Ethics and corporate responsibility assignment

Typically, project stakeholders include team members, sponsors, senior engagement, customers, government agencies and competitors. The interest, influence and importance of various stakeholders in a project could vary. Stakeholders are classified based on the following characteristics (Pancake’s, 2009): a. Interest b. Involvement c. Affect d. Position relative to the organization e. Level in the organization. The classification of stakeholders in various categories helps to get a better understanding in terms of how they are associated with the project.

Based on the characteristics, stakeholders could also be classified into five categories as follows: 1 . Supports or Opponents – Supporters would be in favor of the project and opponents would have a negative interest in the project 2. Primary or Secondary -?? Primary are those whose interests are critical to the success of the project and are ultimately affected by the project (Typically, customers and end users fall into this category. However, Project Sponsors, project Managers, Senior Management and Team Members may also fall into this category. And secondary stakeholders play an intermediary role or help complete the project (Typically, Administrative Staff, Financial or Legal Consultants fall into this category. ) 3. Internal or external – Stakeholders are classified as Internal or External depending on position relative to the organization. Internal stakeholders are the stakeholders within the organization and are directly involved in developing the project. Project managers and team members fall into this category. External stakeholders are not a part of the organization but have an interest in the project. Government agencies, customers and competitors fall in this category. . Direct or Indirect – Direct Stakeholders are affected by day-to-day activities of the project. Typically, team members fall in this category as the daily activities, schedule and client requirements affect them the most on a dally basis. Indirect stakeholders are those who are ultimately affected by the project. Customers and end users fall into this category. This is because quality, price, packaging and availability of the end product affect them the most. 5. Operational or Strategic – Depending upon the level in the organization, stakeholders are classified as Operational or Strategic.

Operational stakeholders are actively involved in executing the project. Operational: Team members, Strategic: Senior Executives. The stakeholders within the Pharmacy scenario are the patients who buy the drugs, their families, the management, the government, pharmacists, nurses, psychologists, activists, the general public, the competing companies and suppliers and the “ healers” and people of Colombia. All of the above stakeholders have a stake in the activities of the company and its success or failure. These people can all influence and be influenced by project decisions.

Pharmacy treated the people of Colombia in an unethical and discriminatory manner. Workplace ethics dictate the fair and equal treatment of every employee. Pharmacy clearly did not have these ethics when dealing with the residents of the African nation of Colombia. Most countries have laws regarding minimum wage, work hours and work conditions. Working for a dollar per day, traveling such distances and carrying such heavy weight seems cruel. Three ways that Pharmacy could be more ethical going forward with the people of Colombia are: 1 . Pay them more per hour for the work that is done.

One dollar per day is highway robbery. Willing or not, it is unjust. 2. Provide the “ healers” with transportation of some sort to carry the baskets of plants back and forth room the jungle. It’s not right that they have to struggle so hard. 3. Set up a system of clean drinking water for the people of Colombia with some of the money they are making. Pharmacy’s executives live in a luxury compound, complete with a swimming pool, tennis courts, and a golf course. Their extensive activities in Colombia have destroyed habitat and endangered native species.

The company can afford to help the country that they have taken so much from. Pharmacy’s environmental initiative would be considered greengage against the backdrop Of its anti-environmental lobbying efforts and Collegian activities. Green washing is when a company, government or other group promotes green-based environmental initiatives or images but actually operates in a way that is damaging to the environment or in an opposite manner to the goal of the announced initiatives. This can also include misleading customers about the environmental benefits of a product through misleading advertising and unsubstantiated claims.

So, Pharmacy’s new initiative, We CARE about YOUR[email protected], pledges its commitment to the environment through recycling, packaging changes and other green initiatives. However, the company lobbied and successfully fatted environmental laws and regulations, including extension of the Superfine tax, which was created by Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCAL). This is in direct contrast with the “ green” image the company’s new initiative is trying to portray. Pharmacy’s actions with respect to the indigenous people of Colombia in accordance with each of the following ethical theories are as follows: a.

Utilitarianism – Utilitarianism is an approach to ethical reasoning in which ethically correct behavior is not related to any absolute ethical or moral aloes but to an evaluation of the consequences of a given action to those who will be affected by it. In utilitarian reasoning, a good decision is one that results in the greatest good for the greatest number of people affected by it (“ stakeholders”) (Halberd & Inguinal, 2012). In regards to this ethical theory, Pharmacy would not be ethical. The company did not make decisions based on the greater good of all involved.

They were more concerned with the executives of the company. B. Demonology – Demonology is the study of duty; as developed by Emmanuel Kant, the notion that there are certain moral sights and duties that every human being possesses and those ethical choices derive from universal principles based on those rights and duties (Halberd & Inguinal, 2012). If Pharmacy felt that it was the duty of the people of Colombia to work as they did, then it could be said that the company dealt ethically in regard to this theory. Point of view would depend on the outcome in this instance. C.

Virtue ethics – Virtue ethics is the ethical theory derived from Aristotle that our moral abilities (or virtues) are a matter of good habits, developed through training and repetition, within communities (Halberd & Inguinal, 2012). In this instance, Pharmacy was ethical because the people of Colombia were willing to work for a dollar a day and harvest plants by walking five (5) miles into and out of the jungle carrying baskets that, when full, weigh up to fifty (50) pounds. D. Ethics of care – The ethic of care is based on the work of feminist psychologist Carol Gilligan, who studied moral development.

Her research initially led her to believe that men and women approached moral issues from different perspectives. While most men had an individualistic focus on abstract rights and justice, women tended to focus on raring on supporting human interconnectedness – an approach that Gilligan saw as undervalued, and which she characterized as “ a different voice. ” Over time this understanding has shifted. Rather than a split between male versus female ethics, it is thought that both of these approaches can be accessed by either men or women (Halberd & Inguinal, 2012).

The ethic of care encourages compromise and flexibility in knitting valuable relationships closer. Therefore, Pharmacy did not deal with the people of Colombia ethically in accordance with this theory. E. As with most all of the ethical theories previously issued, I don’t feel that Pharmacy acted ethically at all in the way that they dealt with the people of Colombia. They worked them hard and for little money. The company destroyed the natural environment where they live, destroying habitat and endangering native species. There is just no excuse for that type of behavior. No amount of money is worth it.

One of the most prolific examples of a real-world company, whose corporate activities led to ethical, environmental, or workplace safety issues and financial loss is BP. BP plead guilty to manslaughter charges stemming from the 201 0 Departed Horizon explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and agreed to pay $4. 5 billion in government penalties. Of the penalties, $4 billion will resolve criminal charges. An additional $525 million will be paid to resolve claims brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission that BP lied to investors by understating the amount Of oil flowing into the Gulf. BP reached a $7. Billion settlement with lawyers representing private-sector victims. But in September of 2012, the Justice Department accused BP of gross negligence and a “ culture of corporate recklessness” in a federal court filing, which expanded the company’s liability. BP will have up to six years to pay the money it agreed to as part of the settlement. Most offbeat money $2. 4 billion will go to the National Fish & Wildlife F-inundation, an independent not-for-profit conservation group chartered by Congress in 1984. It is a windfall for the group, whose total contributions and commitments since its founding are just above $2 billion.

Another $350 million will go to the National Academy of Science. BP identified the remaining $1 . 256 billion of the settlement as a “ criminal fine. ” More than $1 billion Of that fine will go to the U. S. Coast Guard’s Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, to be available for cleanup and compensation for those affected by oil spills in the Gulf. It is single largest criminal fine on record. The similarities between BP and Pharmacy are that both companies damaged the environment and cut corners to try to save money. Also, the companies cared more about making sure that top executives were well paid and taken care of than other employees.

In addition, both companies portray themselves as trying to act in the long-term interests of our shareholders, our pa raters and society. As far as differences go, BP faced billions of dollars in nines from the Gulf Oil spill. Lives were lost. Wildlife was lost. Those are things that cannot be gotten back. Also, the companies produce two different types of products and operate in different industries. Workplace ethics enhance the relationship between the management Of a company, employees and the stakeholders that are involved with the organization. They guide the decisions of management, especially when tough choices have to be made.

Even though one of the purposes of a company is to make profits, they should not do so if it compromises the integrity of their morals and causes harm to there or to the environment. In the case of Pharmacy, the management optimized profits at the expense of the people of Colombia and the environment. This shows that they had no moral ethics and greed was the main motivator of their actions. The management of Pharmacy should face legal charges and fines for their mistreatment of the people of Colombia and for destroying habitat and endangering native species.