MBA OMMU6013/GMUL5063: McDonald's China Ethics Report

This report provides an analysis of the McDonald's China expired meat scandal, addressing the ethical implications of the event. The report identifies and explains two ethical norms, including the Utilitarian and Common Good Approaches, applicable to the case. It then analyzes the situation through the lens of Kohlberg's stages of moral development, placing McDonald's China at stage three and explaining the rationale. Furthermore, the report applies two ethical theories: Deontological and Communitarian theories, to assess the actions and consequences of the scandal. Finally, it suggests two social responsibility approaches, accommodating, and proactive, that McDonald's could implement to address the issues and improve its product safety and supply chain management in China. The report references relevant academic literature to support its arguments.

Running head: BUSINESS ETHICS
BUSINESS ETHICS
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Answer to question 1
The Utilitarian Approach is one of the major sources, which emphasizes on the quality
of the products that creates less harm to the people. The norm is applicable to the McDonalds
China case as it emphasize on the quality of the products that are prepared by the business. It
also emphasizes on the manner in which the business must consider the harm that is created by
the product on the consumers. On the other hand, the Common Good Approach is a source that
is applicable to the McDonalds China’s case as it portrays the ethical reasoning that might be
undertaken by the organization to contribute goodness to the life through enhanced quality of the
products. The norm emphasizes on the welfare of the communities through proper identification
of the different aspects of change in the organizational functioning (Ni & Van Wart, 2015).
Answer to question 2
Kohlberg’s views on moral development emphasizes on the different ethical norms that
guides the perpetual development of the individuals in different stages. As per the case of
McDonalds China, stage three of Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development applies to the
scenario as it accentuate on the different judgments relating to good and harm. The stage reflects
the interpersonal conformity on which the proper functioning of the business operations are
based on the judgmental aspects of the outcome of the activities that might be encountered by the
business (Mansell, 2013). The key elements of change in the organizational operations are based
on the identification of the outcome and the manner in which it affects the livelihood of the
people. As per the McDonalds China’s case, the activities of the organization can be portrayed
through the application of stage three of Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development through the
assessment of the different outcomes of the activities.

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Answer to question 3
The Deontological theory might be applied on the McDonalds China’s case as it
emphasizes on the consequences of the action that are undertaken by the business. The theory
emphasizes on the duty of the organization relating to the virtue and pragmatic ethics (Mansell,
2013). The application of the Deontological theory in the organizational case will be helping the
same in understanding the position of the operations and thereby bring forth changes in the
processes. On the other hand, application of the Communitarian theory will be helping the
organization in understanding the role of the same in undertaking its operations as per the
concerns of the community. The theory emphasizes on the connection between the business and
the community and thereby gratifies the operations (Gibbs, 2013). The McDonalds China’s case
reflects deliberate issues in the product that is offered by the organization, which affected the
healthy livelihood of the communities.
Answer to question 4
One of the major social responsibility approaches that might be accompanied by the
organizational case is Accommodating, which aims at portraying the importance of social
responsibility equalizing to the profit margins of the business. The application of the approach in
the concerned organizational context will be helping the same in maintaining the efficacy of the
functions through monitoring and control over the supply and distribution channels. On the other
hand, the utilization of the social sustainability approach will be helping the organization in
enhancing the product offerings of the same (Vitell, 2015). On the other hand, the Proactive
approach of the organization aims at undertaking the operations in order to maintain the social

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sustainability over the gains of the same. The approach will be helping the organization in
improving the line of products as per the community concerns.

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References
Gibbs, J. C. (2013). Moral development and reality: Beyond the theories of Kohlberg, Hoffman,
and Haidt. Oxford University Press.
Mansell, S. (2013). Shareholder theory and Kant’s ‘duty of beneficence’. Journal of Business
Ethics, 117(3), 583-599.
Ni, A., & Van Wart, M. (2015). Corporate Social Responsibility: Doing Well and Doing Good.
In Building Business-Government Relations (pp. 175-196). Routledge.
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), 767-774.