Organizational Culture free essay sample

It is extensively acknowledge that organizational culture plays an increasingly essential role in a successful company. However, in the meanwhile whether organizational culture should be changed constitutes a controversial issue. Many managers assert that organizational culture must be changed while few others argue that organizational culture needs not to be changed. As far as I am concerned, I am in favor of the former view. In this essay, firstly, I will talk about what is organizational culture and what do organizational cultures do. In the second place, I will discuss why organizational culture should be changed. Thirdly, I will analyze the risks of organizational culture change. Finally, I will expatiate how to prevent risks of organizational culture change. What is organizational culture? A number of years back, I watched an American reality television The Apprentice, and I remember a player was asked what he thought organizational culture mean by Doanld Trump. We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational Culture or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He said: â€Å"I can’t express it, however,I get it when I see it. † Most people cannot define organizational culture accurately by concise word. However there seems to be widely recognized that organizational culture indicates a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations. (Becker, 1982, pp. 513-27; and Schein 1985 p. 168) This shared system meaning is, on further investigation, a series of important features that the organization values. The investigation advises that there are seven main features that, gather up the threads, constitute the essence of an organizational culture. (Reilly III, Chatman, Jehn, 1991, pp. 487-516; and Chatman, Jehn, 1994, pp. 522-553; Ashkanasy, Wilderom, Peterson, 2000) 1. Innovation and adventure: the extent to which employees are encouraged to be make innovations and adventure. 2. Detail oriented: the extent to which employees are anticipated to exhibit meticulous, analysis and detail oriented. 3. Attention to outcome: the extent to which management attach importance to results or outcomes rather than on the skills and processes used to achieve those outcomes. Attention to people: the extent to which management decision take into regard the influence of results on people within the organization. 5. Attention to team: the extent to which job activities are organized around teams rather than individuals. . Aggressiveness: the extent to which people are aggressive and competitive rather than easygoing 7. Stability: the extent to which organizational activities stress keeping the status quo by comparison to growth and development. There is no denying that organizational culture is just a descriptive concept, because of organizational culture is paid attention to how employees perceive the features of their organization’s culture, not with whether or not they like it. Furthermore, it is obvious that a company cannot have only one organizational culture. As we know, there are many employees who have different background or at different levels in a company, so they must have different perspective with organizational culture. In the mean time, there are two different cultures in one company, dominant culture and subculture. Dominant culture describes the core values that are shared by a most of the employees, when we talk about an organizational culture, we are referring to its dominant culture; In general, subculture develop in a big company to reflex conjunct problems, situations or experiences that staff meet. What do cultures do? Culture has a variety of functions in an organization. First, it creates distinctions between one organization and others. Second, it expresses a sense of identity for employees. Third, it precipitates employees not only care one’s individual self-interest, but also care whole organizational interest. Fourth, it improves the stability of the organization. Finally, culture serves as a sense- making and control mechanism that guides and shapes the attitudes and behavior of employees. (Reilly, Chatman, Staw, Cummings, 1996). Why organizational culture should be changed? Compelling arguments can be made that organizational culture should be changed, immediately. The first point with respect to this is that our society is advancing at an amazing speed in this day and age, more and more organizations face a dynamic and changing environment. As a consequence, all organizations must adapt to the changeable society. ‘Change or die! ’ is the rallying cry among today’s manager worldwide. In the second place, with the development of technology and science, the sense of distance between people getting closer, our world became a multicultural environment. Therefore, many companies have to do adjustment to adapt environment. More precisely, many companies must spend large amount of money and much energy on training to improve skills of employees. Last but not least, in this world, competition is a part of our lives, never disappear. Especially in the business society, the weaks are the prey of the strongs, increasing competition makes it inevitable for builded organizations to defend themselves against both traditional competitors who develop new products and services, and small entrepreneurial firms with innovative offerings. This makes sense in that a good organization will be the ones that can change according to the competition. They followed the steps of the times, able to develop new products quickly and put them on the market. They accelerate production operations, shortened product cycle and constantly produce new products that can adapt to radically-changing environment. The risks of organizational culture On the other hand, colorable arguments can be made that organizational culture should not to be changed. This argument has considerable merit in that every little change can bring huge risks, especially for a business organization. For example, a change is scheduled and employees as soon as possible respond by voicing complaints, demotivation, even threatening go on strike and so on. In general, risk can be divided two big parts, individual risks and organizational risks. Individual sources of risk belong to primary human characteristics such as consciousness, characteristics and requirements. There are five different risks in individual resources. Custom (Habit): Do you go to school or work always through same route every day? Most people’s answer: â€Å"Yes! † Our lives are so complicated, we have to make hundreds of decisions. Therefore, face to life’s complexities, we lean upon habits or programmed responses. However, when faced with change, this tendency to respond in our usual ways becomes a source of risk. For instance, when your department moves to another new building, it means you have to change your habits: get up earlier ten minutes; pass a new street go to work; look for a new parking; adapt to new office’s overall arrangement and so on. . Security: People with a high need for security are likely to resist change because it threatens their feelings of safety. For example, when Sonyamp;Ericsson announced to lay off 17000 employees or Ford will introduce new robots, these employees feel their job unsafe. 3. Economic: Changes in work tasks or job specification can lead to economic fears if people are cared that they would not be able to adapt to new tasks or standards, especially when reward is closely related to productivity. 4. Fear of the unknown: Change replaces vagueness and indetermination for the unknown. When we graduated from high school ready enter university was a wonderful example. In high school, we understood that what things need to do, you maybe dislike high school life, but at least, you know this system. We faced a fresh and uncertainty system in university, you have to sacrifice your know to exchange unknown, it was associated with uncertainty fears. 5. Selective information processing: Individuals are sinful of selective processing information in the cause of maintain their whole consciousness. They hear what they want to hear and they ignore information that challenges the world they have created. Organization is conservative for its essentially, it resist change energetically. (Hall, 1987) This phenomenon can be seen everywhere, for example, governmental agencies want to continue devote oneself to their work, no matter what the market need to change; The organized religion has ineradicable history, changing religious doctrine need great perseverance and patience; Many business companies also think change can bring many risks. There are six organizational sources of risk. (Katz, Kahn, 1978) 1. Structural inertia: Organizations keep their stability by inner mechanism, like their selection processes that choose employees in or out very systematically; Training and other socialize technology strengthen requests and skills for every concrete role; Organizational normalization provides job specifications, rules and regulations to employees. After selection, the satisfactory employees can enter organization, then, organization will model and guide their behaviors by kind of way. When an organization is meted with change, this structural inertia act as risk (even counterbalance) to maintain stability. 2. Limited Change attention: Organizations are made up of a quantity of interdependent subsystems. One cannot be changed without influencing the others. More exactly, in the meantime, organizations just change technological process, and not change organizational structure for match it, so technological change cannot adapt to. It seems that limited change in subsystems tend to be nullified by the lager system. 3. Group inertness: Even though individuals want to change their behavior, group criterion may act as a force of constraint. For instance, an unionist maybe accept job change from capital, but if union regulation provide that resist any change by capital unilaterally change, therefore risk will appear. 4. Threat to professional knowledge: Changes in organizational model may threaten the expertise of specialized groups. In 1980s, the process of adopting distributed personal computer was a good example. This computer can let user direct got information from host computer of company, but it encountered many information departments’ counterview. Why, because the use distributed computers can bring risks for special technology of information departments. 5. Threat to established power relationships: Any reapportionment of decision-making power can threaten long-established power relationships within organization. Participative decision and self-management work team are belong to this change, it used to be threaten by low-level managers. 6. Threat to established resource distributions: Groups in the organization that control considerable resources see change as a risk. They tend to be gratify with the way things are. For instance, whether change means their budget or members decreasing? Those groups which can get much benefit from existing resource allocations used to be threaten by future allocations. How to prevent risks of organizational culture change? Although Organizational change brings many risks, in some ways, this is positive. It regulates a degree of stability and predictability to behavior. If there were not some risks, organizational behavior would take on the representatives of chaotic randomness. According to these risks, there were six tactics have been suggested for use by change planners in dealing with preventing risks. (Kotter, Schlesinger, 1979) 1. Education and Communication: Risk can be reduced through communicating with employees to help them understand the logic of a change. The fundamental assumption of this strategy is the reason of producing risks that fights the effects of misinformation and miscommunication; if employees see all facts and eliminate entire misread, risks should disappear. Our communication could through talk personally, group discussion, memorandum, report and so on. Indeed, research shows that the way the need for change is sold matters-change is more likely when the necessity of changing is packaged properly. (Dutton, Ashford, O’Neill, Lawrence, 2001) By the way, when the risk of change definitely from miscommunication and labor relations character by mutual trust, this tactic does work; if these conditions cannot be have, it does not work. 2. Participation: It is difficult for individuals to hit back a change decision in which they participated. Before changing, those opposed can be brought into the decision process. Presuming that the participants have the professional knowledge to make a meaningful contribution, their participation can reduce risk, obtain promise, and improve the quality of change decision. However, this tactic has two disadvantages. First, it maybe has potential poor decision; second, it would take much time. 3. Support and Promotion: Change planners can provide a range of supportive measures to reduce risk. When employees feel fear and worried, the company should offer recommendation and counseling psychology, new-technologies training or a short paid leave of holiday may promote adjustment. Research on middle managers has shown that when managers or employees have low emotional commitment to change, they favor the status quo and resist it. (Huy, 2002, pp. 31-69) 4. Negotiation: Another way for the change planner to cope with potential risk to change is to exchange something valuable for waken risk. For example, if the risk is concentrated in some powerful individuals, a detailed payment scheme can be negotiated that will satisfy their individual needs. Negotiation as a tactic may be necessary when risk comes from a powerful provenience. But, planner cannot ignore its potentially high costs. On the side, if change planner negotiates with one party to avoid risk, he or she is open to the possibility of being extorted by other individuals which have power. 5. Control and Cooptation: Manipulation deal with concealed influence attempts. Some illustration of this are twisting and misinterpretation facts to make them more attractive, blocking undesirable information, and creating rumors to get employees to accept change. If managers threatens to closed down a extraordinary manufacturing plant if that plant’s employees do not accept an across-the-board pay cut, and if the threat is actually untrue, managers is using manipulation. Cooptation, on the other side, is a mode of both manipulation and participation. It try to find ‘buy off’ the leaders of against group by giving them an important role in the change decision. The leader’s suggestion is explored, not to seek a good decision, but to get their authorization. Both manipulation and cooptation are comparatively low-cost and easy ways to enhance the support of opponents, but the tactics can backfire if the targets become conscious that they are being tricked or used. If by any chance detected, the change planner’s reputation may drop to zero. It used by change planners in dealing with opponents to change; that is, the application of direct thrusts or force on the opponents. The color is quite mandatory, if the company management indicated to in the previous discussion really is determined to shut down if employees do not agree with a pay cut. Other examples of coercion are threats of transfer, loss of promotions, negative performance appraisal and so on. The advantages and disadvantages coercion are similar to the benefits and drawbacks of manipulation and cooptation. For my part, after considering the arguments above, I would concede that organizational change can bring many risk, the members of conservative not support change. Nevertheless, despite that I think the organizations should be changed, every day is different, anything would be changed as time goes on. Overall, I am convinced that with development of society, managers will discover many effective change plans to adapt to market competition. Organizational Culture free essay sample Organizational Culture has been described as the shared values, principles, traditions, and ways of doing things that influence the way organizational members act. In most organizations, these shared values and practices have evolved over time and determine, toa a large extent, how things are done in the organization. This definition continues to explain organizational values, described as â€Å"beliefs and ideas about what kinds of goals members of an organization should pursue and ideas about the appropriate kinds or standards of behavior organizational members should use to achieve these goals.From organizational values develop organizational norms, guidelines, or expectations that prescribe appropriate kinds of behavior by employees in particular situations and control the behavior of organizational members towards one another. † The definition of culture implies three things. The culture is ‘perspective’, ‘descriptive’ and finally ‘shared’ within the organization. Research suggests that there are seven dimensions that describe and organization’s culture.Each of the seven dimensions (shown in exhibit 1) ranges from low to high, meaning it is not very typical of the culture (low) or is very typical of the culture (high). We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational Culture or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The seven dimensions of culture are: Attention to Detail. Outcome Orientation. People Orientation. Team Orientation. Aggressiveness. Stability. Innovation and Risk Taking. The culture of an organization can either be Strong or Weak. It is the culture, that sometimes influence the employees’ behaviors and actions. Strong Culture is said to exist where staff respond to stimulus because of their alignment to organizational values.In such environments, strong cultures help firms operate like well oiled machines, cruising along with outstanding execution and perhaps minor tweaking of existing procedures here and there. Research shows that strong cultures are those in which the key values are deeply held and widely shared and have a greater influence on employees than do weaker cultures. A â€Å"Strong† culture may be especially beneficial to firms operating in the service sector since members of these organizations are responsible for delivering the service and for evaluations important constituents make about firms.Research indicates that organizations may derive the following benefits from developing strong and productive cultures: †¢Better aligning the company towards achieving its vision, mission, and goals †¢High employee motivation and loyalty †¢Increased team cohesiveness among the company’s various departments and divisions. †¢Promoting consistency and encouraging coordination and control within the company †¢Shaping employee behavior at work, enabling the organization to be more efficient.However, in a strong culture, people do things because they be lieve it is the right thing to do, this often creates a state where people, even if they have different ideas, do not challenge organizational thinking, therefore, resulting in a reduced capacity for innovative thoughts. Most organizations have moderate to strong cultures; that is, there is relatively high agreement on what’s important, what defines â€Å"good† employee behavior, what it takes to get ahead, and so forth.However, it is also important to view what a weaker culture in an organization may yield at: An organization’s culture is often established by its top managers and it starts at the selection process. For instance, during the employee selection process, managers typically judge job candidates not only on the job requirements but also on how well they might fit into the organization. Further to that, the risk-taking appetite and irreverence to its competitors by the top managers paves the growth and action of an organization.

ndividual Reflective Report Essays

ndividual Reflective Report Essays ndividual Reflective Report Essay ndividual Reflective Report Essay Essay Topic: Reflective In this report, I am going to describe my own role in helping the team to achieve its goal in relation to the team report and the practical negotiation exercise. Also I will provide evidence of my contribution to the cohesiveness of the team and how I facilitated the completion of the team goals.  In this semester of the integrative core session, I have been arranged to group 2 team A with other group mates and they were all new to me. At the beginning of the class start, I introduce myself to them and meet friends with them. Although I am a Chinese and my English is not very fluent, Id like to be active and always talk to my group mates even though they seems not really understand what I mean. Because of the communication problem, we always have problem when doing the exercise during the class. In the first few classes, we had a decision making exercise on the case study of Kelvin Hall sport center and we need to have a group discussion about the future of Kelvin Hall. Through the process, my group mates Laura, Julio and Niiki suggested the ideas that keep the Kelvin Hall and oppose to sell it to the developers. And others have suggested the relocating the Kelvin hall to another area or keep the venue in the current position but modernized it. After the objectives are set, we have to discuss the trade-off of each suggestion. I remember that at first, I d like to be active and always give my own opinions for why not sell the Kelvin Hall to the developers. However, after my explanation to my group mates, they seem like not really understand and I remember Laura said: No, Monica, we are talking about the question like And I was so ashamed and say, oh, sorry, I misunderstand and then they continued to discuss the problem. At that moment, I really upset because I am not only cant help the group but also give them trouble. However, I havent give up for the discussion, as the class was about 2 hours long. So, I try to be silent and listen carefully to what they said. Then, I write down the notes and keep the ideas in my mind. When I have got enough information of the issues, I d like to join the discussion and express my opinions again to my mates, and Julio, he is a nice person that always give me time to express my ideas and encourage me to do that. Although my ideas may not be helpful, I learn how to making decision and how to communicate and co-operate with others. Like the preparation of the negotiation test in week 8, Lesley, Rennie and me is in the side of sportscotland and we need to have a preparation for the test in week 10. And we have about 20 to 30 minutes to discuss the matter we face. And I am so unhappy during the discussion. I remember I was sitting between rennie and lesley, I was in the middle and they both just talking to each other and I feel like be ignored. But I have no other choice and need to say something. I know its my own problem for poor English but at that moment I really dont know what can I do, I dont want to sit in the group and say nothing so I asked them question like: Sorry to interrupt you both, as I am not really understand the question and would you mind to speak slower and explain to me please? I know I am so impolite to ask that question but my group mates rennie and Lesley are so kind to explain to me and then we discuss the matter together and finish the discussion quickly. I was so happy and feel very success at the moment because I have had involved to the exercise. However, I was so careless in week 10 as I was absent for the test. I know it is my own responsibility to check the timetable before the class and I havent done that. So I affect my group in the test and I just left rennie and Lesley to do their own. I am really regretted and I am so sorry. I will be bear the cost for not attends to the test.  The first semester of the integrative core session will be finished by the Project of the Kelvin Hall Report done by the group. I need to be do the report very well as I have lost my marks in the negotiation test and also to put effort in my group as I know it is a team work. I will work very hard on the project and co-operating very well with my group mate to finish the report together.  To conclude, I have learn many things and gain lots of experience in this semester during the integrative core session and I d like to do my best through the mistake I have made, or at least not doing wrong, repeat the mistake again!

Statistical Measures of Unemployment

Statistical Measures of Unemployment Most data regarding unemployment in the United States is collected and reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The BLS divides unemployment into six categories (known as U1 through U6), but these categories dont line up directly with the way that economists categorize unemployment. U1 through U6 are defined as follows: U1 Percentage of labor force unemployed 15 weeks or longerU2 Percentage of labor force who lost jobs or completed temporary workU3 Percentage of labor force who are without jobs and have looked for work in the last four weeks (note that this is the officially reported unemployment rate)U4 U3 plus the percent of the labor force that counts as discouraged workers, i.e. people who would like to work but have stopped looking because they are convinced that they cant find jobsU5 U4 plus the percent of the labor force that count as marginally attached or loosely attached workers, i.e. people who would theoretically like to work but havent looked for work within the past four weeksU6 U5 plus the percent of the labor force that counts as underemployed, i.e. part-time workers who would like to work more but cant find full-time jobs Technically speaking, the statistics for U4 through U6 are calculated by adding discouraged workers and marginally attached workers into the labor force as appropriate. (Underemployed workers are always counted in the labor force.) In addition, the BLS defines discouraged workers as a subset of marginally attached workers but is careful not to double count them in the statistics. You can see the definitions directly from the BLS. While U3 is the main officially reported figure, looking at all of the measures together can provide a broader and more nuanced view of what is happening in the labor market.

Analyze love or power and control on two sheakesperean plays and Essay

Analyze love or power and control on two sheakesperean plays and feminist literature, and feminist research - Essay Example ian leash, Shakespeare openly created female characters to transcend socially permitted female behaviors of the time and exposed female characters and their manipulations and power games they tried to play. All the heroines of his plays all have a deep trace of rebellion and some feminist views opposing male dominance and control. Seen from a feminist perspective Lady Macbeth was a strong-willed, intelligent woman, who was driven to consorting with devils because the male demons of her own culture prevent her from doing what men assumed by right. Her wish to shed her sexual identity, as seen through the â€Å"unsex me here† line, reinforces desire for power and control in a male dominated world. Similarly Hermia can be seen as a female who despite the penalty of death on disobedience rebels against the control of her father and the King so that she can choose her own life partner. Macbeth: Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragedy where both the villains Macbeth and his Lady are also the tragic heroes of the play.   A tragic hero is a character that the audience sympathizes with despite his/her actions that would indicate the contrary.   Macbeth, in spite of his horrible murders, is a pitiable man.   He suffered because he could not enjoy his royal status as  fear, paranoia and sleeplessness plagued him.  Similarly Lady Macbeth is also a tragic hero.   Her early ambition and daring did not last long, and she soon deteriorates into a delusional, hapless somnambulist.   She breaks down due to the strain of the crime.   Macbeth and his wife are pitiable characters because the audience is able to follow their every thought and action and can see the how their greed is followed by guilt and remorse.   A Midsummer Nights Dream: A Midsummer Nights Dream is a comedy in which Shakespeare shows many different kinds of love and marriage with the underlying theme of male dominance and their women’s rebellion against this control. Helena and Hermia flee into the woods on

Building and Sustaining School culture Research Paper

Building and Sustaining School culture - Research Paper Example Creating awareness of culture within school settings can trigger scholars and tutors to take on tasks that promote growth. A school is an organization that has its own principles, values, and norms. Culture is not a distinguishable aspect of a school setting. A school culture encloses teachers developing their attitudes and impacting their conclusions and deeds. Culture manipulates all facets of a school, as well as such aspects as teacher’s dressing, what the teachers talk about during their breaks, how the teachers decorate their classrooms and the teacher’s stress on definite facets of the program of study. This research paper will focus on the factors that can help in building and sustaining school culture within school settings and institutions and the key players.Sarason (1996) refers culture within a school setting as the set of beliefs and values coherent among the school leaders in steering the school and interpreted by the students into proper conducts and arm ored through the installation of discipline. School cultures are formed and transformed over time. Needless to say, there is a broad correspondence among authors and scholars on how school cultures reacts to and replicates community attributes held by the students. For this reason, school culture can be expressed as the air we breathe. It is hardly noticeable. Moreover, it also typifies the traits and values of its leaders (Sarason, 1996).Culture in school grows as â€Å"teachers associate with each other, students and the community†.... School culture is a dynamic aspect that is continuously â€Å"being constructed and shaped through dealings with other and replications on life and the world in general† (Sarason, 1996, p 27). Culture in school grows as â€Å"teachers associate with each other, students and the community† (Barth, 1990, p. 123).Sarason (1996) argues that it â€Å"becomes the guide for behavior shared among members of the school at large† (p. 32). Kruse and Louis (2008, p. 20) argue that schools â€Å"are shaped by cultural practices and values and reflect the norms of the society for which they have been developed†. Barth (1990) asserts that â€Å"rituals and procedures common to most schools play a vital role in defining school’s culture† (p.124). For instance, ringing bells and having students stand in lines. Sarason (1996, p. 138), asserts â€Å"it is challenging to determine the nature of a school’s culture because our own personal experiences and values put blinders on what we look at, choose to change, and evaluate; because our values and assumptions are usually implicit and second nature we proceed as if the way things are the way things should or could be†. Arguably, people scrutinize the customs, guidelines, curriculum, tasks, pedagogy and practices in institutions from side to side via the sieve of their personal experiences and values. Sarason (1996) points out that people must apprehend and analyze their own cultural impacts before examining a schools’. Before joining the school, teachers and other staff members are attached to other cultures. Their values, experiences, prior education and norms,affect their opinions on pedagogy, curriculum and reforms before stepping into classrooms. For this reason, any proposed cultural reform will be resisted. Effects of

Stephen Hawking :: essays research papers

Stephen W. Hawking has a mind that is beyond today's way of thinking. His attempts to identify a grand unification theory that unites everything we know about the physics and even science itself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hawking was born on January 8, 1942 in Oxford, England. He spent most of his childhood in and around London, and always looked to learn. He loved the stars and space. Stephen Hawking wanted to study mathematics and physics in a university, but his father thought that there would not be any jobs in mathematics, so Hawking took physics and chemistry, and only a bit of math. No one really saw how intelligent Hawking was till the second year of college.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One ordinary day at college, Hawking fell down a flight of stairs. He had forgotten who he was for two hours. When he back to himself, he took a Mensa test and got a 250. He thought nothing of the fall and went on like he normally would. When Hawking graduated college he took a trip to Persia. He got very ill on this trip, and was later diagnosed Amtytropic lateral sclerosis or, Lou Gerhig's disease.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When the doctors diagnosed with 2 1/2 years to live he pretty much gave up. He stopped researching and experimenting, and even thought of not finishing his Ph.D. He was in a hard depression, until he met a women by the name of Jane Wilde. After finishing his thesis, Jane Wilde and Stephen Hawking were married.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From then on, Hawking went on to bigger things. The doctors diagnosis was wrong, Hawking wouldn't die in the 2 1/2 year. Hawking is credited with many things having to do with Black Holes and the outer space. Even know Hawking's problems did not kill him, they did not get any better. Years after the diagnosis Hawking eventually has become restricted to a wheelchair and can hardly move. He talks through a voice synthesizer and is fed through intervenes.

Merck and River Blindness

Onchocerciasis, known as river blindness, is caused by parasitic worms that live in the small black flies that breed in and about fast-moving rivers in developing countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. The disease, if untreated causes extreme discomfort and eventually, blindness. In 1978, the World Health Organization estimated that over 300,000 people were blind because of the disease and another 18 million were infected. At the time, there was no safe cure (Trevino, & Nelson, 2011).In 1978, Merck, while testing invermectin (a parasite killing drug for animals), found that invermectin killed a parasite similar to the one that caused river blindness. The problem for Merck was that river blindness generally only affects people in very poor areas and there was very little chance to recoup their financial investment by selling the drug.The ethical dilemma represented by this situation is focused on what course of action Merck should take. Does Merck invest precious res ources (both time and money) into testing and developing a drug that will not increase their profits? Or should Merck invest the resources knowing that their work, while not profitable, has the potential to save millions of lives and end the suffering of tens of millions more?On the Merck website, I found this listed first among their Values: Our business is preserving and improving human life. We also work to improve animal health. All of our actions must be measured by our success in achieving these goals. We value, above all, our ability to serve everyone who can benefit from the appropriate use of our products and services, thereby providing lasting consumer satisfaction (Our values, 2008). Corporate success (profit) vs. Corporate philosophy, while it is easy to  talk about ethics and charity, the river blindness scenario was a huge test of Merck’s corporate character.Section 2: StakeholdersAfter reading the case in our textbook and going out to read about this river bl indness issue, I have changed my opinion on who the stakeholders are in this situation (compared to what I wrote in the weekly discussions). The stakeholders, in my opinion are:1)Merck shareholders and investors 2)Merck employees 3)Merck management 4)People affected by (or potentially threatened by) river blindness This list is not a ranking of stakeholder importance as that is truly a subjective measure based on your view of the situation.Merck shareholders and investors may or may not share the company’s â€Å"people first† vision. For this group, the impact must be looked at in light of how the development of a drug (that will most likely be given away for free) affects the return on their investment. We have to remember that not all investors are rich billionaires like Warren Buffet, some are average, working class folks who rely on their investment income to help them survive. People invest in Merck because they expect a certain reasonable return on their investme nts and Merck has a responsibility to act in the best interest of their shareholders. If Merck decides to spend time and money on a philanthropic endeavor, how does the investment of time and manpower affect their other drug trials?Merck employees are stakeholders because their livelihood depends on Merck making enough profits to continue paying them. A few years ago I would not have viewed employees in this light but the more I learn about the company/employee dynamic, I begin to understand that employees, whether or not they have some financial interest in the company (other than salary), have a vested interest in the success of the company. Like the shareholders, employees make a choice to invest in a company. In their case, it is an investment of time and their investment is tied to  professional growth. Merck must make decisions that do not recklessly jeopardize the future of their employees.Merck management’s stake in this is similar to that of the employees. The diff erence is that not only are they invested professionally; the management team has been given stewardship over the Merck brand and corporate identity. They must make the decisions that set the company’s path so that the brand is financially successful while being true to the corporate vision that was discussed earlier.Last, but certainly not least, we get to the people who are affected by the river blindness disease. These people have voice in what Merck chooses to do but at the same time they are the reason that Merck is in business in the first place. As of 2006, estimates are that 37 million are infected with, and up to 100 million people are at risk of contracting, river blindness (Hearney, 2007). For a company like Merck that claims to be more concerned with people than profits, these people are definitely stakeholders in Merck’s decision to move forward with invermectin trials.Section 3: Analysis Based on Ethical TheoriesCultural relativism means that any decision is right (or wrong) depending on whose side you are taking at the moment. Because the United States doesn’t have a single, ethical baseline that guides our actions, each individual view holds equal weight and there is no absolute right or wrong. For this case, Merck could decide to cut the research on invermectin, order it’s scientists to not discuss the issue, and sit back while millions of people suffer through a horrible existence without a second thought. People who oppose Merck’s decision would have no standing to say anything about the decision because it is the right decision for the business culture in which Merck operates.For the suffering masses, this decision could be viewed as something akin to the Nazi decision to kill millions of Jews but based on the cultural relativistic school of thought, their view would not be any more important or morally superior than Merck’s. Part of the problem with this theory is that we are forced to accept barba ric actions as acceptable (burning people at the stake, cannibalism, beheading, â€Å"honor† killings,  stoning, etc.) because it is accepted by another culture. I find it ironic that there would have been a huge public outcry (from the very people who support cultural relativism) if Merck had decided to stop testing and not develop the drug. In general, these â€Å"liberal and enlightened† folks are only tolerant of the cultures and people with whom they agree.The teleological approach to this dilemma would require an examination of the issue and a breakdown of all the possible consequences of the various options presented.StakeholderDevelop – HarmsDevelop – BenefitsDon’t develop – HarmsDon’t develop – Benefits Merck ShareholdersCosts of development causes delays in other projects. Lost revenues cause stock price to drop. People on fixed incomes lose dividend money and are forced to live in poverty.Positive public reaction t o charitable act. More investments, higher stock prices.NoneFocus resources on other drug lines could result in higher profits, increasing stock prices. Investors make more money and their standard of living increases.Merck EmployeesCompany loses money, loss of profits forces layoffs.Chance to contribute to a worthwhile cause. Work on invermectin could lead to breakthroughs in other drugs.Loss of respect for Merck leadership. Perception that values are overshadowed by financial considerations.Focus on more lucrative products, increasing profits and salaries/benefits. Merck ManagementLoss of time/resources forces delays in other projects/products. Delays cause stock to drop.Loss of job.Public confidence spikes, stock price goes up. Influx of cash allows us to expand other projects.Public confidence crashes. Backlash forces investors to pull out. Jobs lost due to loss of capital. Focus on more lucrative products, increasing profits and salaries/benefits. People affected by river blind nessPossible fatal side effects (similar to other drugs).Cure for disease increases standard of living.Continued suffering from disease.None.Using the chart above, we would look at how the benefits and harms balance out to maximize the benefit for society. Obviously, using this method, we can see that the benefits of continuing the research and development of this drug has the potential to save millions of lives while the potential harms  are restricted to the loss of some profits and the possible delay of some other drugs. This approach isn’t about right or wrong; as long as the maximum societal benefit is reached, the actions taken to get to that point are not part of the equation.The deontological approach removes the harm/benefit comparison and focuses on the duty and obligation of Merck to do the right thing once they discovered that there was a possible cure for this disease. Merck’s corporate values statements show that this is the approach they choose to take in their daily operations. Profits are not the prime motivator, helping people is what they are all about. In this case, Merck decided to continue the research and help the people regardless of the consequences involved.According to the Merck website, since 1987, Merck has donated more than 2.5 billion tablets of MECTIZAN ® (ivermectin) in more than 30 countries worldwide. According to some deontological approaches, certain moral principles are binding, regardless of the consequences. Merck’s stance now matches up with what George W. Merck said in 1950, â€Å"We try never to forget that medicine is for people. It is not for profits. The profits follow, and if we have remembered that, they have never failed to appear. The better we have remembered that, the larger they have been.†As someone who follows the deontological approach myself, I can appreciate how difficult it can be to remain committed to this principle. Merck is a business and as such it doesn’t ex ist to give money away. I have argued that the people who invest in Merck have a huge stake in what the company does but part of the investment process is doing due diligence and research to make sure you are comfortable with how a company operates.Merck devotes an entire section of their website to Corporate Responsibility and they have detailed information on the initiatives they support. Part of the culture at Merck is one of giving back to the community and helping others so for Merck, the decision to develop invermectin was an easy one. Having a strong moral and ethical foundation makes it easy to make the right decision when faced with â€Å"easy† decisions that fall into the ethical gray area.The virtue ethics approach would looks at the motivations and intentions of  the decision maker as opposed to the results of his or her actions. In this case, if Merck had decided not to pursue the research and the CEO stood up and explained that the reason was because they had an obligation to their shareholders to focus on developing products that would be profitable, he would have been right due to the professional expectations of his office. CEO’s are supposed to make companies profitable, period.As long as Merck was operating legally, the moral questions about the results of the decision are not relevant to the virtue ethics approach. If the board announced that Merck, based on their stated corporate values, was going to continue to expend time and resources on a cure for river blindness even though it wasn’t a profitable project, their motivation for action would be guided by Merck’s established values and the sense of corporate responsibility that is important to them. Neither position would be wrong regardless of the outcomes because both courses of action were guided by the best intentions of their leadership.Section 4: Conclusion and RecommendationsIn this case, I feel that Merck made the proper decision based on their core c orporate values and the deontological approach to ethical decision-making. While I might have gone a different direction if I was making decisions for Merck, it is obvious from all my research that this program is helping millions of people each year. I was wrong about the river blindness issue in my original discussion post, this isn’t just about philanthropy or looking good for the public, this program (and the many other like it) run by Merck is all about being true to their core values.Even when they could not get financial backing for this project, they did what they felt was right regardless of the cost. The success of the river blindness campaign led Merck to begin providing ivermectin to treat lymphatic filariasis (Elephantitis) in Africa (Voelker, 1998). I am not so naà ¯ve as to think that Merck isn’t reaping some benefits from these programs but whatever small reward they are getting is well deserved when measured against the lives they have touched.There a re no recommendations I could make for Merck in the way they handle these situations. Merck’s actions are consistent with their stated policies  and they have managed to thrive while ensuring that the original intent of their founders (people before profits) is not lost in the rush to be commercially successful.