The Role of Ethics in Achieving Business Success: A Case Study

This report delves into the crucial role of ethics in achieving business success, examining the factors that contribute to an organization's ethical standing and its impact on revenue, stakeholder confidence, and public perception. It uses the case of the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma, who faced lawsuits for their unethical marketing of the drug OxyContin, as a primary example. The analysis explores how ethical standards, loyalty, honesty, fairness, and reputation contribute to an organization's success, and how unethical behavior can be detrimental. The report also provides recommendations for organizations to protect themselves from unethical conduct, including creating clear policies, providing training, and fostering a culture of ethical behavior. Ultimately, the report highlights the importance of ethical practices for long-term organizational sustainability and success.

ACADEMIC AND
PROFESSIONAL
SKILLS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Define success.............................................................................................................................3
Role of ethics in success..............................................................................................................3
Brief summary of the case study.................................................................................................3
Summarising the main aims of the report....................................................................................3
ANALYSIS......................................................................................................................................4
Can an organisation be described as successful if it is not ethical..............................................4
What can an organisation do to protect itself from unethical behaviour.....................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Define success
Success is a term which has different meaning according to the peopleand to achieve it the
individual to think about the future.In terms of an organisation it carries various plans, strategies,
philosophies and series which need to be considered in order to achieve the goals and objectives
(Drew, 2018). To achieve success for an organisation inspiration is required which helps in
achieving the sustainability and also executing the strategies.
Role of ethics in success
Ethics plays an important role in order to achieve success as it carries the system of moral,
ethical, values, and behaviour and believes which helps in making the decision as these factors
are beneficial for an organisation (Cottrell, 2017). In the context of business the ethical
requirements are considered in terms of law such as environmental regulation, wages act,
restrictions for trading and many more. Moreover, these factors can hinder the sales and revenue
for an organisation.
Brief summary of the case study
This report is in the context of Sackler familywhich is an American and British family who
operate its own pharmaceutical company named Purdue Pharma. The Sacklers launch theirnew
drug named OxyContin which is a painkiller and people are likely to pay billions of dollar for it.
After 1996, more than 200,000 people died because of the overdose of drug and new stories were
made about the addiction and Overdose. Purdue what's the company who market an effective
drug and also process doctors prescribe their product and for this they face lawsuits and reporting
on its marketing.
Summarising the main aims of the report
This report is going to focus on the ethical success factors which need to be considered by
an organisation and what can they do in order to protect themselves from unethical behaviour.
The success is considered in the terms of revenue, viewpoint of shareholders, board and public
confidence.

ANALYSIS
Can an organisation be described as successful if it is not ethical
No, an organisation cannot become successful if it is not ethical as business ethics is a
concept which carries many factors with itsuch as legal law and regulations, code of conduct,
discipline and effective practices which helps in in increasing the reputation of shareholders,
board of directors and also helpful in in achieving the revenues and gaining the confidence of
public. By considering the case study of cyclist Sackler family it does not follow ethical practices
in their organisation and promote an effective drug in the market which harm the health of
public. For this misconduct company got punished for their unethical practicesand after that
company got settlement agreement for their lawsuits which are around $10 to $12 billion. To
avoid the unethical behaviour company could use various ethical practices which are discussed
as under:
 Develop ethical standards: This practice is concerned with the terms and conditions
which is adopted by an organisation. It means clarifying the Expectations and makes it
clear in front of customers about the ingredients of product. Because of this they can
easily identify that the product is acceptable or not. Moreover, it states that making a
creating a code of conduct for an organisation which include proper laws and norms
which abide the company as these regulations helps in in smooth running of an
organisation (Mercader-Trejo and et. al., 2016). Through the ethical standards it became
easy for the Purdue Pharma to reduce the confusion and ambiguity about the company
from their respective customers as it helps in achieving the success and revenues for
them.
 Loyalty: It is a behaviour which describes that the ethical executive should be trustworthy
and loyal to their respective customers in order to support their duty and does not disclose
the personal details and information for their benefit. As per this practice the customers
and the employees should be loyal towards an organisation which helps in in developing
their image in the market. In the context of Purdue Pharma, they should loyal about their
drug, its ingredients and about the limit of those as these factors could not harm the
health of peopleand also helps in in gaining their position in the market.
 Honesty and fairness: It is a practice which helps in gaining the trust and Faith of
customers and also helps in dealing deliberately with the misconduct and

misrepresentations. Moreover, furnace is about dealing and exercising the power which
helps in gaining or maintaining the advantage of an organisation and eliminate the
difficulties for it (Ngang and Chan, 2015. This practice should be considered by the
Purdue Pharma, before launching the drug in the market as it builds the transparency
between the company and customers. This practice helps in gaining the confidence of
public and developing the image of board of directors and both of the factors helps in
developing the sales and revenues.
 Reputation and morale: This practice helps in protecting the image and building the
good reputation of company in the market and morale of their employees engage them in
the work. Because of the unethical practice which is done by the Sackler family destroy
their image in the market and also the trap itself in various lawsuits by which they suffer
from huge loss.
Brief analysis: From the preceding discussion it is analysed that Business ethics and its practices
are important in order to operate and smooth functioning of an organisation. In the context of
Purdue Pharma, they need to consider the ethical standards and its practices in the organisation
which helps them in dealing with many challenges which can become barrier in their success.
The above discussed ethical practices helps the companyin order to increase its sales, revenues
and image of an organisationand about them from doing any misconduct.
What can an organisation do to protect itself from unethical behaviour
Unethical behaviour can break down the flow of work in an organisation and it includes
many factors such as stealing money, leaking the internal information of company and many
more which can become threat on the credibility of company and can damage its image in the
whole market (Alawadhi, 2015). In order to avoid them companies should adopt various ethical
practices in order to protect themselves from any misconduct or unethical behaviour and also
show stop them self from doing any unethical behaviour. Therefore, it can be prevented by the
business owners and the management team by working with their employees in a very
Cooperative and coordinative manner. There are many ethical practices which could adopt by
Purdue Pharma as it helps in gaining their previous positionin the market which are discussed as
under:
 Create policies and practices: Purdue Pharma need to create various policies and
practices in order to operate in the dynamic business market and for this they need to

conduct research, develop appropriate documents and policies which helps in in defining,
identifying and reporting the violation of ethics. These policies and norms are mention in
the employee handbook and protection which helps in guiding the organisation in order
to face the ethical issues (Delaney and Bates, 2015). These policies describe the various
rules and regulationswhich helps the company from any misconduct situation these are
registered under an articulate which consist many copies of these rules.
 Training and development: It is a practice which is adopted by many Organisations in
order to operate their business in a smooth manner. It includes guiding, educating and
developing the skills of the employees in order to use the resources in an optimum
manner (Moles and Wishart, 2016). This element include hiring the right candidate for
the right post and understanding them in order to develop their skills because competent
employees are the one who helps in in achieving the success and revenues foreign
organisation.
In terms of the sackler family business they currently facing many lawsuits in order to sell or
offer wrong drug two people which can harm their health and also become the reason for the
death of many people. This misconduct happens because of their carelessness and not
considering the ethics and its practices in their company. In this fraud the whole sackler family
members included and brought suits against the family.
CONCLUSION
From the about discussion it is summarised that Business Ethics are important in order to
operate the organisation in a very smooth manner and also helps in eliminating the risk factor
from it. Business ethics is a set of rules and norms which make the difference between the right
and wrong conduct and includes the code which needs to be followed by an organisation. It is
defined weather in the written or unwritten codes and values which govern the decisions and
actions within the company. These standards are made in order to determine the difference
between the good and bad decision making and its behaviour. In the contacts of Purdue Pharma,
they offer wrong Drug in the market which damages the health conditions of many people and
for this they face lawsuits. In order to avoid them they could use many ethical practices which
helps them in their survival and also two factors are described it help them and protecting
themselves from unethical behaviour.

RECOMMENDATIONS
By analysing the current situation of the sackler family, it is suggested them to follow ethics
and ethical practices in the organisation as it helps them in their operational activities. For their
misconduct about there drug which is offered by them and it damages the health of many people
it is recommended to the sackler family to follow various ethical practices in their organisation is
it helps them in developing the repetition and protecting themselves from being damaged.
Various recommendations are provided as under:
 The sackler family need to develop various ethical standards in the organisation as it
helps them in clarifying the terms and conditions it is related with the organisation and its
product. This practice developed the transparency between organisation and the
customers and helps in developing the trust and Faith of there respective customers.
 It is also recommended them to be loyal, honest and fair with their prospective customers
while offering drugs or medicine to them and clearly define the proper quantity and use
of it. As it develops the knowledge of people and to protect them by damaging their
health.
 In addition to this, policies and training help their existing workforce in order to Foster
their performance and also make useful products for the public because for the
pharmaceutical company it is important for them to gain the trust of general public. These
are the factors which helps the sackler family in order to protect them against unethical
behaviour.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Alawadhi, S., 2015. Continuing professional development in kuwaiti academic
libraries. International Information & Library Review. 47(3-4). pp.83-91.
Cottrell, S., 2017. Critical thinking skills: Effective analysis, argument and reflection. Macmillan
International Higher Education.
Delaney, G. and Bates, J., 2015. Envisioning the academic library: a reflection on roles,
relevancy and relationships. New review of academic librarianship. 21(1). pp.30-51.
Drew, S., 2018. The student skills: guide. Routledge.
Mercader-Trejo, F., and et. al., 2016. Technical internships as a means of acquiring professional
skills for future metrologists. Measurement. 84. pp.1-6.
Moles, J. and Wishart, L., 2016. Reading the map: Locating and navigating the academic skills
development of pre-service teachers. Journal of university teaching & learning
practice. 13(3). pp.1-15.
Moore, T. and Morton, J., 2017. The myth of job readiness? Written communication,
employability, and the ‘skills gap’in higher education. Studies in Higher
Education. 42(3). pp.591-609.
Ngang, T.K. and Chan, T.C., 2015. The importance of ethics, moral and professional skills of
novice teachers. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 205. pp.8-12.