Example Of Essay On Ethical Analysis Of Profit And Nonprofit Organizations

Analysis of Personal and Organizational Ethics and Values between For-Profit and Not-for-Profit Organization

World Health Organization
World Health Organization is a nonprofit organization that deals with international public health. It was created in 1946 after Health Organization. World Health Organization has its headquarters situated in Geneva Switzerland. Since its creation, World Health organization has been of great help in eradicating communicable diseases like smallpox. Currently, the organization has shifted its attention to Ebola, HIV/Aids, and other communicable diseases. World Health Organization is also responsible for reducing effects of non-communicable ailments. The organization is also responsible for writing the World Heath report, which contains the condition of World’s Health (World Health Organization, 2015a).
World Health Organization main responsibility is to provide leadership regarding international public health. The organization is also responsible for establishing standards and norm for health. They also provide healthy aid to different nations (World Health Organization, 2015a)
World Health Organization receives its financial support from federal governments and other donor agencies. Countries that give large amounts of financial aid to World Health Organization are the United States, Japan, and Germany. Currently, the organization is also seeking to strengthen its ties with external bodies such as Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Another body that the organization engages in its activities is Rockefeller Foundation (World Health Organization, 2015a).

Current Ethical Dilemma Faced by World Health Organization

World Health Organization faces different ethical issues on a daily basis. Currently, the organization is facing a challenge in the use of unregistered treatment methods to curb spread of Ebola (World Health Organization, 2015b). At present, West Africa is facing a massive outbreak of Ebola. Ebola is a viral disease that has caused death of thousands of people in West Africa (Hayden, 2014; Diamond, 2014). World Health Organization and other stakeholders have established measurements to curb spread of the diseases. Research efforts have led to the establishment of different treatments and vaccines. Trials carried out on animals showed that Ebola’s vaccines work. Ethical issue occurring from establishment of these drugs and vaccines are why have clinical trials not been established yet many people are dying. On the other hand, scientists argue that the drug may have unforeseen side effects. Therefore, World Health Organization was torn between using the drug that may save thousands of people or not using it since it may have unforeseen side effects (Krech & Kieny, 2014).
Deciding to carry out clinical trials on Ebola patients have been received well politically. Different governments especially United States endorsed the trials. Several countries have agreed to it because Ebola is spreading quickly and causing numerous deaths (Butler, 2014).

Apple Inc.

Apple Inc. is a large profit-making corporation, which has its headquarters in California. Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronal Wayne created Apple. The three founded Apple in 1976. Apple was initially founded as a company that develops and sells computers. Over the years, Apple has changed its names. In 1977, Apple changed its name to Apple Computer Inc. The name changed to Apple Computer Inc. to show that the company dealt with production and sale of computers. In 2007, Apple Computer Inc. further changed its name to Apple Inc. showing that the company only dealt with consumer products (Sparks, 2015).
Currently, Apple is rated as one of the biggest information technology and mobile maker in the World. In 2014, Apple Inc. was valued at $700B and above. In the same year, Apple Inc. had employed over 70000 people. The company also had 437 retail stores situated in various countries in the world. An audit report done in the United States revealed that Apple Inc. as of 2014 had total revenue of 182 billion United States dollars. Its brand was valued at $118.9 billion (Sparks, 2015).
Apple is not exempted from paying tax. It has established subsidiary companies in countries with low tax. Apple has also contributed to several charitable causes. Apple Inc. is a partner of Product REDD campaign. Product REDD campaign is a campaign against the spread of HIV/AIDs from mother to child. Other than REDD campaign, Apple Inc. has donated funds to different nonprofit organizations such as American Red Cross.

Ethical Dilemma Faced by Apple Inc.

Apple Inc. is rated as one of the best information technology and mobile maker in the world. Apple receives its products from different suppliers one of them being Foxconn. Foxconn is one of the main suppliers of Apple Inc. products (Gueglielmo, 2013). Foxconn is situated in Taiwan. It is a multinational electronic contract company. Apple contracted Foxconn to be producing its electronic products. Foxconn has been subject to various criticisms. Foxconn has been accused of mistreating its employee to the point of some of them committing suicide. In 2012, 18 employees of Foxconn attempted suicide as a result of the poor working condition. 14 of the 18 died from jumping off the factory roof (Duhigg & Barboza, 2012). Foxconn has also been accused of using dangerous chemicals in making their products while, not protecting their employees. Foxconn has also been accused of employing underage students in the name of the internship (Blanco, 2012).
According to Apple supplier conduct, suppliers are obligated to provide a healthy working environment for its employees. Suppliers of Apple must practice proper hiring procedures, treat their workers well, and use environmentally friendly practices. Therefore, Apple Inc. code of ethics demands that employees in their supplying companies should be treated well. However, this is not the case for Foxconn. Foxconn has violated all supplier code of conduct provided by Apple Inc. Apple disciplinary action demands that if a supplier violates its code of conduct the company rejects its products and finds another supplier. However, this has not been the case for Foxconn (Blanco, 2012).
Ethical dilemma faced by Apple Inc. is that if it terminates its contract with Foxconn it will lose one of its best producing company. Foxconn produces Apple Inc. finest electronic products like iPhones. If Apple Inc. terminates its contract with Foxconn, it will lose billions of dollars. On the other hand, if Apple fails to deal with Foxconn’s situation, the company’s shareholders and stakeholders will be affected. Moreover, Apple Inc. will taint its reputation and end up losing its client base. In addition, Apple’s Inc. sales are likely to reduce. Therefore, Apple Inc. is torn between terminating Foxconn contract and keeping it (Blanco, 2012).
As a result of public pressure, Apple Inc. went ahead to send an audit team to Foxconn (Apple Press, 2015). The audit team was to determine whether what was being reported in the media was true. However, nothing much has been done after the audit. In fact, reports in the media report that relationship between Apple Inc. and Foxconn seems to be good and to improve. As a result, the outcome of Apple Inc. decision brought a lot of uproar from the media. Human right organization protested and demanded Apple Inc. to deal properly with the situation (Blanco, 2012).

My Views

In the first ethical issue faced by World Health Organization, the organization responded well to the issue. When responding to the ethical issue, World Health Organization decided to carry out human trials on the unregistered drugs. The reason behind their decision was that many people were dying, and no known side effects had been reported by scientific researchers (Krech & Kieny, 2014).
Therefore, the company’s decision was morally right. The decision was morally right because the organization considered human dignity and respect. World Health Organization valued human lives more than their reputation as an organization. Moreover, they undertook ethical procedures that were to be used while carrying the trials (Krech & Kieny, 2014).
World Health Organization was not the cause of the ethical dilemma. On the contrary, the ethical dilemma was caused by increased death of people in West Africa when there was a drug that could prevent the spread and even treat Ebola. The reason as to why World Health Organization did not create the ethical dilemma is because even other nations such as United States were wondering if it would be right to leave people to die or treat them with an unregistered drug (Butler, 2014).
Irrespective of their positive response, World Health Organization could have done more than they had because being a humanitarian organization they are responsible for promoting human dignity. Research shows that Ebola is a disease nearly 40 years old. Therefore, being an organization mandated in keeping international public health, WHO should have carried out research and determined the vaccine and cure of Ebola. However, WHO were not responsible for the problem, they should have carried out prior research on Ebola. This research would have assisted in preventing the spread of Ebola (Krech & Kieny, 2014).
On the second ethical dilemma, involving Apple Inc. the corporation decision to ignore and not cut its ties with Foxconn was morally wrong. First, Foxconn was engaging in activities that violated human rights. Poorly treating its employees and using chemicals that have a negative effect on their health was wrong. Therefore, Apple Inc. decision was morally wrong because it valued making money more than the lives of human beings and employees who had contributed to their success (Blanco, 2012).
The moral dilemma faced by Apple was as a result of external forces. Foxconn brought about the ethical dilemma faced by Apple Inc. If Foxconn had adhered to Apple Inc. supplier code of ethics the corporation (Apple Inc.) would not have difficulties in making the right decision. However, this does not mean that Apple Inc. should not have done more to prevent the ethical issue from happening. Just from the start, Apple Inc. should have held talks with Foxconn to come up with ways in which they could promote their workers welfare. The organization should have been stricter on enforcing their supply chain code of ethics irrespective of Foxconn position in producing quality products (Blanco, 2012).

Critique

World Health organization used virtue ethics to makes its decision. The organization considered implications of their actions with respect to the increasing deaths occurring as a result of Ebola. World Health Organization made the best decision because considering the state of West Africa and issues surrounding trial drugs the decision to administer unregistered drugs is considered the right decision because ethically the decision will help to save lives (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2013).
While making their decision, Apple Inc. used ethical theory known as egoism. Egoism as an ethical theory focuses on improving or favoring oneself. The goal of oneself is the primary factor in making decisions. Apple Inc. considered making profits more than living standards of employees working for Foxconn. Apple Inc. should have considered welfare of its employees. Apple Inc. should have used deontological ethical theory. Deontological is an ethical theory that determines morality of an action in terms of rules. It is stated as a duty or obligation to certain rules. If Apple Inc. had used deontological theory, they would have adhered to its rules written on the supplier’s code of ethics.

References:

Apple Press. (2015). Fair Labor Association Begins Inspections of Foxconn. Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2012/02/13Fair-Labor-Association-Begins-Inspections-of-Foxconn.html
Butler, D. (2014). Ebola drug trials set to begin amid crisis. Retrieved from http://www.nature.com/news/ebola-drug-trials-set-to-begin-amid-crisis-1.15813
Diamond, D. (24 Oct. 2014). It's OK To Worry About Ebola In NYC. Just Do not Panic. Here is Why. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/dandiamond/2014/10/24/its-ok-to-worry-about-ebola-in-nyc-but-you-shouldnt-panic-heres-why/
Duhigg, C. & Barboza, D. (January 25, 2012). In China, Human Costs Are Built into an iPad. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/business/ieconomy-apples-ipad-and-the-human-costs-for-workers-in-china.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Gueglielmo, C. (2013). Apple's Supplier Labor Practices In China Scrutinized After Foxconn, Pegatron Reviews. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/connieguglielmo/2013/12/12/apples-labor-practices-in-china-scrutinized-after-foxconn-pegatron-reviewed/
Hayden, E.C. (2014). Ethical dilemma for Ebola drug trials. Nature International Weekly Journal of Science, 515 (7526). Retrieved from http://www.nature.com/news/ethical-dilemma-for-ebola-drug-trials-1.16317
Krech, R., & Kieny, M. (2014). The 2014 Ebola outbreak: ethical use of unregistered interventions. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 92:622. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2471
Sparks, D. (2015). Apple, Inc. Earnings Next Week -- Will the Tech Giant Crush Previous Records? http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/01/22/apple-inc-earnings-next-week-will-the-tech-giant-c.aspx
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2013). Integrity. Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/integrity/
World Health Organization. (2015a). Ebola vaccines, therapies, and diagnostics. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/medicines/emp_ebola_q_as/en/
World Health Organization. (2015b). Ebola Virus Disease. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/en/