Ethics Assignment

Varun Kumar Gupta

1502229

Yours dwindling on several ethical dilemmas presented in the class. Exploring awareness through
the realms of several ethical theories how in the capacity of an agent, you plan to overcome these
dilemmas.

To my surprise, Managerial Ethics turned out quite an interesting subject. Right from the first lecture,
several instances were shared with to put us under the test of time to draw out the reflections from the real
life scenario and make quick decisions, where the both sides have equal rational thoughts behind them.
The situations presented were critical with our actions and thoughts directly affecting the people involved
in the role play. Following I have elaborated the cases where I the ethical dilemmas touched my heart and
my insights into it.
The Parable of Sadhu
It was a beautifully crafted dilemma where a choice had to be made by the class whether a person should
help sadhu by taking responsibility of his life or they should move ahead to achieve ones dream. In one
read it looked quite simple and straightforward. I had made a choice in a one glance. On a closer look, it
wasnt the way I had thought. I could notice the two sides of it. I started making a careful evaluation of
the case by balancing the both the sides by putting everything in perspective. All of a sudden, from being
am person largely driven by my ambition I became conscious of my moral self.
When I look back now and try to evaluate my stand on being there with Sadhu, I am unable to justify it to
myself. I know I am typically not a type of person who gives up personal ambitions for the benefit of
others.
The time was different then. Its because it clearly doesnt have a justification. When I was in the class I
had imagined myself being there and it was my heart that made the choice and not the brain. If I had
evaluated both the sides, my ambitions were the clear winner. I could have chosen that but it is not
something that stays with you for life. If we save a life, it is more than everything, something that you
earn till eternity, something that is priceless.
Conflict of Interest: I understand that sitting in the classroom and making a choice is simple. I might
react differently on facing the same situation in the future. And I am ready to change my stand as I cannot
be bounded with my rationalities and moral responsibility. The situation is quite analogous of multiple
situations that are ubiquitous in our daily lives. For eg. there are poor people in the hospital lying on the
death bed awaiting help from other people but not many times we ourselves have donated or made a
significant contribution to their lives.
Hence in this case I dont plan to overcome the dilemmas specifically for this case presented. The stand I
made is appropriate according to my belief but I do not want to be preoccupied with my decision later. It
depends on the real situation and conditions prevailing at that time. There is not a Sadhu in us at all times!

Case study of Merck and Company

The case presented an ethical dilemma for a drug manufacturing company. Scientists of the companies
were encouraging the firm to invest in the welfare of the society and to be sure weather the drug could be
adapted for safe use with the human, but Merck knew that it would not be a profitable decision.
The goal of the business is to maximize ethics along with maximizing profit. The option which
maximizes these two would be the most logical option. Merck being a multinational company could have
found a number of solutions for launching the drug into the markets. I think the intent was missing on part
of officials of Merck to bring goodwill to the nations. The company was constrained with the thoughts of
profitability in monetary sense. But it is sometimes the bold decisions of serving humanity bring
intangible benefits to the organization and its people. The utilitarian principle would have served the
company and its image as socially responsible company. Some charitable organizations or NGO would
have come up to support the clean intentions of the company and it would have saved operational cost of
the company. Moreover, after few initial years of the service, the government of those countries may have
rewarded the company for th and it will be in the goodwill of the company. The decision would serve in
its long run profit of shareholder that it will gain from the publicity by serving a community and
humanity.
Shareholder values are important to the organization but the value is not created by the profit a company
makes. It is about the value a company creates for the people. Take the example for Patanjali, the main
reason for the the company to be in existence is the connect it has made with the people and trust the
people have on the products. It is more that a Cash Flow Sheet statement!
Discussions on Insider Trading, Chicken slaughtering and other few topics
Insider Tading is always a beautiful dilemma for a person with power and greed for money. It tests the
person to keep integrity of the organization and its people. The dilemma is a tough one to look at it from
here but all it takes to be there is the difference in attitude. People at the top management always have the
choice to earn money or respect. It is a personal choice for one but for me respect is always the one I
strive for. I still remember the incidence of insider trading in Goldman Sachs when Rajat Gupta was
caught in that the blasphemy it brought it for himself and the organization. This is something for me that
is non-tradeable and I know I dont have to decide in times when I am faced with such situations.

Ethics classes helped me structured my thinking in each and every aspect of my life by ethical
perspective which I used to ignore earlier. But now after studying this subject, I have improved my ability
to take ethical decision and to recognize the approaches available to resolve them. I have always been
rational and tried to judge the situations in terms of profit and loss. But now I believe it is more than that
and more importantly the intangible benefits are much heavier than the monetary one as they stay with
you forever and also they help you draw other benefits which we sometimes are not aware of.
This course has given me a chance to reflect on myself with an open minded and introspective in taking
ethical decisions. Earlier, I used to believe that a subject on ethics will be more of Dos and Donts course
where we will be taught to made tough decision with formulas in mind. It came out much better than that
and one cannot force someone to have his/her perspective, but current values and convictions require
effective guidance to make ethical decisions in a challenging competitive environment and society.
I hope this subject, in future, will help me in taking ethical decisions while having conflict between my
own personal values and those of the organization