Merck – River Blindness An Ethical Analysis Of C

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Merck – River Blindness An Ethical Analysis of Corporate Responsibilities By: Manuel F Lastimosa April 17, 2011 Ethics "There is one and only one social responsibility of business--to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud (Friedman, 6).” Introduction and Situational Analysis: The debate concerning corporate social responsibility has gone on for decades and will most likely continue well into the future. On the one hand, proponents of CSR argue that corporations, like individuals, being part of society are morally obligated to contribute to the society that sustains them. That is to say, profit maximization is but one pursuit of a corporation and ought to be pursued in parallel with goals put forth by various other stakeholders including customers, suppliers, local communities, the general public, etc. as described in the stakeholder approach to social responsibility (Pearce and Robinson, 45). On the other hand, opponents of CSR such as capitalist Milton Friedman would argue that a firm’s duty is to its shareholders and as such is bound by fiduciary obligations to fulfilling shareholder interests—namely profit maximization. That is not to say ethics have no place in the business world. As implied in the above quote, Friedman framed the role of ethics in business as a code of conduct to be used in the pursuit of maximum profit—companies should seek to make profits but in an ethical way. In the case of Merck Pharmaceuticals, the ethical dilemma of CSR presents itself in the development and donation of a drug that would cure a disease called River Blindness. For the cost of 200 million dollars and 12 years of development time, Merck would be able to develop a drug

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