Situation 1

A food and beverages MNC hired a few sales and production managers for its new regional plant in a developing region. At the time of hiring, the candidates were only given a rough idea about the challenges they would be facing in the new location, and the details of the exact location were not revealed to them. When the production started in the plant, the local community started to experience drastic changes in ecology - depletion of water bodies, threat to livelihood like agriculture, fishing etc., and health hazards caused by the pollutants. The top management pushed the regional managers to clinch a deal with the community, pacify the environmental activists and ensure that the plant continues to function respecting the existing legal framework. The jobs of the regional sales and production mangers are at stake.

Question 1: Based on your understanding and the information and examples discussed in the class, discuss the ethical issues which emerged from the pressure to engage with the community, activists and the law agencies, to keep the plant up and running in the long-term. What would the managers have done to achieve this objective? What would be the optimal solution possible, given the demands of the community and the requirements of the business?

Question 2: Explain how existing legal frameworks (assuming that the events unfolded in India) can be strengthened to prevent the occurrence of such an ethical crisis situation in future. Support your arguments based on the theoretical understanding gained in class. Did the company do the right thing to open the plant without addressing the potential environmental issues? Did the new recruits do the right thing to join the company without enquiring about the details of their potential tasks? Should the company have revealed all details of the job scope of the new recruits at the time of hiring?