{"product_id":"meridian","title":"Meridian (A) \u0026 (B): A Founder, a Chief Executive and a Middle Manager at the Edge of Insolvency","description":"\u003cp\u003eSet in the final weeks before a water-infrastructure group is forced into insolvency, Meridian (A) and (B) cases examine the same ethical crisis from two levels of the organisation. Case A follows the Founder and the Chief Executive, who remain convinced that a long-promised rescue is imminent. After proceeds expected to repay a creditor are redirected to pressing company obligations, the Chief Executive must decide how to respond when the creditor asks for payment. Case B shifts to the Financial Controller, who learns from a junior colleague that the funds were diverted and that the Chief Executive has given the creditor an explanation he knows to be false. With his name on payment authorisations, limited authority, substantial personal exposure and a family dependent on him, the Financial Controller must decide what to do. Together, the cases examine how organisational power, hierarchy, financial distress and personal vulnerability constrain ethical agency without removing responsibility. They introduce bounded ethical agency alongside ethical fading, moral disengagement and escalation of commitment, and use a five-strategy typology to analyse how middle managers handle reported ethical transgressions. The paired cases support discussion of stakeholder claims, governance, ethical courage, voice and silence, and the distinction between receiving a disclosure and whistleblowing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBy the end of the discussion, students should be able to analyse ethical, legal and governance issues under financial distress; reconstruct how constraints and rationalisations shape decisions; apply bounded ethical agency, ethical fading and moral disengagement; evaluate stakeholder claims and responsibility; and assess five middle-manager handling strategies, from adaptive compliance and informal approaches to formal escalation and strategic withdrawal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInspection copies and teaching notes are available for university faculty. To receive an inspection copy and teaching note, please email \u003ca href=\"mailto:ccxshop@smu.edu.sg\"\u003eccxshop@smu.edu.sg\u003c\/a\u003e with your registered faculty email ID and a link to your contact information on the faculty directory at your university as verification. An inspection copy and teaching note will then be sent to your faculty email account.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\nDownload information\n\n\u003cp\u003eSMU Faculty\/Staff can download the case \u0026amp; teaching note on iNet with your SMU login ID \u0026amp; Password via the following links:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e·      \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/smu.sharepoint.com\/sites\/admin\/CMP\/cases\/SMU-26-BATCH%20%5BPDF-Pic%5D\/SMU-26-0011%20%5BMeridian%20A%20\u0026amp;%20B%5D\/SMU-26-0011%20%5BMeridian%20A%5D%20.pdf?CT=1787824761621\u0026amp;OR=ItemsView\"\u003eCase A (SMU-26-0011)\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e·      \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/smu.sharepoint.com\/sites\/admin\/CMP\/cases\/SMU-26-BATCH%20%5BPDF-Pic%5D\/SMU-26-0011%20%5BMeridian%20A%20\u0026amp;%20B%5D\/SMU-26-0011%20%5BMeridian%20B%5D%20.pdf?CT=1787824765375\u0026amp;OR=ItemsView\"\u003eCase B (SMU-26-0011)\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e·      \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/smu.sharepoint.com\/sites\/admin\/CMP\/cases\/SMU-26-BATCH%20%5BPDF-Pic%5D\/SMU-26-0011%20%5BMeridian%20A%20\u0026amp;%20B%5D\/SMU-26-0011%20%5BMeridian%20A%20\u0026amp;%20B%20TN%5D%20.pdf?CT=1787824772817\u0026amp;OR=ItemsView\"\u003eTeaching Note (SMU-26-0011TN)\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e·      \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/smu.sharepoint.com\/sites\/admin\/CMP\/cases\/SMU-26-BATCH%20%5BPDF-Pic%5D\/SMU-26-0011%20%5BMeridian%20A%20\u0026amp;%20B%5D\/SMU-26-0011%20%5BMeridian%20TS1%5D.pdf?CT=1787824757759\u0026amp;OR=ItemsView\"\u003eTeaching Note Supplement 1 (SMU-26-0011TS1)\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e·      \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/smu.sharepoint.com\/sites\/admin\/CMP\/cases\/SMU-26-BATCH%20%5BPDF-Pic%5D\/SMU-26-0011%20%5BMeridian%20A%20\u0026amp;%20B%5D\/SMU-26-0011%20%5BMeridian%20TS2%5D.pdf?CT=1787824769152\u0026amp;OR=ItemsView\"\u003eTeaching Note Supplement 2 (SMU-26-0011TS2)\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor purchase of the case and supplementary materials via The Case Centre, please access the following links:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e·      Case A (SMU-26-0011)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e·      Case B (SMU-26-0011)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e·      Teaching Note (SMU-26-0011)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e·      Teaching Supplement 1 (SMU-26-0011)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e·      Teaching Supplement 2 (SMU-26-0011)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor purchase of the case and supplementary materials via Harvard Business Publishing, please access the following links:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e·      Case A (SMU-26-0011)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e·      Case B (SMU-26-0011)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e·      Teaching Note (SMU-26-0011)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e·      Teaching Supplement 1 (SMU-26-0011)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e·      Teaching Supplement 2 (SMU-26-0011)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Centre for Case Learning Excellence","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44756021968938,"sku":"SMU-26-0011","price":6.0,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2115\/0283\/files\/iStock-2176459835.jpg?v=1787825061","url":"https:\/\/ccx-shop.smu.edu.sg\/products\/meridian","provider":"Centre for Case Learning Excellence","version":"1.0","type":"link"}