Ethics and Corporate Responsibility in the Workplace
PharmaCARE's motto is "We CARE about YOUR health" -- and this assertion should be born out in the firm's actions and not just in its words. To understand the actual impact of the organization's actions, it is necessary to acknowledge its stakeholders and see how each is affected. By doing so, a better system of corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be implemented that will address the issues that face PharmaCARE in Colberia. By examining how other firms and multinationals have addressed CSR issues and comparing them to the situation that PharmaCARE faces, a detailed proposition based on the appropriate philosophical/ethical perspective can be generated. This paper will provide an overview of the stakeholders in the firm, how they are impacted by the organization's actions, how the firm can better itself ethically and responsibly regarding stakeholders, and how PharmaCARE compares to another company of a similar situation.
A stakeholder is one who is directly or indirectly impacted by the conduct of the company. Thus, a stakeholder can be a manager within the firm or a customer of the firm. It can be a political activist who receives donations from the firm and looks after its interests, or it can be a politician who represents a community where the firm does business. Stakeholders are in some way involved in and/or touched by the activities of the company. The stakeholders in PharamCARE consist of employees (both Western and Colberian), consumers/clients, and directors, as well as the recipients of its sponsored programs, including PAC fund recipients, scholarship recipients, and environmental lobby groups. The issue that the firm faces is that its commitment to health evidenced in its motto and mission is at odds with its actions in both the environmental realm and in the socio-political realm. For example, instead of committing itself to environmental protection, it has lobbied to overturn environmental regulations show that it can avoid being hampered by laws and regulations that are detrimental to its ability to turn a profit. This is an example of a company that puts profits before people, when the core of CSR should be putting people before profits, as it is the former that underlines the ability to produce the latter.
CSR is a way for firms to have a direct effect on the "social, environmental and economic environment in which" the corporation functions (Castka, Bamber, Sharp, 2005, p. vii). By devising good CSR policies, companies can be seen as being willing to commit to the actual health of the planet and the cultures/communities with which the companies interact, in a united effort to create a better place for all (Friedman, Miles, 2002). In order to appropriately structure the CSR policy, a firm should effect an adequate ethical foundation for itself, which serves as a guideline for how the company should address all issues that come up in its line of work (Pearce, Doh, 2005; AnyangoOoko, 2014). For instance, with PharmaCARE the company expresses its intent to help improve the health of people, but if it is opposing legislation that will help to protect the environment, then it is not living up to its motto, because if an environment is negatively impacted so too will be the people in that environment. PharmaCARE's outlook therefore is not currently being guided by an ethical framework that allows it to apply a systematic and ethical formula to every occasion. In order for it to succeed, it needs to do just this.
Another issue that the firm faces is its use of labor in Africa which consists of the exploitation of workers in Colberia, who are employed for slave wages ($1 per day) and are required to do heavy manual lifting and labor. This is not a caring practice and does not show concern for the workers of the company within that country (though Western employees are treated much better, having lavish accommodations, including swimming pool access and places of rest and living quarters that are quite different from those of the average African worker. Thus, there is a system of inequality evident within the firm and its operations.
Apple is one example of a company that has taken its business to other countries in order to profit from labor there. Apple has used Chinese labor, which it pays a similar rate for, and it has also dealt with the controversial issue of worker suicide by erecting nets outside its factories, so that workers cannot kill themselves by jumping out windows or from the rooftops (Copper, 2013). Apple's "sweatshop" factories, as they are...
Sweatshops in Third World Countries Not so long ago when the word sweatshop was mentioned, images of Charles Dickens would surface, for the notion of sweatshops seemed to be a thing of the past. However, in recent years, sweatshops have been at the forefront of media attention. They are back, actually they never truly went away at all, and they are back in full swing around the world, mostly in third
Thus it can improve the fates of the sweatshop workers' children, by infusing income into the poorer nation. The argument in favor of the employment of illegal workers in the United States is that the workers chose their lot by illegally immigrating and often work under better conditions than they would on their home soil. Also, the children of the illegal workers will improve if the children are allowed
Sweatshops Are Sweatshops a Necessarily Evil? Within the last few years, Americans have become aware that sometimes when American corporations send manufacturing tasks to foreign countries, those tasks end up being performed by people we would view as not yet adults -- young teenagers, and sometimes even workers younger than that. The companies argue that they do not always have either control or knowledge that such practices are going on, thus excusing
A utilitarian would argue that to ensure the greatest happiness, for the greatest number, perhaps some suffering in the interim must be endured by the current generation of factory laborers in the developing world, so that industrialization can develop and so capitalism can take hold there. Moreover, the ethical quandaries we experience are not merely relegated to clothing -- what of how we profit off of the labor illegal
Sweatshop Girl: Sadie Frowne In "The Story of a Sweatshop Girl," Sadie Frowne describes her life journey from peasant farmer's daughter to factory worker. Her description includes details of her daily life, and the difficulties she faces as a sweatshop girl in the early 20th century. Her narrative also illustrates prevalent social values of the time, as well as her individual values. Her focus on the specific details of her
The organization explains that consumers can take the initiative to speak out against companies that use sweatshops. (Ten Ways to end Sweatshops) They can also join campaigns such as OXFAM which attempt to ensure that special events such as the Olympics are not utilizing products created in sweatshops. Ten Ways to end Sweatshops) Conclusion The purpose of this paper was to discuss sweatshops, the impact that they have on the world and what
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now