Real-life Case Study: Business and Ethics

Entrepreneurs

When George Abbot Morison retired to the family farm in Peterborough, New Hampshire, in the 1940s, the state had high unemployment and very little industry. Morison decided to do something that would create new jobs and help revitalize the state's industrial base. He had read about Hitchiner Manufacturing Company, Inc., a small company that specialized in producing metal parts. Morison saw a growing need for precision metal parts and realized that Hitchiner's metal casting process had great commercial potential. In 1949, he and his son John H. Morison bought the company, and John became president.

Rights and Responsibilities For the Morisons' investment to pay off, they had to develop the company so that it would make money. To do so, they benefited from their rights to enter into contracts, to use the courts to enforce their contractual rights, and to receive equal protection of law.

Hitchiner also had responsibilities. It had to comply with health and safety laws to reduce the chances of on-the-job injuries. The company had to pay employees at least minimum wage and had to make contributions to the state workers compensation fund. It also had to pay taxes on its profits.

Most importantly, the company strove to maintain “the highest standards of ethical and good-spirited conduct.” Key points of its ethics policy appear in the Statement of Principles and Code of Conduct on this page.

Helping Employees Morison realized that the company's success depended on having an educated and trained work force. Hitchiner began sending employees for courses in many disciplines, from basic literacy and mathematics to statistical process control, for apprenticeships in specialized technical fields, and for business-management seminars. In 1953, Hitchiner became one of the first American companies to give its employees an ownership interest in the company.

Continued Success Today, Hitchiner markets its metal castings and licenses its technology and processes worldwide. Its current sales total about $200 million a year.

Hitchiner uses the latest technologies in metal casting.

Applying Economic Ideas

1. 1. How were the Morisons able to help themselves and help their community at the same time?
   2. What were their rights and responsibilities?
2. Analyze Hitchiner's ethics policy. Why was this policy an important part of its business success?

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