Ethical Theories and Comparative Business Ethics

This essay discusses the ethical theories and comparative business ethics. It explores the personal and professional ethical issues addressed in the article and analyzes whether the actions of Michael were right or wrong based on different ethical theories. The focus is on the importance of business ethics and corporate social responsibility in organizations.

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COMPARATIVE BUSINESS ETHICS AND CSR
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5/18/2019

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Business ethics are the blueprint of ethical standards, which is followed by an
organization while performing business activities. They are those principles, which direct
the actions of an individual to attain the objectives of the business. To be more
productive, every company strives hard to perform in an ethical way as it helps them in
understanding the difference between what is right and wrong. In the industry,
performing ethically means working and developing relationships with coworkers and
providing value creation to the customer and shareholders on the foundation of honesty
and sincerity (Adda et al., 2016). They are followed while fulfilling the role of corporate
governance. In Companies, they are many stakeholders who are not involved in the
functions of the management. Moreover, the economic performance of the companies is
interlinked with the financial position of the world. Therefore, while managing the
companies, leaders have to maintain their liability and transparency more than before.
However, from the last past 10 years, ethical misconduct (dishonest behavior, duplicity,
and deception) in the workplace has become one of the biggest challenges for the
organization (Francesca, 2015). According to the researchers, human beings are more
capable of conducting their activities in an unethical way without even realizing its
negative consequences.
Recently it was published in “The Sydney Herald” that one of the renowned and
experienced pharmacists Michael Dominicus Zuderwyk was arrested while conducting
his duties in an unethical way. He was convicted for advising the wrong medications like
restricted antibiotics to the customers without any doctor’s prescription for curing the
minor illness. He did this fraud during 2015-2016. Due to the wrong medicines, the
health of patients suffered. Michael also manipulated records of his inventory of stock.
The consequences of this unethical behavior were that all the medical records were
filled with the name of one medical practitioner, the tribunal shut down the pharmacy
and Michael lost everything, which earned through his wrongdoings. However, in the
given article, to earn more money Michael chose the wrong path in which he misused
his knowledge and deceived his customers.
Therefore, the focus of the essay will be on what are the various personal and
professional ethical issues of Michael is addressed in the article, what according to
Michael was right and wrong and with the help of different ethical theories explain
whether he did the right thing or not (Garcia, 2019).
A. In the present society, the news about exploitation, fraud, money laundering is
bombarding everywhere. The main reason behind such a scandal is the unethical
behavior of the industry towards society. Moreover, the unbelievable fact is that the
people who value ethics conduct this unethical attitude. To be more successful and to
earn more money, they start working in an unethical way whenever they perceive the
opportunity to deceive others. It not only affects the owner but also other stakeholders
like a customer and other competitors. A Similar issue happened in the case of Mr.
Michael Dominicus Zuderwyk.
According to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal judge, Michael was a
well-known chemist with an experience of 20 years in the pharmacy. He possessed the
knowledge of preparing drugs with the help of which, Michael cheated his clients by
prescribing restricted drugs without the permission of the medical practitioners. He did
this because of his lazy attitude. He created fake dispensary records on the name of a

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common medical doctor. Due to his ignorant behavior, the doctor was also got involved
in this scandal. He intentionally conducted this crime to gain his own personal desire to
earn more money. Due to his dishonest behavior, he breached the moral values of
normative ethics in which the rules which were the responsibility of Michael to follow.
The courts disapprove the activities of the pharmacist. The consequences of this
scandal were that Mr. Michael suffered huge financial losses, the market value of his
pharmacy got down of his, his reputation was jeopardized and due to the malpractices,
he lost all his customers. This whole situation created a stressful impact on Michael.
Michael who lacked both personal and professional ethics fell into the psychological trap
of desires (Francesca, 2015). He convicted for this unlawful act (Garcia, 2019). Due to
such fraud, other stakeholders got afraid were also stopped their malpractices.
B. Corporate governance and business ethics play an important role in business. Every
company should follow corporate governance as it plays a major role to make
management more efficient and effective way (Adda et al., 2016). However, the actions
took by Michael was ethically wrong. His action not only encouraged other stakeholders
to perform in an unethical way but also created trust issues among his customers. This
adversely affects the stakeholders as they now rethink to go to any medical shops.
Therefore, as per the individual generic view of what can be done in that situation
instead of actually behaving in an unethical way. Keeping the light on this issue, the
statement will be explained according to the two theories that are Deontology theory
and utilitarianism theory.
 In the Greek language, Deontology means duty ethics. It is based on the theory that
ethical values are obtained due to some causes rather than any order or from any
culture. They are the responsibility, which an individual needs to fulfill. According to
Kant, everyone while taking any decision must introspect whether he or she is doing
right or wrong (Ayres, 2019). Moreover, it means treating everyone with the utmost
respect without expecting anything (Misselbrook, 2013). If Michael had worked hard
according to deontology theory and not given the medicines without the doctor’s
prescription, then he must be able to fulfill his duties perfectly. The health of the patients
did not deteriorate and they could have respected and trusted him. The motto behind
the deontology is avoiding the wrong thing and always performing the duties in the right
way.
 However, utilitarianism is opposite to the deontology in which the focus is put on the
result. In this theory, the ethical actions are based on the consequences of the effort
therefore, it is also known as Consequentialism theory. In this, the results of any activity
decide whether the work was ethically right or not. If it brings out the best outcome then
it was morally perfect. The principle of utilitarianism is based on the greatest happiness
(Lazari-Radek & Singer, 2017). If Michael had chosen the right path to success then
definitely, it might have given him satisfaction and pleasure. His clients might get happy
and satisfied and they would come to the medical shop more often than going to other
medical shops.
C. Business ethics are performed with the application of ethical theories Ethical theories
are the structure of a system that provides guidelines to achieve a particular task. They
are very crucial for creating a strong base so the company can face various challenges
easily. An ethical theory involves three ethics normative theory, meta-ethics, and moral
ethics.

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 Normative ethics inform us that how an individual person must act, what should be their
standard of living and what should be the character. They serve as criterion against
which the behavior of an individual is analyzed. They are the moral values, which are
concerned with the decision of right and wrong (Kagan, 2018). Normative theories are
further divided into two theories, which are Consequentialist and non-consequentialist.
Consequentialists involve utilitarianism, and egoism and non-consequentialist involves
duty-based ethics and the right theory. In consequentialist
 Utilitarian theory means performing in such a way that its results provide benefits to
most of the people of the society keeping the personal feelings aside (Lazari-Radek &
Singer, 2017) and Ethical Egoism which is another theory of normative ethics explain
that how everyone must behave. It is just opposite to selfishness, as it as involves own
interest to help others (Anon., 2010).
 The deontology theory of ethics means duty that is to be attained. This theory formed
under the guidance of Immanuel Kant. The ideology behind this theory is that everyone
should be given equal right and respect, which they deserve, and Right theory is based
on the fact that the rights of the society hold the great importance which is needed to
be protected (Chonko, 2012)
 Virtue theory is an important theory, which is becoming very popular nowadays. Virtue
ethics help in understanding that the result of any situation depends upon the
psychology of the person while taking any action or making any decision. It is character
theory as it put more emphasis on the character of the person than the activity (Morris &
Morris, 2016). It also focuses that if the individual in build themselves with the virtue
ethics then surely, they achieve good habits to train the mind.
Hence, in the scandal, Michael did not perform his duties according to the ethics.
Because of his laziness and ignorant behavior at the workplace, He chose the wrong
and easy to earn more money and to become successful. He did not take care of his
clients and deceived them with the wrong medicines. He was so smart that he prepared
the fake dispensary records so that no one can suspect his wrong deed. The
consequences of the whole scenario were that he was convicted and found guilty. This
situation could be tackled with an application of Virtue theory. As it was the psychology
of Michael behind his action. Now as per the report, Michael is now attending a training
of medical course and is undergoing the advisory session on decision-making.
.
.If he had maintained the right attitude on his workplace, treated everyone like human-
being, and did not deceived him or her with the restricted drugs then he must not be
convicted. He should not have instigated his competitors to take the wrong path of
success. If he followed the business ethics and corporate governance in his pharmacy
then the story would be different. To stop this malpractices Government must have ban
those practitioners who are doing an illegal business of making money. They should
bring strict reform on the use of plastic bags, as it is harmful for the society. There must
be ban on the illegal activities performed by the practitioners such as giving medicines
without the consent form of doctors and there license must be canceled.

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Hence, it can be inferred that Business ethics and corporate social responsibility are
very important for the survival of an organization. They are the guideline, which shows
the right path to an individual. It is the responsibility of every company to perform But
due to greediness and selfishness sometimes people chose the wrong path of unethical
behavior which not only has a negative impact on them but also on society. Hence, this
issue can be solved with help the application of business ethics and fulfilling social
responsibility.

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Bibliography
Adda, G., Azigwe, D.J.B. & Awuni, A.R., 2016. Business ethics and corporate social
responsibility for business success and growth. European Journal of Business and Innovation
Research, pp.26-42.
Anon., 2010. Ethical Realism. [Online] Available at:
https://ethicalrealism.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/ethical-theories/ [Accessed 2019].
Askew, O.A., Beisler, J.M. & Keel, , 2015. Current Trends Of Unethical Behavior Within
Organizations. International Journal of Management & Information Systems, pp.107-14.
Ayres, C., 2019. 12 Pros and Cons of Deontological Ethics. [Online] Available at:
https://connectusfund.org/12-pros-and-cons-of-deontological-ethics [Accessed 2019].
Boes, A., 2015. Factors Influencing the Unethical Behavior of business people. Honors Project,
p.421.
Chonko, L., 2012. Ethical Theories. [Online] Available at:
https://www.dsef.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/EthicalTheories.pdf [Accessed 2019].
Francesca, G., 2015. Understanding ordinary unethical behavior: why people who value morality
act immorally. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, pp.107-11.
Garcia, J., 2019. Pharmacist caught prescribing drugs unlawfully and falsifying records.
[Online] Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/national/queensland/pharmacist-caught-
prescribing-drugs-unlawfully-and-falsifying-records-20190511-p51mai.html [Accessed
2019].

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Kagan, S., 2018. Normative Ethics. NewYork.
Lazari-Radek, K.D. & Singer, P., 2017. Utilitarianism: A Very Short Introduction. United
Kingdom: Oxford.
Lewin, D., 2014. What’s the use of ethical philosophy? The role of ethical theory in special
educational needs. European journal of special need education, pp. 536-547.
Misselbrook, D., 2013. Duty, Kant, and Deontology. British Journal of General Practice ,
pp.211-11.
Morris, M.C. & Morris, J.Z., 2016. The importance of virtue ethics in the IRB. Research Ethics,
pp.201-16.

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APPENDIX:
Pharmacist caught prescribing drugs unlawfully and
falsifying records
An experienced pharmacist has been caught unlawfully prescribing restricted drugs and
creating false dispensing records, a Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal judge
heard.
Michael Dominicus Zuderwyk was found guilty of professional misconduct following an
investigation by the Office of the Health Ombudsman.
He was found to be prescribing restricted drugs such as antibiotics, antiviral medication
and topical medicines to treat relatively minor illnesses between May 2015 and January
2016.
A principal of a pharmacy was found guilty of professional
misconduct.CREDIT:VIRGINIA STAR
QCAT deputy president Judge John Allen said Zuyderwyk, who had 20 years of
experience as a principal of a pharmacy, had prescribed medications 14 times in a nine-
month period.
"When interviewed by investigators from the Office of the Health Ombudsman, the
respondent attributed his misconduct to "laziness" in failing to get doctor's
prescriptions," he said.
"(It shows) a deliberate course of conduct exhibiting wilful disregard for one of the most
fundamental requirements of the profession."
Justice Allen said Zuyderwyk also breached his requirements in falsifying records for
stocktake purposes and to also provide his family with correct instructions on taking the
medication by creating labels.
"A consequence of the process was that the database entry was automatically
prepopulated with the name of a common prescribing doctor for the particular patient...,"
he said.
Justice Allen said Zuyderwyk did not take any steps to change the information, which
resulted in a particular general practitioner being included in the database entry.
However, he said the pharmacist had since changed the pharmacy software program
and database system, which required doctors' details to be entered manually.
Justice Allen said the tribunal accepted that the last three years had been difficult due to
the consequences of the investigation into his conduct.
"He suffered the embarrassment and stress of his pharmacy being closed for some
hours whilst a search warrant was executed by investigators from the Office of the
Health Ombudsman," he said.
"He has continued to ruminate over his offending conduct and its potential
consequences for him professionally and personally."
Justice Allen said Zuyderwyk expressed remorse, was willing to undertake mentoring
and further relevant education and co-operated with the progress of the matter.
The tribunal ordered the pharmacist to be reprimanded.

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Zuyderwyk would also have to complete an accredited course on appropriate
dispensing of medicines and undergo a year of mentoring to focus on ethical dispensing
and decision-making.