Business Ethics and the Merck Co., Inc. Case Study

Susan Gustafson Business Ethics Mark Matthews, Ph.D. February 10, 2004 Applying Ethics to the Merck Case The purpose of my essay is to show whether the business decisions made by the management team of Merck pharmaceutical are ethical. Using corporate assets for charitable purposes, the company manufactures and distributes a drug called Mectizan at no charge to impoverished nations and their inhabitants. I will expound on three ethical theories and then analyze the Merck case according to each theory, summarizing how the authors and proponents of each theory would position themselves regarding this case. The three theories that will be used to examine the case are John Stuart Mills ethical theory of Utilitarianism, Immanuel Kants†¦show more content†¦This balance, utilitarian promoters believe, will lead to efficiency and the best use of scarce resources. Efficiency, according to utilitarians is a means to maximize human good. In business, management by objectives and cost-benefit analysis are the result of a strong utilitarian influence. Utility can be hard to measure and this is one of the shortcomings of the theory. A utilitarian response to measuring utility is to ask if actions leave society better off as a whole, or would the actions be detrimental? Utilitarians would view the actions of Mercks management to distribute the corporate drug Mectizan for free to third world countries as being ethical. They would say that this action leaves society better off as a whole and causes the greatest good for mankind. They would say giving the drug to cure sick and suffering people would cause great amounts of happiness and pleasure for these sick people and alleviate tremendous amounts of pain to many suffering bodies. Suffering people, as well as their families and nations, would be better off than they would if the drug had not been provided them. They would become healthier and able to become more productive in society. Human resources are considered scarce and valuable (the people themselves) and protecting them for the betterment of society would be the optimal decision to make. Mill would say this is the correct decision for Merck to make as they have large amounts of excess capital andShow MoreRelatedEssay on Merck and Co., River Blindness1531 Words   |  7 PagesMerck and Co., River Blindness Ethical Case Analysis Lennard de Jong Excelsior College Author Note This paper was prepared for Business Ethics, Ethical Case Analysis, taught by Dr. Moser. Introduction and Situational Analysis The ethical dilemma in Merck and River Blindness is whether to pursue research that may or may result in profit, or to choose the safe option and go for profit rather than researching the drug. The drug could possibly lead to curing the deadly and detrimental diseaseRead MoreMerck Case Study Essay6943 Words   |  28 Pagesï » ¿Merck Co. 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