously. “Sir, 400 cubic meters in an 8000 cubic meter raft is less than 10% of the total volume of concrete supplied. Besides the mix has been over designed so the structure will any which ways stay the way it was designed. From the structural point of view, I do not think there will be any problems ever.” Mr. Nair listened attentively while Mr. Naidu smiled wryly.

Atul continued “as for the government officials, well they can’t care less, unless they smell opportunities, They, will never find out. And if somebody does show inappropriate and unnecessary curiosity…” Atul took a deep sigh, looked mockingly into Mr. Mishra’s nervous eyes, and said very softly “…we can handle them”. His words dunked in power and gameplay as they were served for consumption. “Let's get over with this and get on with our work”, Atul changed into a straight matter of fact voice as he spoke to Mr. Naidu.

“Besides”, Naidu added “any tinkering with the raft at this stage can push the project back by several weeks. Costs aside, there is a severe penalty for delay. Who will risk all that?” Naidu said with a wave of his hand as if to brush aside the very thought of the situation in his mind.

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“So, what do you suggest gentlemen?” Mr. Nair finally broke his silence after intently listening to what his customers had to say. Atul’s power play and overtures did not seem to have any effect at all on him.

“There is nothing to suggest, Mr. Nair. The smartest thing we all can do is to put a lid on the matter right here, bury the hatchet and move on. This conversation never took place” Mr. Naidu said almost getting up from his chair.

Mr. Nair remained composed in his seat. Perhaps he was expecting a response of this kind. Again, in a low but firm voice he asked almost rhetorically “I agree it’s a smart move Mr. Naidu. But is it a wise move, hmmm?” Mr Nair pointedly looked at Atul. And then with a dejected smile he turned his eyes back to Mr. Naidu.

‘If our intention was to stay silent about all this, then we would not have brought anything at all to your attention in the first place. As such you did not know anything about it until we told you now. We could have ensured that you never know about it. We could have put a lid on this matter and a tight one to be sure, at our end itself and forgotten all about it.” Mr. Nair spoke his voice ringing with exasperation.”  “We could have done all that and trust me we are capable of doing that.” Shifting his gaze towards Atul, and returning his looks, Nair said, “It is just that we will not do that sir. Never.” Looking back at Mr. Naidu, he continued “And that is why I am here”, he said the ice-cold tone replaced by a fervent appeal.

Mr. Naidu was now visibly agitated. “What are you suggesting Mr. Nair….?” “We go and break that entire raft and redo the whole damn thing all over again, just because you guys made a mistake. Of course, you will take the costs and the pain. But have you thought about other consequences that your proposed action will lead to?” Mr. Naidu said now raising his voice.

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“The day we break open that raft these government o?cials will become suspicious and that will open up a pandora’s box. Every activity that we have done in this project from inauguration to this day will come under their scanner, every communication dissected, every proposal questioned, every official here will become a suspect. Not just this project, but every government project that is with us will come under their radar. Our professional integrity will be questioned which can potentially get us blacklisted not just from this project but from all future government projects. And if that happens each one of us here, gentlemen each one - will have to pack up and leave, most likely jobless. The crime is much bigger than you make it out to be. Do you even realise that Mr. Nair?” He paused, lowered his voice, and sighed, “Can we, Best Construction, a?ord a scenario like this Nair sir?” Mr. Naidu asked more out of anguish than for an answer.

Mr. Nair did not react at Mr. Naidu’s outburst.

“Imagine”, Mr. Nair said after a long and measured pause, “imagine, that nothing gets detected for now. The hospital gets constructed, and nothing gets detected. The hospital is commissioned, and nobody knows anything. The hospital becomes functional and still not a clue that there is time bomb ticking away inside the structure. Years into operation this hospital grows to become big and famous attracting patients and doctors from all over the country, still nothing. Imagine the hospital becomes a national symbol like AIIMS”.

Mr. Nair took a brief paused to look around at each member around the table, “and then one unfortunate day, the entire structure cracks, crumbles and falls like a pack of cards killing almost everybody inside. Imagine what will follow. Media trials on every prime-time news channel. Public outrage demanding criminal proceedings against the culprits. Government witch hunting to bring people to justice. Imagine this”

Mr. Naidu took o? and kept his glasses on the desk and as if to stop Mr. Nair, but Mr. Nair ignored and continued “Now think of the person sitting on your chair and my chair then. Maybe you and I or even Sunil and Atul may not be around then. But somebody here will have to take those phone calls and give answers. And if we are around it will be the end of our professional careers. Imagine what our families will go through. What fate shall strike our organisations that today we belong to? What pride will remain in the profession and designations that we so proudly display on our visiting cards and company brochures?” Mr. Nair asked with exasperation.

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“Mr. Nair, you are imagining too much about something which is least likely. You are fantasizing a worst-case possibility” Mr Naidu almost appealed.

“Yes, Naidu sir. I agree. To you it may appear as fantasy – horror figment of my imagination. But to me it is living up to my core values and professional ethics.  I am only saying that we must practice the very values that we have preached so far. Potentially it is a question of life and death of many innocent people”.

There was complete pin drop silence which seemed to last a lifetime, when Mr. Nair sank back into his seat saying, “Good civil engineers, like good doctors, must take complete responsibility for every life their work touches.” He took a sip of water, and said, “Even if we manage to avoid getting indicted in a situation like what I am “imagining”, our moral failures to resolve this problem now, will haunt us for ever, and that will be more tormenting than a business failure”.

Mr. Naidu stood up and said almost in a monotonous voice ‘Mr. Nair, it appears that you are getting unnecessarily emotional about this whole a?air. Well, I leave your ethics and your emotions to you. But for the business I am responsible for I am not convinced with that it is an advisable move to dismantle the entire raft now. Gentlemen, I have more urgent work to catch up with and more important things to worry about. Can we wind this up and move on?” he asked looking at Sunil and Atul.

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“Mr. Naidu,” Mr. Nair called out as he got up from his chair, “that leaves me with the last option, which I had hoped not to use, but you are forcing me to do so.” Mr. Naidu looked up as Nair continued in a firm and assertive voice “I will have to disclose and surrender this matter to the structural consultant appointed for this project by the Government.”

Mr Naidu gave a menacing look at all the three members in the room, grabbed his laptop and marched out, the door banged shut behind him.

Mr. Nair sank back into his seat, looked at Atul and Sunil and said,” Look, all this may look very stupid right now, but we must resolve all this right here, right now”. Atul by now had reached the peak of his dilemma. He was the youngest of all three people now present in the room looked at Sunil, who was almost his age, but this time he was looking for help.

“But how, sir?” Sunil finally asked breaking his long silence.

Mr. Nair looked at both and replied. “First let us get an UPV[4] done. The UPV will actually highlight the pockets in the raft where the bad concrete is sitting. We will then once again come back to Mr. Naidu with the results.”

Mr. Nair leaned back on his chair, fingers lightly tapping on the armrest, he said almost to himself “What concerns Mr. Naidu is what happens if the government gets wind of this issue. And I think his worry is absolutely legitimate. In his position, I too would have been worried about this.  So, we must figure a way out to address and effectively mitigate this concern”. Mr. Naidu continued to think, his fingers still lightly drumming the arm rests.

“Atul” Mr. Nair continued turning towards him, “Mr Naidu appears to be terribly upset right now. Once he calms down, convey our plan to him” and then to Sunil he said, “In the meantime, let us figure out how stealthily we can accomplish this task of replacing the bad concrete with good one”.

“There must be some way to get o? with this surgical strike without the government getting wind of it.” Mr. Nair smiled wryly. He continued “We would also need to take our top management into confidence. Atul we will need yours and Mr. Naidu’s help to convince your seniors here.”

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Mr. Naidu stared at the UPV report as if he was reading his own death warrant. And in a way the report was such. Mr. Nair’s worst fears had come to pass. Much of the bad concrete sat around those pockets where load bearing columns were designed to come up. It meant that moving forward as slab after slab gets loaded on to those columns, the concrete in the underlying raft will fail. It will not be able to take the load and the entire column will then punch through the raft and along with it will take down several floors of construction. It was evident that disaster will strike far too sooner, than was earlier estimated.

“So, where to from here, Mr. Nair?” Mr Naidu asked in a conceding tone.

“The challenge is to excavate out the bad concrete, replace it with good concrete, without disturbing the rest of the structure and without any government o?cial at site getting wind of it and this is where we need your help”. Mr. Nair replied and then he turned towards Sunil, “I think 48 hours of nonstop work should be enough to pull this o?. Let us get this job done next Saturday through Sunday, the government o?cials will be away at their weekend getaways and this way we will avoid their unsolicited attention.”

Mr. Nair turned towards Mr. Naidu “Sir, we will provide all the technical resources and the concrete required to get this job done. As of logistic, manpower and other miscellaneous support, please allow us two days to plan this out to the last detail?”

“I suppose, you will not need that Mr. Nair” Mr Naidu replied with a smile. “We will provide you with all other support for this work”.

‘Thank you so much Mr. Naidu!” replied Mr. Nair. “We will work out the commer…”

Mr Nair’s couldn’t finish what he was saying when Mr. Naidu interrupted “We will look into all that later. First let us get this o? at the earliest. We don’t have much time to waste”.

 Mr. Nair was amazed at this swiftness of thought and change of heart.

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“A very good morning and thank you so very much Mr. Nair” said Mr. Naidu as he walked into Mr. Nair’s o?ce back in Mumbai later that month. In tow was Atul.

“Had you not feared the worst and taken action” Mr Naidu continued, “the worst I feared would have come to pass. You saved our business from almost certain defame if not ruin”.

‘But business is important, and I must honour the commercial interests of my organisation Best Construction too” Mr. Naidu continued. “We will not pay you for the bad concrete you supplied, the rest all expenses incurred for this work will be booked into our books”

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Mr. Naidu held a long pause, looked into Mr. Nair’s eyes, wrapped his hands warmly around Nair’s palms and said “Your adamant and forceful commitment to transparency saved us from near certain ruin not just our businesses but also our careers, and I do not have enough words to say thanks to you for that”.

[1] a layer of reinforced concrete forming the foundation of a building.

[2] M30 represents the concrete mixture that, after 28 days of curing, will give a resistance of 30 N / mm2

[3] An ongoing delivery of concrete to a construction site  in industry terminology is referred to as a pour

[4] UPV is Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity test. It is an in - situ nondestructive test to check the quality of concrete and natural rocks used in construction.