ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY
Can an organisation be described as successful if it
is not ethical?
COURSE: BUSINESS AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
MODULE CODE:MOD3325
ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
DATE SUBMISSION: 29/11/19
, STUDENT ID:
Executive Summary
The profit and business ethics of any organisation are crucial and significant to measure the
success of the business. Ethics is critical to organisations as they can potentially have huge
impacts on their communities. The ethical behaviour of a company is an expression of its
organisational culture. Achieving success through unethical behaviour leads to short-term
relationships with clients, investors and shareholders, which would be a prerequisite for not
maintaining a high public position.
Purdue Pharma launched OxyContin, a highly-addictive drug, through unethical marketing
strategy, that often recommended more than the required dosage. The company advertised
that a single dose of oxycontin relieves pain for 12 hours, more than twice as long as generic
medicines are the result of its widespread use. Keefe, P. (2017), which turned out to be not true.
The opioid epidemic in the US is the cause of death for more opioid overdoses in 2017 than
HIV or AIDS in the midst of the AIDS epidemic. The prescription painkiller OxyContin
manufactured by Purdue Pharma controlled by the wealthy Sackler Family began selling in
1996. According to the Centers for Disease Control, nearly 218,000 Americans died from
opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2017. Taylor, C.(2019). The Sackler family have invested
a substantial portion of their 14 billion dollar net worth into high-ranking institutions: their
name decorates museums and medical schools around the world. Substantial part of their
wealth is from OxyContin sales. Revealing the truth about the painkiller leads to
unwillingness of those institutions to accept their philanthropic gifts. Meier, B. (2019). The
interactions with the public and marketing strategy are all responsibilities of the Board of the
company and have a direct impact on the overall profitability of the company. Them being
concerned only with the revenue or rather the power they would receive and the control that
could be given to them by offering a strong painkillers lead to thousands of lawsuits that
accused the firm of fuelling the US opioid crisis. Moreover, Purdue Pharma fell into
bankruptcy, and the Sackler family paid out-of-pocket to resolve the claims against them.
Meier, B. (2019).
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Executive Summary...................................................................................................................1
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Analysis.....................................................................................................................................2
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................4
Recommendations......................................................................................................................5
Reference list.............................................................................................................................5
1 STUDENT ID:
Can an organisation be described as successful if it
is not ethical?
COURSE: BUSINESS AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
MODULE CODE:MOD3325
ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
DATE SUBMISSION: 29/11/19
, STUDENT ID:
Executive Summary
The profit and business ethics of any organisation are crucial and significant to measure the
success of the business. Ethics is critical to organisations as they can potentially have huge
impacts on their communities. The ethical behaviour of a company is an expression of its
organisational culture. Achieving success through unethical behaviour leads to short-term
relationships with clients, investors and shareholders, which would be a prerequisite for not
maintaining a high public position.
Purdue Pharma launched OxyContin, a highly-addictive drug, through unethical marketing
strategy, that often recommended more than the required dosage. The company advertised
that a single dose of oxycontin relieves pain for 12 hours, more than twice as long as generic
medicines are the result of its widespread use. Keefe, P. (2017), which turned out to be not true.
The opioid epidemic in the US is the cause of death for more opioid overdoses in 2017 than
HIV or AIDS in the midst of the AIDS epidemic. The prescription painkiller OxyContin
manufactured by Purdue Pharma controlled by the wealthy Sackler Family began selling in
1996. According to the Centers for Disease Control, nearly 218,000 Americans died from
opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2017. Taylor, C.(2019). The Sackler family have invested
a substantial portion of their 14 billion dollar net worth into high-ranking institutions: their
name decorates museums and medical schools around the world. Substantial part of their
wealth is from OxyContin sales. Revealing the truth about the painkiller leads to
unwillingness of those institutions to accept their philanthropic gifts. Meier, B. (2019). The
interactions with the public and marketing strategy are all responsibilities of the Board of the
company and have a direct impact on the overall profitability of the company. Them being
concerned only with the revenue or rather the power they would receive and the control that
could be given to them by offering a strong painkillers lead to thousands of lawsuits that
accused the firm of fuelling the US opioid crisis. Moreover, Purdue Pharma fell into
bankruptcy, and the Sackler family paid out-of-pocket to resolve the claims against them.
Meier, B. (2019).
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Executive Summary...................................................................................................................1
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Analysis.....................................................................................................................................2
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................4
Recommendations......................................................................................................................5
Reference list.............................................................................................................................5
1 STUDENT ID:
