Navy Captain's Perilous Call on Warship Safety Bypass

Source: hbsp.harvard.edu

The Harvard Business School case study follows Captain Mary Baxter, a top manager at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, as she grapples with a directive to bypass required safety inspections on a critical warship repair project. Involved parties include the Navy's program office pushing for speed, her shipyard team facing burnout, and sailors whose lives depend on the work. The core dilemma pits ethical leadership against bureaucratic pressure, showing how one manager's call impacts national defense