Summary
Ethical business practices are essential for ensuring that companies operate in a responsible and fair manner and protect employee rights and the environment. In this regard, Fertilife has changed its policies after expanding to Mexico. This report explains the ethical implications of Fertilife’s behavior regarding the employees and waste disposal, discusses the firm’s waste management and treatment of staff from philosophical perspectives, and highlights the economic and financial motivations, along with environmental, health, emotional, and moral considerations for the company.
Ethical Implications of Fertilife’s Behavior Regarding the Employees
The company’s behavior with regard to the workforce is characterized by negative ethical implications. In particular, Fertilife broke its promise to retain all staff in their previous positions and maintain their benefits. Instead, the company demoted Mexican employees who held managerial positions and reduced pay rates for lower-ranked workers, violating trust and integrity. According to Waheed and Zhang (2022), these values are pivotal for organizations to build and maintain reputation, improve relationships with customers and partners, and operate the business in a sustainable way. Furthermore, Fertilife’s treatment of its workforce is discriminatory as Mexican employees are provided with subpar food and accommodations, while their American and Canadian counterparts are given benefits. Such actions violate the principle of treating all individuals fairly and with respect (Saha et al., 2020). As can be seen, the company’s behavior is highly unethical, which implies the need to address these issues immediately.
Philosophical Perspectives on Employee Treatment
Several philosophical approaches can be utilized to evaluate whether the company’s actions are permissible and acceptable. From a consequentialist perspective, the company’s behavior can be assessed based on the consequences it produces (Brooks & Dunn, 2020). Since Fertilife’s actions result in adverse effects for the Mexican employees, such as demotions, cutbacks in benefits, inhumane treatment, and poor working conditions, they are considered impermissible. Moreover, a deontological perspective evaluates whether a firm follows moral rules (Brooks & Dunn, 2020). In this regard, Fertilife violates such duties by not including verbal promises in the contract and subsequently breaking them, which is impermissible. Finally, a virtue ethics perspective assesses whether the firm embodies integrity and fairness (Saha et al., 2020). Fertilise does not promote these virtues, as it mistreats Mexican employees and uses them for cheap labor. Overall, the philosophical perspectives on the issue reveal that the company’s behavior is impermissible and immediate change is required to fulfill its duties, obligations, and responsibilities.
Ethical Implications of Fertilife’s Behavior Regarding Waste Disposal
Fertilife’s behavior has several adverse ethical implications in regard to waste disposal. To begin with, discarding hazardous substances into the river affects wildlife and violates the principle of environmental sustainability (Waheed & Zhang, 2022). Another ethical implication of the company’s actions includes significant harm to the local community and human health. In this regard, Fertilife lacks social responsibility as it pursues the easiest strategy of waste disposal, which results in poisoning people and the environment. Instead of aligning its policies with progressive waste management regulations, the firm exploits the lack of laws governing waste disposal in Mexico and avoids responsibility. The company has a moral duty to ensure that its actions do not harm the environment and people nearby.
Philosophical Perspectives on Waste Disposal
Applying the same philosophical approaches to the company’s waste disposal strategy can help determine whether change is needed. From a consequentialist perspective, it is evident that current practices of chemical disposal result in significant harm to the local wildlife and community, as well as the environment in general. The deontological viewpoint on the issues reveals that Fertilife’s behavior is impermissible as the company does not follow the moral rules or duties when disposing of hazardous waste into the river. Finally, the virtue ethics perspective on the company’s actions exposes a lack of corporate social responsibility and environmental stewardship (Saha et al., 2020). Fertilife does not consider the environmental impact of its business on the local community. Therefore, change is required with regard to appropriate measures to protect the environment.
Economic/Financial Motivations, Environmental, Health, Emotional, and Moral Considerations
The economic and financial motivations for Fertilife to eliminate the discrimination against the workforce include the risk of high employee turnover and low morale of the teams, which are likely to increase costs while reducing business efficiency. Furthermore, the company’s reputation can suffer and lead to revenue losses due to unethical policies on hazardous substances (Waheed & Zhang, 2022). In terms of environmental considerations, the company must ensure that it protects its workers from chemical exposure and disposes of dangerous waste safely to avoid a negative impact on the community and nature. The health aspect for both topics includes the health risks to employees from working in poor conditions and the locals from environmental pollution caused by the company’s waste disposal practices (Saha et al., 2020).
Furthermore, Fertilife should account for such emotional considerations as the psychological impact on the employees due to demotions and pay cuts, as well as the adverse effects of the wildlife loss on the residents in the area. Moral factors include the company’s obligations to treat all employees fairly and with respect and to protect the well-being of the community residents and the environment.
To conclude, Fertilife must evaluate a wide range of factors in order to make ethical and responsible decisions regarding the treatment of employees and waste disposal, such as economic, financial, environmental, health, emotional, and moral considerations. Adopting and maintaining ethical business practices is crucial for the company’s reputation and long-term success. Overall, the principles of corporate social responsibility must be followed to promote a fair and sustainable economy and society.
References
Brooks, L. J., & Dunn, P. (2020). Business and professional ethics (9th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Saha, R., Cerchione, R., Singh, R., & Dahiya, R. (2020). Effect of ethical leadership and corporate social responsibility on firm performance: A systematic review. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 27(2), 409-429. Web.
Waheed, A., & Zhang, Q. (2022). Effect of CSR and ethical practices on sustainable competitive performance: A case of emerging markets from stakeholder theory perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 175(4), 837-855. Web.