Business Ethics Sustainability: Case Analysis and Responses

This report delves into the multifaceted realm of business ethics and sustainability, analyzing five distinct case studies to illuminate critical ethical dilemmas. The cases explore a range of issues, including child labor in manufacturing, corporate responses to harmful product findings, ethical considerat...Read More

Running head: BUSINESS ETHICS SUSTAINABILITY
Business Ethics Sustainability:
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

BUSINESS ETHICS SUSTAINABILITY
Executive Summary
In this report, the ethical issues in each of the 5 cases are analyzed. The personal understanding
of each case is presented in detail and my personal response in each situation is presented at end
of each case. The ethical issues in each of the cases are of prime concern for creating value for
stakeholders and are discussed in this report.

BUSINESS ETHICS SUSTAINABILITY
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Issue in Case 1.................................................................................................................................4
My personal response to the situation..........................................................................................5
Issue in Case 2.................................................................................................................................5
My personal response to the situation..........................................................................................5
Issue in Case 3.................................................................................................................................6
My personal response to the situation..........................................................................................6
Issue in Case 4.................................................................................................................................7
My personal response to the situation..........................................................................................7
Issue in Case 5.................................................................................................................................8
My personal response to the situation..........................................................................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
Reference Lists..............................................................................................................................10

BUSINESS ETHICS SUSTAINABILITY
Introduction
Business should not only be focused on short term profitability for its shareholders but
should also focus on long term sustainability for its stakeholders(Nica 2013).Business
organizations should abide by ethics as the purpose of business is to contribute constructively to
society and the ethical issues involved in 5 cases are discussed below.
Issue in Case 1
As a product manager of a confectionary Company which manufactures plastic toys, I
met a manufacturer during my visit to a Trade Fair in Europe. I visited the manufacturer in
Thailand and finalized a supply agreement for my Company at a much lower cost than our
present Portuguese Supplier with quality at par with our present supplier. However, while
visiting the manufacturing facility of the Thai supplier to check the credibility of the
manufacturing process, I found at around 6 am at morning, 30 men accumulate components of
toys in large boxes and carry the materials to their home. I was stunned to find that children in
between age of 5 to 14 years are also involved by their family members to assemble the toys.
This ethics case is about child labor. It is estimated that around 150 million children across the
globe are involved in child labor to support their poor family financially. Child labor deprives
children of their right to education and is detrimental to their physical and emotional well-being.
There are many organizations like United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the International
Labor Organization that actively work towards eliminating child labor across the globe. In this

BUSINESS ETHICS SUSTAINABILITY
case, it can be seen to prevent legal action, children work within premises of their home instead
of working in factories (Kolk 2016).
My personal response to the situation
Though child labor is harmful, as a product manager I would sign the deal with the supplier, not
only to save cost but also because children may get involved in hazardous work and prostitution
due to poverty, so child labor as long as it is safe, can help a child finance his education. In this
case children are not involved in hazardous work which poses threat to their body and mind.
Education and schools can help in reducing child labor more than laws (Lund-Thomsen and
Lindgreen 2014).
Issue in Case 2
The second case is about the ethical issue of PharmChemCo (PCC) Company. The
harmful side effects of the best-selling herbicides of PCC were discovered by scientists of SFW
University in the United States while conducting the research work in the laboratory. This report
of an article containing these findings will be published in the Science Magazine on Thursday of
the following week. However, I was asked to maintain confidentiality about the findings of the
report. The issue was discussed only among vice-presidents and senior managers. The board of
PharmChemCo Company restricted flow of this information to outsiders. The price of share of
PCC Company will drop drastically and there will be potential negative consequences once this
report has been published. So I have decided to sell my own shares before the publication of my
news. But the ethical issue involved in this case is whether I should share this information with
my friend from College Freddie who has not only invested huge money on share prices of PCC

BUSINESS ETHICS SUSTAINABILITY
but has also advised the clients of his investment bank to make investments(Khan, Muttakin and
Siddiqui 2013).
My personal response to the situation
The stakeholders involved in this case are the members of boards of PCC Company,
employees like me who have invested in the share, outsiders who have made investment like my
college friend Freddie and his clients. However, I would never disclose the private information
that was asked to be kept confidential by the Boards of my Company to my college friend.
Though disclosing this information can save him from financial loss, I would give priority to
confidentiality of my Company PCC. However, I will insist my friend Freddie to sell shares of
my Company without disclosing any private information (Crane and Matten 2016).
Issue in Case 3
In this case, I as a human resource manager of AllCure Pharmaceuticals Company was
vested with the responsibility of hiring an employee who will assist the product department with
clinical trials of a drug which has the potential to be a blockbuster drug for the Company. This
job is requires diligent work .As well as social skills to collaborate with clients and various
departments. I was stuck in an ethical dilemma involved in this case while choosing one from
two women applicants. While going through their Facebook page, I found one of the candidates
to be well-travelled and sociable while the other one was difficult to locate and all her posts were
visible to her friends. While taking help from an intern of my Company who has been a college
friend of this applicant, I discovered that she is involved in partying, heavy alcohol consumption
and illegal drug usage. Her pictures were offensive too (Asif et al 2013).

BUSINESS ETHICS SUSTAINABILITY
My personal response to the situation
Though the candidate who is involved in partying and drug and alcohol abuse has better
work experience is a better choice than the other candidate, I will definitely not hire her because
as a human resource manager I am responsible to my stakeholders like co-workers, officials of
regulating bodies and patients. The leakage of the offensive pictures of this candidate might hurt
sentiments of my stakeholders. Moreover, her obsession with alcohol and drug usage might
hamper her productivity at work. So I will choose the other candidate (Trevino and Nelson
2016).
Issue in Case 4
The ethical issue presented in this case is related to the long term consequences of
organic farming. Consumers across the globe are ready to pay premium price for organic food
which is assumed to be free from pesticides, however harmful chemicals like monosodium
glutamate and carrageenan were discovered in the organic labeled brands in the United States .In
the year 2009, retail Company in America Target unethically advertised soymilk as organic, and
Horizon also sold non-organic milk as organic in America. There were reports that around 200
farmers in Germany have sold eggs laid by hens kept in pens as organic at a premium price .In
the European Union, Italy, Ukraine and Moldova, fake organic certificates were found. In China,
harmful chemicals and pesticides have been found in food and the process of certifying system is
not trustworthy in the country (Jin, Drozdenko and DeLoughy 2013). Though organic food can
contain less pesticide, but huge amount of farmland is required for organic farming, converting
forests into farmland can lead to the emission of huge amount of Carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere and can be harmful to the natural habitat of species that live in forests. Though
organic products can help in revenue generation, it has harmful effects on environment.

BUSINESS ETHICS SUSTAINABILITY
My personal response to the situation
I would not like to buy organic products personally because of the harmful effects that
organic farming have on the environment. Also, consumers already consume food from
restaurants and packaged food which contains preservatives and harmful substances for the body,
unless humans have a holistic approach towards restoring good health, organic food consumption
alone does not make much difference (Vitell 2015).
Issue in Case 5
The ethical issue is about the cotton industry in Uzbekistan. The state and central government
control the profits of the export of cotton and they pay meager amount of money to farmers.
Machines are not used for harvesting cotton in the country and during September to November
which is harvesting season of cotton, schools remain closed and thousands of children and young
adults are forced to work in the cotton field .They have to bear the transportation cost, cost for
food and sometimes older children live in barrack-style accommodation with scarcity of
electricity and water. These child workers are forced to inhuman labor and are paid low. Many
western countries and reputed brands like Tesco, H & M, Marks and Spencer, GAP pledged to
boycott usage of cotton from Uzbekistan while manufacturing their clothes, but the supply chain
of these brands are really complex and cotton can enter the brands of these Western Companies
from manufacturing facilities in Asia. Boycott from Western brands and intervention from
International Labor brands led to signage of cotton pledge and the consequence was Uzbekistan
banned child labor but continued forcing adults and university students to work in cotton field
(Hoffman, Frederick and Schwartz 2014).Also, despite ban from Western brands, export of

BUSINESS ETHICS SUSTAINABILITY
cotton from Uzbekistan remained constant as the country started exporting in Asia and Russia
and labor conditions did not improve much in the country.
My personal response to the situation
I personally think that the ethical issue of this case, that is forced child labor and harsh
labor from adults should be stopped in Uzbekistan. There should be efforts from international
institutions so that brands in Asian countries also get involved in boycotting cotton from
Uzbekistan. Also government in Uzbekistan should make usage of modern machinery for
harvesting cotton to reduce demand from human labor. Lastly, supply chain of brands should be
improved (Homburg, Stierl and Bornemann 2013).
Conclusion
The ethical issues presented in each case are of prime importance and should be taken
into consideration so that business can contribute substantially to the society.

BUSINESS ETHICS SUSTAINABILITY
Reference Lists
Asif, M., Searcy, C., Zutshi, A. and Fisscher, O.A., 2013. An integrated management systems
approach to corporate social responsibility. Journal of cleaner production, 56, pp.7-17.
Crane, A. and Matten, D., 2016. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and
sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
Hoffman, W.M., Frederick, R.E. and Schwartz, M.S. eds., 2014. Business ethics: Readings and
cases in corporate morality. John Wiley & Sons.
Homburg, C., Stierl, M. and Bornemann, T., 2013. Corporate social responsibility in business-to-
business markets: how organizational customers account for supplier corporate social
responsibility engagement. Journal of Marketing, 77(6), pp.54-72.
Jin, K.G., Drozdenko, R. and DeLoughy, S., 2013. The role of corporate value clusters in ethics,
social responsibility, and performance: A study of financial professionals and implications for
the financial meltdown. Journal of business ethics, 112(1), pp.15-24.
Khan, A., Muttakin, M.B. and Siddiqui, J., 2013. Corporate governance and corporate social
responsibility disclosures: Evidence from an emerging economy. Journal of business
ethics, 114(2), pp.207-223.
Kolk, A., 2016. The social responsibility of international business: From ethics and the
environment to CSR and sustainable development. Journal of World Business, 51(1), pp.23-34.

BUSINESS ETHICS SUSTAINABILITY
Lund-Thomsen, P. and Lindgreen, A., 2014. Corporate social responsibility in global value
chains: Where are we now and where are we going?. Journal of Business Ethics, 123(1), pp.11-
22.
Nica, E., 2013. Social Responsibility, Corporate Welfare, and Business
Ethics. Psychosociological Issues in Human Resource Management, 1(1), pp.9-14.
Trevino, L.K. and Nelson, K.A., 2016. Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do
it right. John Wiley & Sons.
Vitell, S.J., 2015. A case for consumer social responsibility (CnSR): Including a selected review
of consumer ethics/social responsibility research. Journal of Business Ethics, 130(4), pp.767-
774.