Ethical Issues in Biotech's Shifting of Packaging and Distribution Centers to Iceland

This article discusses the ethical issues surrounding Biotech's decision to shift its packaging and distribution centers to Iceland. It explores the ethical dilemma faced by the company and the concepts of ethical relativism and moral universalism.

Running head: ICELANDIC FREEZE
Icelandic Freeze
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Discussions......................................................................................................................................2
Ethical issue.................................................................................................................................2
Ethical issue in the context of Biotech........................................................................................3
Ethical issue irrelevant to the scenario........................................................................................3
Ethical dilemma...........................................................................................................................4
Ethical relativism and moral universalism..................................................................................4
Ethical relativism and moral universalism in context of Biotech................................................5
References:......................................................................................................................................6

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Introduction
The head of Packaging and Distribution at Biotech Health and Life Products, Josh Garett
was examining the costing reports for different branches.Upon examining the cost data, he was
concerned about the increasing costs of unskilled labour at the Germany Branch.Most of them
made minimum wage.The distribution costs between Europe and North America have also
increased recently(Hanhijärvi et al.,2016).The 2016 shipping crisis has facilitated a rise of
shipping costs for all routes in the Atlantic.Josh figured that by shifting the Package and
Distribution division from Germany to Iceland, the production and distribution costs would be
reduced.Iceland is the middle region beween all the shipping routes in the Atlantic. This new
location removed the need to ship long distance hauls(Hanhijärvi et al.,2016).
Discussions
Ethical issue
An ethical issue refers to a problem or a scenario that needs a person or an enterprise to
make a choice among alternatives that may be construed as either right or wrong. Ethics gives a
general sense of guidance about the good aspects that one should aspire to,for both individuals
and the society at large.Our concept of ethics is an amalgamation of culture, religion and
philosophy.. Ethical judgments, on whether actions help or harm, can be classified as right or
wrong based on the assumption that there is some underlying universal or relative moral standard
for making such judgments(Hollingworth & Valentine, 2015)..Examples of ethical issues include
issues bordering on matters of honesty, fairness, justice and confliction of interests(Williamson
et al.,2017).

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Ethical issue in the context of Biotech
After researching all available data that he could find on Iceland being a better cost
cutting alternative than Germany , he found that the average salary base for adult workers in
Iceland is much higher than in Germany(Hollingworth & Valentine, 2015).There would be an
increase in labour costs as a result of this.Josh however believed that by recruiting young people
whose ages were between 15 to 18 years, who could work long hours, he would save on labour
costs. By employing these young people, Josh thought that he could negotiate a lower
salary.Josh’s hiring practices were considered to be unethical because he was taking advantage
of the system .He was intentionally not paying workers a fair wage and preventing them from
getting employed full time,since after turning 18 years old,the contract of a worker has to be
negotiated again.He was exploiting the system for the company’s gain.
Ethical issue irrelevant to the scenario
By shifting the packaging and distribution centers from Germany and Canada to
IcelandT, he was saving a fortune on cargo and shipping costs.Iceland would remove the need to
ship for long distance hauls.In view of this case study,the non ethical issue refers to Biotech’s
genuine intention of creating more employment opportunities in Iceland.This country is one of
the poorest nations in Europe, with very limited resources(Ayal et al., 2015). There is a dearth of
financially viable jobs in Iceland.Shifting the package and distribution center to Iceland and
taking advantage of its shipping routes and its favourable position on the transatlantic route
would be a great boost to the Iceland economy.

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Ethical dilemma
An ethical dilemma is a conundrum among two moral absolutes, neither of them being
vaguely desirable or satisfactory(Anderson & Anderson,2014). In this context, Josh employed
more young workers than adults in the packaging and distribution center. Josh intended on
helping the youth of Iceland. He believed that he was being socially considerate in boosting
Iceland and its less than adequate job structure. However the young workers were not in a
position to negotiate their own salary. They could only do that after they reached 19 years of age.
So he exclusively staffed young workers and released them before they reached 19 years of age,
just before the contract of the worker had to be negotiated again(Ayal et al., 2015). They were
employed part time and worked 40 hours a week.This was a cost cutting measure and it reduced
labour costs. Josh was trying to do right by his company in terms of financial gain but he did not
do anything illegal. The Iceland labour force questioned the use of taking advantage of the
system and not paying workers a fair wage rate.The dilemma in this case is between considering
the financial objective of the company, that is, reducing labour costs or employing more full time
workers and paying a significantly higher wage rate to appease the Icelandic labour force to
prevent an impending labour strike(Sparber et al.,2016).
Ethical relativism and moral universalism
Ethical relativism is the idea that no moral absolutes exist and that there is no one right
or wrong thing. This position would assert that our morals change and evolve with the evolution
of social norms and regulations.This philosophy allows people to ethically consider the change
in culture, knowledge, and technology. Slavery is a good example of ethical relativism. The
value of a human being is repeatedly determined by a combination of social norms, preferences
and “rules” that would bring about the most benefit(Pearson, 2016).

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Moral Universalism is a concept which states that there is an universal code of ethics
which applies to all of humanity, irrespective of race, religion,sex, or other discerning feature.
An universal code of ethics is a moral set of guidelines that surpasses culture and personal
impulse(Crimston et.al.,2016).The justification of this system is meant to be within human
nature, a vulnerability that is shared commonly by all of mankind in view of the suffering and
pain or the burden of everyday life
Ethical relativism and moral universalism in context of Biotech
In the context of Biotech, moral universalism can be interpreted. There is an assumed
universal ethic that illustrates equal pay for everyone, irrespective of age or other distinguishing
feature. The young workers were paid significantly less , because they were not in a position to
negotiate their salary.According to moral universalism, they should have been paid at a rate that
was consistent with the adult Icelandic labour force.

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References:
Anderson, M., & Anderson, S. L. (2014, July). GenEth: A General Ethical Dilemma
Analyzer. In AAAI (pp. 253-261).
Ayal, S., Gino, F., Barkan, R., & Ariely, D. (2015). Three principles to REVISE people’s
unethical behavior. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(6), 738-741.
Crimston, D., Bain, P. G., Hornsey, M. J., & Bastian, B. (2016). Moral expansiveness:
Examining variability in the extension of the moral world. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 111(4), 636.
Hanhijärvi, K. J., Ziedaite, G., Bamford, D. H., Hæggström, E., & Poranen, M. M.
(2016). Single-molecule measurements of viral ssRNA packaging. RNA, rna-
057471.
Hollingworth, D., & Valentine, S. (2015). The moderating effect of perceived
organizational ethical context on employees’ ethical issue recognition and ethical
judgments. Journal of business ethics, 128(2), 457-466
Pearson, R. (2016). Beyond ethical relativism in public relations: Coorientation, rules,
and the idea of communication symmetry. In Public relations research
annual (pp. 77-96). Routledge.
Sparber, L., McLeod-Sordjan, R., Patel, V., Doscher, W., & Barrera, R. (2016). 1692:
WHEN THE DECISION IS INDECISION AN ETHICAL DILEMMA IN THE
SICU. Critical Care Medicine, 44(12), 498.

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Williamson, A. A., Raglin Bignall, W. J., Swift, L. E., Hung, A. H., Power, T. J., Robins,
P. M., & Mautone, J. A. (2017). Ethical and legal issues in integrated care
settings: Case examples from pediatric primary care. Clinical Practice in
Pediatric Psychology, 5(2), 196.