Business Research Ethics

RES351

Business Research Ethics Depending on the situation ethics can be bent and twisted in the interest of humanity and the greater good. But ethics are also extremely important in keeping employees and employers honest. Organizations have to provide the highest level of ethical codes when doing all of their activities. Ethics should also be considered when doing all business research. In this paper we will discuss the unethical business research activities of an organization. In this paper I will discuss the case and various key points in relation to the case. This case popped out at me because I myself have been placed in this situation. I feel that each person may find a different outcome based on their history and morals. Dr. Johnson and the pharmaceutical company had been doing work together for the past six years. During this time the pharmaceutical company had become the professor’s sole source of funding (Zall, Moyer, Dawson & Curtis, 2003). During his time with this company he has become much respected and sought after to do seminars and articles. He sees that within a few years he could be offered a full professor position at the university. While attending a social event the professor was involved in a conversation initiated by another scientist. While in the presence of this other scientist the professor learns that the pharmaceutical company has done secret trials that have revealed that the compound the professor and the company are doing the research reduced the death rate by 90% in Rift Valley Fever. In the African countries approximately 5000 lives are lost each year from a similar virus (Zall, Moyer, Dawson & Curtis, 2003). The pharmaceutical company management staff had developed a plan to make a profit off of the new findings and withhold the distribution of the compounds. They could not afford to just release the compound to a developing country because they would make no money. Now if they held off for about five years and obtained all the permits and such and then released then they would economically better off. The decision to do this could result in the loss of tens of thousands of lived in the developing countries (Zall, Moyer, Dawson & Curtis, 2003).
The organization in this case was involved in some very unethical research practices. This organization is a pharmaceutical company that was working with a college professor who had a history of doing research for the influenza virus. While the professor and the pharmaceutical company were working together that the professor was asked to keep his finding in the research confidential. The reason that the pharmaceutical company wanted to withhold the finding is the unethical part. Most companies when doing research into new cures, inventions, and so on will have a confidentiality clause in the contract. But this company had only monetary reasons for keeping the data confidential. It was later found out that this pharmaceutical company knew that their research could help hundreds of lives in third world countries, but was more worried that the countries could not pay for the medication. There are several injured parties here; the thousands of residents of the African villages, other developing countries. The company was more interested in making money and not saving lives. The infected people of these regions will have to endure the results of the company’s choice. I do believe that the professor had an obligation to the developing countries to reveal the findings of the secret study. Although he had a confidential contract with the pharmaceutical company the amount of lives that could be lost is more important than the integrity of the contract. I believe all of this could have been avoided if the company and the management staff had released the compound. They could have continued working of the influenza and helped people at the same time. The unethical behavior shown by this company affected everyone involved. Society was affected by not receiving the accurate information to save lives. The professor was affected because he was a respected professor with a future at his university. His involvement with this unethical action could hurt those chances. The organization has been exposed as a heartless money hungry company that sees dollar signs and not human beings. In conclusion, I think it is the responsibility of all those involved in large organizations to keep each other honest. When given the power to save or take lives there must be a voice of reason within the organization. A lot of multinational organizations deal with a lot of money and can make or break a lot of careers. In the case of the professor and the pharmaceutical company it was the professor’s duty to expose the company’s decision and to use the knowledge gained for the betterment of society.

References:
Zall, R., Moyer, J., Dawson, P. & Curtis, S. (2003). Valley of Sorrow. Retrieved October
2, 2011, from http://www.bioethics.iastate.edu/classroom/valleysorrow.html