Case A

Vrinda was a managing director in a large private company having a workforce of 500 employees. On a day in late-August 2020, Vrinda received a complaint from an employee in the Research and Development (R&D) department. The company had just received clearance from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for commercially launching its new line of nutritional supplements that helped increase human immunity against COVID 19. The research on immunity-increasing food supplements had been going on for months in the R&D department. The employee, a junior researcher who was part of the supplements' research himself at some point, recently gained access to the documents submitted to FSSAI for approval. Going through all the documents he was shocked to find out that a number of results of experiments were fabricated. Although the conclusion of the report strongly supported the positive effects of the supplements, there were dangerous side effects that could potentially nullify the gains. The negative effects were deliberately played down. The employee was hesitant to bring up this matter to his immediate superior, apprehending that the latter was also part of the nexus that fudged the figures and fabricated the report. Hence, he approached the MD to apprise her about the scandal in the offing, if the anomaly were to be found out on a later date, i.e., after the products were launched in the market.

Question 1: Based on your understanding of the principles of business ethics, and the examples discussed in the class, discuss the pros and cons of the employee blowing the whistle on potential wrongdoing in Vrinda's company. How well can we explain it on the basis of cost-benefit analysis, or the employee as a loyal agent, or any other relevant theory? (4 marks)

Question 2: What is the possibility that the company will adopt measures to correct the wrongdoing based on the employee's complaint, and bring in desired positive changes in its business activities (including the R&D activities) in future? Provide suggestions on how well the company could implement such changes. (4 Marks)

Question 3: How could the company have prevented the occurrence of this wrongdoing? What regulations are needed in the food and beverages production sector to curb such malpractices? (4 Marks) Question 4: Discuss the possibilities of retaliation against the employee. Do you think that the employee did the right thing to approach the managing director to report the wrongdoing? Why? (4 Marks)

Question 5: How would a whistleblowing policy and a committee of well-trained personnel (or an 'Ombudsperson') have helped redress the grievance of the employee differently? List out the components of a good whistle-blowing policy and discuss its relevance in the present context. (4 Marks)