Ethics and Corporate Responsibility Essay

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Total Length: 2000 words ( 7 double-spaced pages)

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hypothetical firm -- Pharmacare -- and address the issues of corporate responsibility and ethics.

Background Information on Case




New Jersey-based company, Pharmacare (We CARE about YOUR health®) counts among the leading pharmaceutical firms across the globe. It is reputed for being an ethical, well-managed and caring corporation that manufactures superior-quality products aimed at saving the lives of millions and enhancing the QOL (quality of life) of millions of other people. Its offering constitutes discounted and free medicines to people with low income. Furthermore, the company has a charity sponsoring scholarships and health education programs. Pharmacare's Chief Executive is a Phrma (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America) board member (Background Information). A short while ago, the organization commenced a novel program "We CARE about YOUR world®" in which it vows to adopt green practices such as recycling and packaging changes to demonstrate its responsibility to safeguard the environment. This step has been taken in spite of the successful baffling of environmental rules and laws by the organization's lobbying attempts and Political Action Committee (PAC); this includes the Superfund tax's extension (the tax was established under the 1980 CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act)). Pharmacare has a huge production unit located in Colberia, an African country where it can employ the services of a number of "healers" keen on sharing free information on native medicines. Additionally, in Colberia, a large labor force ready to do work -- that is, harvest plants and walk for a total distance of five miles daily, to and fro between the forest and the manufacturing unit, carrying baskets which, when filled, weigh about fifty pounds -- for a mere dollar per day is available. Owing to Colberia's low living standards, a majority of its citizens reside in simple huts without running water or electricity. On the other hand, executives of the company reside in an opulent locale, replete with tennis courts, golf course and swimming pools. The extensive activities of Pharmacare in the Colberian nation have damaged its habitat and threatened the existence of rare native species of flora and fauna.

Characteristics of a Stakeholder




The term 'stakeholder' is used to denote any individual, community, institution, or overall society which has stakes in a company. Therefore, clearly, stakeholders are both internal and external. Stakes may be defined as key interests or concerns in an enterprise or the activities it undertakes. This may include property and ownership interests, ethical rights, and legal duties and interests. Legal obligations include a responsibility to fulfill a contract or pay the wages it has promised, on time. Meanwhile, ethical or moral rights include a consumer's right of not being harmed on purpose by an organization's activities. A stakeholder is a person who can: (What Is a Stakeholder in Business? - Definition & Examples - Video & Lesson Transcript - Study.com)



• Impact a company



• Be impacted by the company



• Impact the company as well as be impacted



Stakeholders are frequently compared with shareholders, who are individuals with an ownership-related interest.

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Stakeholder theory was majorly impacted by philosopher, R. Edward Freeman's 1984 work Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach. The stakeholders in this case would be the company itself, its managers and workforce, and its Colberian facility's executives and workers.

Human Rights Issues




The American Congress instituted the federal agency, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) in the year 1970. The agency was made responsible for formulating safety and health standards for organizations. Ever since, key discourse on workplace safety and health has revolved around setting of these public standards. The chief issue is the suitability of cost-benefit analyses for establishing safety and health standards. This appears to be the Colberian facility's chief issue -- the disparity between executives' (i.e., employers') and employees' working conditions, pay, and living standards (Hartman, 2008). People employed by a U.S.-based multinational corporation outside America might be covered under certain American laws; however, enforcement is occasional. In certain instances, organizations operating in other nations face even stricter worker protection laws compared to American laws. For instance, a number of European nations have powerful laws safeguarding due process, worker participation, and other employee rights. However, in numerous other cases, particularly in underdeveloped nations, employees face conditions their counterparts in America would consider dreadful. Whilst individuals employed in the U.S. profit from the long historic battles to ensure workplace health and safety, people employed in a few Southeast Asian nations have to fight even for enjoying the privilege of at-will restroom breaks.



Theorists Bowie and Arnold argue that multinational corporations have to guarantee their employees' physical welfare and avoid damaging their moral and intellectual capacities' development. Respecting the employees working in international plants necessitates adherence to native labor laws, provision of a decent and safe working environment, avoiding the application of force on workers, forty-eight hours of work per week, and provision of wages over the general poverty line, by company-owned and contract plants (Hartman, 2008). Meanwhile, other scholars claim the above conditions must also cover a minimum working age (prevention of child labor), free association (this includes the right of organization and collective bargaining when negotiating contracts) and equal pay to female workers for the same post and other nondiscrimination requirements. Pharmacare's Colberia manufacturing unit needs to incorporate the above rights.

Environmental Initiative




It appears that the "We Care About Your World" program of Pharmacare is simply an act of publicity. The firm appears not to be sincerely concerned with….....

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References


Background Information

Dunn, & Burton. (2016). Britannica.com. Ethics of care - ethics and philosophy - Britannica.com. Retrieved August 18, 2016, from http://www.britannica.com/topic/ethics-of-care

(n.d.). Ethics. Virtue Ethics. Retrieved August 18, 2016, from http://www.ethicsmorals.com/ethicsvirtue.html

Hartman. (2008). Ethical Decision-Making: Employer Responsibilities and Employee Rights. Business Ethics: Decision-Making for Personal Integrity and Social Responsibility. Mcgraw-Hill. Retrieved from http://www.mhlearningsolutions.com/columbia_southern/0078134536/ch6.PDF

Hynes, R. (2011). Top 10 Lists - Listverse. Top 10 Unethical Business Actions - Listverse. Retrieved August 19, 2016, from http://listverse.com/2011/09/13/top-10-unethical-business-actions/

Rawls, J. (1971). A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press

(n.d.). Study.com - Take Online Courses. Earn College Credit. Research Schools, Degrees & Careers. What Is a Stakeholder in Business? - Definition & Examples - Video & Lesson Transcript - Study.com. Retrieved August 18, 2016, from http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-a-stakeholder-in-business-definition-examples-quiz.html

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