The main ethical dilemma in the film
When watching the film “Erin Brokovich”, the main ethical dilemma that can be identified is the action of Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) wherein they purposefully hid the fact that their operations within Hinkley, California resulted in the release of toxic chromium into the town’s water supply which resulted in numerous local residents developing cancer.
The response of Decision-makers to the Dilemma
The response of the company when it became apparent that the chromium was causing cancer was to hide the evidence regarding their operations and its connection to the increased rates of cancer. Furthermore, the company embarked on a campaign of false information dissemination wherein through the use of doctors and company public relations specialists, the company made it seems that the cancer rates in the immediate area of Hinkley was completely coincidental and they were using a “safe” form of chromium in their operations that would not cause cancer.
Code of Values
Basically, the executives of the corporation at the time were focusing on self-preservation rather than doing the right thing and owning up to their actions. The sheer fact that they chose to hide the truth resulted in even more people getting cancer than if they had admitted it immediately.
This could have resulted in some stopgap measures being put in place that could have prevented the issue from escalating. It should also be noted that once it was revealed that the company was responsible for causing widespread cancer in an area within the U.S., the executives who had condoned such operations would have been blamed and their careers would have been over.
What action would I have taken?
When going over the actions that were committed by the executives of the corporation at that time, it became immediately obvious to me that the best course of action would be to simply come out clean and admit that the corporation made a mistake.
Why would you take that action?
The problem with not admitting any wrongdoing when it came to the toxic pollutants in the water is that it creates the potential for the problem to get worse and impact more people. For instance, if you mixed a baby’s powdered formula with tainted water, it is likely that the baby could get sick and die. The same applies to even normal adults and elderly; the longer the problem goes unaddressed, the greater the likelihood of a greater impact on the local population.
From a corporate ethics perspective, it should be noted that studies such as those by Warren, Gaspar, and Laufer (2014) indicate that corporate ethics can be considered as a myth since corporations are primarily profit-driven entities that focus on getting the most amount of profit from their operations. Evidence of this can be seen in the movie wherein Pacific Gas, and Electric (PG&E) was more than willing to simply hide the problem and prevent people from knowing about it since it would impact the profits and reputation of the company (Epstein, 104).
The concept of corporate social responsibility is thus viewed as merely a manifestation of the development of a company’s brand image wherein they understand the need to create a better perception of the general public towards the company in order to create product patronage (Koehn, 240).
The better the perception, the more likely people will buy the products of the company. It is based on this that when examining my personal code of ethics, it differs significantly from that of corporations since I believe in preventing problems from getting worse in order to help as many people as possible rather than hiding the truth in order to ensure profits continue to grow.
Works Cited
Epstein, Edwin M. “The Corporate Social Policy Process: Beyond Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, And Corporate Social Responsiveness.” California Management Review 29.3 (1987): 99-114. Print.
Koehn, Daryl. “Why Saying “I’m Sorry” Isn’t Good Enough: The Ethics Of Corporate Apologies.” Business Ethics Quarterly 23.2 (2013): 239-268. Print.
Warren, Danielle E., Joseph P. Gaspar, and William S. Laufer. “Is Formal Ethics Training Merely Cosmetic? A Study Of Ethics Training And Ethical Organizational Culture.” Business Ethics Quarterly 24.1 (2014): 85-117. Print.