Question

Who are stakeholders in this situation? Rank them in importance 2.Economic Responsibility: What are the potential costs/benefits of such an investment? If a safe/effective drug could be developed, Merck’s recouping its investment was zero. Could Merck justify such an investment to shareholders and the financial community? What criteria would be needed to help them make such a decision? 3.Legal Responsibility: Is there any legal responsibility for Merck? Any legal penalty for not investing in R&D? 4.If Merck decided not to conduct further research, how would it justify its decision to its scientists? Would it affect employee loyalty? 5.Did Merck have an ethical obligation to proceed w/ developing the drug? What if the drug had only a small chance to cure river blindness? What if Merch was close to achieving a cure, or what if they were sure that they could achieve it? 6.How does Merck’s value system fit into this decision? “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” 7.If you were senior executive of Merck, what would you do?

Answer 1

Who are the stakeholders in this situation? How many can you list? On what basis would you rank them in importance?

Answer:- In this situation, the various stakeholders can be given as employees, river blinded people, stockholders, their communities and the local, state, and federal government.

What are the potential costs and benefits of such an investment?

Answer:- The method of prescription or drug which is used for curing or aid the disease can be seen as the potential cost of the investment. The attention can be attracted by testing it out and having a better understanding of positive and negative outcomes. This can also result by investing time and money and it is not important that it goes as planned.

Answer:- By following the commitment of the company towards corporate social responsibility and to philanthropy, Merck can justify the investment to shareholders and the financial institutions. Taking decision depends upon the investors.

If Merck decided not to conduct further research, how would it justify its decision to its scientists? Would it affect employee loyalty?

Answer:-The most important resources of any pharma company can be seen in the form of its scientists. These people are working for a for-profit company and these individuals are treated as a vital resource. The deciding factor with reference to the development or no development off drug will depend on selflessness and values of scientist.

How does Merck’s value system fit into this decision?

With reference to the decision, value system of Merck is quite significant. All the value system must be followed by him as it will be believed by stakeholders, stockholders, employees, and investors

If you were the senior executive of Merck, what would you do?

The fact that the availability of medicine was ensured despite not having any demand can be seen as Merck’s ethical dilemma with Mectizan (worm killing on the inside). In the absence of any demand, the individual are left with river blindness having no resources. There was a free distribution of Mectizan and thus helping the least fortunate, I world have done almost similar decision in case I were senior executive