Strayer LEG500 Week 7 Assignment 2 Ethics and Corporate Responsibility in the Workplace and the World

LEG 500 Week 7 Assignment 2
Ethics and Corporate Responsibility in the Workplace and the World
Assignment 2: Ethics and Corporate Responsibility in the
Workplace and the World
Due Week 7 and worth 250 points
PharmaCARE (We CARE about YOUR health®) is one of the world’s
most successful pharmaceutical companies, enjoying a reputation as a caring,
ethical and well-run company that produced high-quality products that saved
millions of lives and enhanced the quality of life for millions of others. The
company offers free and discounted drugs to low-income consumers, has a
foundation that sponsors healthcare educational programs and scholarships, and
its CEO serves on the PhRMA board. PharmaCARE recently launched a new
initiative, We CARE about YOUR world®, pledging its commitment to the
environment through recycling, packaging changes and other green initiatives,
despite the fact that the company’s lobbying efforts and PAC have successfully
defeated environmental laws and regulations, including extension of the
Superfund tax, which was created by Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).
Based in New Jersey, PharmaCARE maintains a large manufacturing
facility in the African nation of Colberia, where the company has found several
“healers” eager to freely share information about indigenous cures and an
abundance of Colberians willing to work for $1.00 a day, harvesting plants by
walking five (5) miles into and out of the jungle carrying baskets that, when
full, weigh up to fifty (50) pounds. Due to the low standard of living in
Colberia, much of the population lives in primitive huts with no electricity or
running water. PharmaCARE’s executives, however, live in a luxury compound,
complete with a swimming pool, tennis courts, and a golf course. PharmaCARE’s
extensive activities in Colberia have destroyed habitat and endangered native
species.
Two (2) years ago, after PharmaCARE’s research indicated that one
of its top-selling diabetes drugs might slow the progression of Alzheimer’s
disease, its pharmacists began reformulating that drug to maximize the effect.
In order to avoid FDA scrutiny, PharmaCARE established a wholly-owned
subsidiary, CompCARE, to operate as a compounding pharmacy to sell the new
formulation to individuals on a prescription basis. CompCARE set up shop in a
suburban office park near its parent’s headquarters, and to conserve money and
time, did a quick, low-cost renovation and designated Allen Jones to run the
operation’s “clean room.”
CompCARE benefited from PharmaCARE’s reputation, databases,
networks, and sales and marketing expertise, and within six (6) months had the medical
community buzzing about AD23. Demand soared, particularly among Medicare,
Medicaid, and VA patients. Seeing the opportunity to realize even more profit,
CompCARE began advertising its services and the availability of AD23 to
consumers and marketing the drug directly to hospitals, clinics, and physician
offices, even though compounding pharmacies are not supposed to sell drugs in
bulk for general use. To get around this technicality, CompCARE encouraged
doctors to fax in lists of bogus patient names.
As production increased and hours were extended, one of Allen’s
techs pointed out what appeared to be mold around the air vents. Allen
immediately contacted the facilities’ supervisor, who came over to inspect the
lab. As time went on, workers began coughing, sneezing, and getting headaches
at work, and one employee, Donna, who had a perfect attendance record, got so
sick she could no longer come to work due to chronic bronchial problems.
Eventually, she filed for worker’s compensation. Allen’s best supervisor, Tom,
threatened to complain to OSHA about the air quality in the lab, and one of the
techs, Ayesha, filed an EEOC complaint alleging she had not been promoted to
supervisor because she was a Muslim; in fact, although Ayesha was a very good
worker, Allen did not believe she had the management or people skills necessary
to be a good supervisor. Allen discussed these issues with his boss, the
Director of Operations, who told Allen that if he wants to keep his job and
receive his promised bonus, he needs to fire Donna, Tom, and Ayesha, and keep
his own mouth shut about the mold and the bogus prescriptions.
As CompCARE and its parent company enjoyed record profits and
PharmaCARE’s stock price approached $300 per share, reports started filtering
in that people who received AD23 seemed to be suffering heart attacks at an
alarming rate. The company ignored this data and continued filling large orders
and paid huge bonuses to all the executives and managers, including Allen, who,
after being named “Employee of the Year,” was beginning to miss production
schedules due not only to his staff’s increasing use of sick leave, but also
his own health issues.
PharmaCARE sold CompCARE to WellCo, a large drugstore chain, just
weeks before AD23 was publicly linked to over 200 cardiac deaths. Both
PharmaCARE and WellCo saw their stock price plummet.
Write a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you:
Determine all the stakeholders in this scenario.
Analyze the ethics of PharmaCARE’s treatment of the Colberia’s
indigenous population and its rank-and-file workers versus that of its
executives.
Determine whether Allen could legally fire each of the three (3)
workers—Donna, Tom, and Ayesha. Suggest steps he should take to minimize the
risks to his department and the company.
Determine the whistleblowing opportunities, obligations, and
protections that could benefit Allen. Explain why and how Allen would benefit.
Assess PharmaCARE’s environmental initiative against the backdrop
of its anti-environmental lobbying efforts and Colberian activities. Examine if
this renders the company’s purported environmental stewardship better or worse
and if the company’s public stance should carry an obligation to be a leader in
environmental matters. Support the position.
Analyze the original purposes of and the changes to Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Determine
which provision(s) of CERCLA apply to PharmaCARE in the scenario provided.
Support the response.
Use at least three (3) quality resources in this
assignment. Note: Wikipedia is not an acceptable reference and
proprietary Websites do not qualify as academic resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12),
with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or
school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional
instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the
student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover
page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page
length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this
assignment are:
Analyze and evaluate laws that protect against discrimination in
the workplace.
Examine and assess employee rights to health and safety in the
workplace.
Analyze environmental protection laws and assess their impact on
organizations.
Use technology and information resources to research issues in
law, ethics, and corporate governance.
Write clearly and concisely about law, ethics, and corporate
governance using proper writing mechanics.