The Ethics and Corporate Responsibility

Running head: Ethics and Corporate Responsibility
Ethics and Corporate Responsibility
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Ethics and Corporate Responsibility2
Introduction
This study suggests about that McDonald’s food scandal in Hong Kong. McDonald was
found in 1955 with the objective of best quality of food and services. It is one of the largest
restaurant chain in the world today. In 2014, the company conducted an unethical business
practice in Hong Kong. The company delivered rotten meat to the customers and later on the
organization denied from where they had actually imported the food. The organization
deliberately hiding the fact. It is completely against the corporate social responsibility. This
study examine the school of ethics, following the Brisbane Framework and identify which ethical
issues had done by the organization. After analyzing the case, the study also says what are the
stakeholders being affected by the malpractice of the company and suggests some possible
solution regarding the issues.
Overview of the Company
McDonald’s Corporation, American based organization that was established in 1940. It is
a food chain, which Richard and Maurice McDonald has opened, in San Bernardino, California,
United States. They set up their venture as a hamburger court and afterwards they turned into
their business into a franchise with Golden Arches logo. In the year 1955, a businessperson
named as Roy Kroc who has joined the company as a franchise staff and later on, he purchased
the chain from the McDonald’s Brothers. The old headquarters was in Oak Brook, Illinois, but
after that, it moved to Chicago in the beginning of 2018. McDonald’s is the world is recognized
dinning chain as of 2018. Company’s core values are as follows: Progressiveness, Inclusiveness,
Local integration and Responsible Leadership
Overview of the Case

Ethics and Corporate Responsibility3
In the year 1975, McDonald has kept its first footstep in Hong Kong. Opened its
restaurant at Paterson Street, Causeway Bay. Since taking care of the customer is the first choice,
thus began its favorite place and way to eat. At present, it has 235 restaurant is there in the Hong
Kong, 15000 employees working over there. They are committed to serving excellent dining
experience to every customer.
The year 2014, a scandal was raised for McDonald’s, the Fast food giant highly
misguided to the food safety authority of Hong Kong by selling spoiled meat. The officers of the
food safety authority told that McDonald misled them during its investigation it was revealed
that the food giant sold rotten meat bought from the factory in Shanghai to Hong Kong people.
Dr Lee Siu-yuen, the assistant director of food surveillance and control as the head of the food
safety, told that that McDonald’s has said that they purchased stuff from Hebei plant, not from
shanghai plant of the Husi food company as the firm already in the center of a disconcert. They
have produced a fact to support the occurrence to the food safety officials that Mainland
authorities were examined reports that Shanghai plant usually reprocessed the rotten meat and
packaged with the false expiry dates repeatedly. Lee said the government inspectors visited
McDonald’s cold storage warehouse but found no expired food. Now, this was the scandal did
by McDonald’s. The center of food safety authority launched an investigation to find out the
reality of the matter. Whether McDonald intentionally sold potentially blown meat from the
Shanghai plant to the public. After investigations by the government officials, the food giant
McDonald was caught to lead a food scandal and government suspended to sale it is a famous
chicken nugget. Through the investigation, they have admitted, chicken and pork both they had
imported from the Shanghai plant. (Scmp, 2020)

Ethics and Corporate Responsibility4
Ethical Issue/Problem in the Case
In Hong Kong, The food giant McDonald has made a scandal by selling rotten meat to
the public for four days. They deliberately denied the truth and said the organization bought food
from Hebei plant not from Shanghai plant as they came to know after some investigation that
Shanghai plant provide tainted food. They usually reprocessed the putrid meat and tag the items
with false dates. Since, real fact is opposite. They actually imported fetid chicken and pork from
the Shanghai plant. This was the central point of turning head from the truth, and they made a big
scandal. McDonald has initially disobeyed that the using of any products from the shanghai
plant, but after banning the import and export of Husi product by the Hong Kong Government,
the turned out from their position and revealed its first sorry for confusing to the consumers.
Before highlighting the ethical issues in this case, it is required to know the types of problems.
The problems that conducted by McDonald’s regarding the misuse of Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) and ethical decision-making.
Corporate Social Responsibility is a mechanical concept of entity that emphasis an
organization to recognize socially, its stakeholders and the public. By implementing the
corporate social responsibility, companies have to take care of the positive influence in all
aspects of the society including social, economic and environmental.
To involve in CSR activity implies that the business is operating in such ways that
expand the society and the environment not to deliver the negative impact on them. Corporate
Social Responsibility consists of four types that is philanthropic efforts, environment
conservation, diversity and labor practices and volunteerism. (Tong, et al., 2019)