Presentation at IIM Kozhikode

1. -Group 1 -Akbar
(PGP/20/04)
-Deepika (PGP/20/18)
-Monika (PGP/20/34)
-Sahithi (PGP/20/47)
-Uday (PGP/20/58)
BUSINESS
ETHICS &
SOCIETY

2. WHAT PEOPLE SAY/BELIEVE?
❏ Philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill argue that “the greatest
good for the greatest number” or utilitarianism, is the ethical standard.
❏ Enlightenment thinker Immanuel Kant would say something is ethical if it
adheres to certain rules or principles — a deontological ethic.
❏ Greek philosopher Aristotle argues that the character of a human being
drives their ethical behavior — a virtue ethic.

3. Video 1

4. CORPORATIONS:
❏ Kenner, Bach & Ledeen LLP (Law
Firm)
❏ United Northfield/U-North (Client)
CHARACTERS:
❏ Attorney/Senior partner (Law firm)
❏ Attorney (Law firm)
❏ General counsel (U-North)
❏ U-North Plaintiff
❏ Managing partner (Law firm)
❏ CEO (U-North)

5. ETHICAL ISSUES IDENTIFIED
❏ Moral conduct breach between a manufacturer and end consumer
❏ Confidentiality breach between a law firm and a client
❏ A law firm covering up for its client’s wrongdoing to save its own merger
❏ Tapping an individual’s telephonic conversation without lawful permission
❏ Safety concerns of whistle-blowers

6. KEY PLAYERS
GEORGE CLOONEY as MICHAEL RAYMOND CLAYTON
● A 45 year old divorced father
● Mr Fix for his firm Kenner, Back and Ledeen
● A conflictive personality of poker gambler and
alcoholic that left him completely broken
● Not a miracle worker but a janitor
● Cleans up the messes of firm/s clients as well as
that of the firm itself
● Not having an official job title,
Attorney at Law Firm

7. KEY PLAYERS
TOM WILKINSON as ARTHUR EDENS
● Believes in Justice
● Bipolar Disorder.
● Has a sharp Legal mind
Michael Clayton:
I'm not the enemy
Arthur Edens:
Then, who are you?

8. KEY PLAYERS
TILDA SWINTON as KAREN CROWDER
● Simple but Elusive.
● A powerfully ambitious attorney who,
having just taken her greatest leap up the
corporate ladder, has also just stepped in
a steaming pile of corruption.
General counsel at U-North

9. KEY PLAYERS
SYDNEY POLLACK as MARTY BACH
● Authority,
● Masculinity,
● Intelligence
● and Knowing the score
Managing Partner at Law Firm

12. -The mercury thermometer factory was set up in Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu State, in southern India in 1983
-The factory was wrongly registered as a “glass manufacturing unit” and was allowed to come up in a
residential area bordered by a watershed forest
-Given Unilever's strategic decision to exit non-core product activities, a decision to exit the thermometer
business had already been made in January 2001
-Activities at the Kodaikanal site became a focus for attention in March 2001 when Greenpeace and others
brought to Hindustan Unilever's attention the fact that glass scrap with residual mercury had been sold to a
scrap dealer about three kilometers away from the factory
-HUL immediately closed the factory and launched an investigation
-Exposure to mercury can cause brain damage, autism, Alzheimer’s, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cancer,
kidney malfunction, neurological syndrome, insanity, paralysis, coma and – in extreme cases – death
Kodaikanal Mercury Poisioning

13. Steps Taken by HUL
❏ March – May 2003
Hindustan Unilever negotiated with the Indian and US governments for permits to pack
and transport the mercury-containing material to the US for recycling.
❏ March 2006
The thermometer factory was shut down in 2001 and the litigation for settlement started in
2006.
❏ March 2016
Nearly 15 years after shutting down its thermometer plant in Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu,
FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) has come to a financial settlement for an
undisclosed sum with a group of 591 workers who had sued the company for health
damage due to mercury pollution.

14. A study found more than 40 toxic chemicals in the cosmetics manufactured and marketed by Unilever
Environmental Working group, a voluntary organization found highly toxic substances like Sodium Borate, BHT,
Quartz, etc. in Ponds cold cream, anti-ageing creams, Dove soap, Axe deodorants, Vaseline and other products
of Unilever marketed in the western countries. These chemicals are known to cause irritation of skin and eyes,
serious damage to internal organs apart from causing Cancer. http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/company/Unilever/
Detergents and soaps of Unilever (Rin, Vim, Hamam, Lux and Liril), in which Unilever has a 65% market share in
India, have high levels of arsenic, according to a study by scientists from IIT Kanpur. All these soaps readily
release arsenic into surface waters contaminating water bodies and sources. Over long duration, even at low
levels, arsenic can cause cancer to skin, lungs, kidney and other organs.
http://users.physics.harvard.edu/~wilson/arsenic/references/1913.pdf
OTHER ISSUES AFFECTING
SOCIETY AND WORKERS

15. ❏ It is a neurotoxic- organochlorine insecticide
❏ Effective against a wide range of insects
❏ Used as a pre-harvest insecticide. Also used on non- food crops such as
tobacco & cotton
❏ In INDIA, Hindustan Insecticide Ltd. is the producer of Endosulfan.
❏ Sold under trade names – THIONEX, ENDOCIL, PHASER, BENZOEPIN.
ENDOSULFAN

16. ❏ The aerial spraying of Endosulfan over the cashew plantations in Kasaragod
district in Kerala, India was started in 1978
❏ As the plantations are mostly in mountainous areas, the pesticide drained and
got washed down the slopes during rains into drinking water below. The
consumption of this water by the people and animals resulted in diseases
ranging from physical deformities, cancers, birth disorders and damages to
brain and nervous system
THE STORY OF ENDOSULFAN
IN KASARGOD, INDIA

17. ❏ In 1994, independent health observations by a local doctor revealed that there was a
rising incidence of cases of mental illness and congenital anomalies in Kasaragod.
❏ Several national and international groups conducted health and toxicological studies
between 1998 and 2002; and arrived at the conclusion that the abnormal health problems
at Kasaragod were due to the spraying of Endosulfan.
❏ In 2002 the Kerala High Court banned the sale and use of Endosulfan in Kerala, and
following this the State Government also issued a ban order in 2003.
❏ In 2005 the Central Government issued an order that the labels on the pesticide bottles
must carry a message that this pesticide is not for sale in Kerala.
❏ The Special Purpose Cell for Implementing Relief, Remediation and Rehabilitation was
set up by 2007 with the support of the State Government of Kerala.
STEPS TAKEN

18. Except the state of Kerala and Karnataka, India is one of the nations where
Endosulfan is not banned and can be freely used. A lot of effort has been initiated
by various research institutions, nongovernmental organizations, etc to impose a
ban or restriction on the use of Endosulfan but the efforts could not bring the
positive results. But in case of Kerala, extreme public pressure has been
considered and use of Endosulfan was banned by the order of the Supreme Court
of India. In spite of imposing restrictions on it, India is a big producer of
Endosulfan.
CURRENT SCENARIO

19. The Centre said that “In India too use of several pesticides was banned
in the past and the live stocks thereof were allowed to be disposed of by
phasing out. Of the 19 States which participated in the meeting
convened by the expert committee, except Kerala and Karnataka, other
States were in favor of continued use of Endosulfan for the reasons
being broad spectrum, cheaper, most popular among farmers, safe
to pollinations, no reports of resistance/resurgence or ill effects on
human beings, animals and environment. Thus, States other than
Kerala and Karnataka are ready to use Endosulfan for agricultural pest
control.”

21. FACTS ACROSS THE WORLD

22. HOW SOCIETY GETS AFFECTED?
❏ A 2011 study by UC Berkeley has shown that prenatal exposure of pesticides
in pregnant women can also lower the IQ of their children
❏ 25-77 million of agricultural workers worldwide suffer from acute pesticide
poisoning with at least 1 million requiring hospitalisation each year, according
to a report prepared jointly for the FAO, UNEP and WHO.
❏ Toxic chemicals in pesticide causes various health issues like tremors, lack of
coordination, respiratory depression, loss of consciousness, seizures and
even death.
❏ Studies have been undertaken that have shown that countries producing
cotton, such as USA, India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Brazil, Australia, Greece
and West Africa, have detected pesticides in the water stream that are
applied to cotton. This is concerning for developing countries where drinking
water is rarely monitored and treated.

23. ❏ Staff management
❏ Conflicts of Interest
❏ Financial Concerns
❏ Client Advocacy
❏ Professional Responsibility
ETHICAL DILEMMAS IN
CORPORATIONS

24. CONFIDENTIALITY BREACH
BETWEEN LAW FIRM & CLIENT
❏ PANAMA CASE
❏ Leak of 11 million files from one of the world’s most secretive companies,
Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca
❏ German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung obtained the files and shared them
with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
Will the lawyers ever
change their ways?

25. BREACH OF MORAL CONDUCT
TOWARDS SOCIETY BY A FIRM
“ I believe in justice but not
justice at any price.
I refuse to sacrifice my sense
of justice for what others have
defined as a justice system. “

26. MYSTERIOUS KILLINGS OF
WHISTLE-BLOWERS
❏ John Clifford Baxter was an Enron executive. He had reportedly challenged
Enron’s management team, including CEO Jeff Skilling, about the company’s
corrupt transactions and then resigned in protest.
❏ When Congress initiated hearings to investigate Enron, Baxter was
considered to be crucial to the case because of his close relationship to
Enron’s CEO. But two weeks before he was set to testify, Baxter was found
dead in his car from a gunshot wound to the head. Police said the death was
a suicide.
❏ The pistol that shot and killed Baxter used rat-shot, a fairly unusual form of
ammunition that is untraceable by forensics.
❏ The way the police handled the crime scene raised alarms, too. They moved
the body and all the evidence—including the gun that killed Baxter—before
taking photographs of the crime scene. Despite being legally mandated, no
autopsy was performed on Baxter’s body to determine a cause of death.

27. MYSTERIOUS KILLINGS OF
WHISTLE-BLOWERS
❏ Shanmugam Manjunath was an official for the Indian Oil Corporation who is
known to have been murdered for whistleblowing. While working as a
manager, he discovered that illegal quality oil was being pumped, so he order
the pumps be put on hold. He reported it, which basically exposed an act of
corruption. Clearly this didn’t make him the most popular guy in the
corporation. He was shot with 6 bullets while inspecting the pumps one more
time. His death brought significant attention to the corruption, which is ironic
as they killed him to avoid him drawing attention to it. His family were given a
sum close to 40 thousand dollars by the oil corporation.

28. KEY CONCEPTS AND CHALLENGES
❏ Concept of Businesses as "Corporate" Citizens
❏ Concept of "Good" Business Ethics
❏ Concept of “Immoral" Business Practices
❏ Concept of “Right”
❏ Concept of “Justice”

30. REGULATORY BODY
PERSPECTIVE
EFFECT OF PESTICIDE REGULATIONS ON FOOD PRICES
❏ Clear indication of its harmfulness
❏ Eradicate them in future
❏ Most of the crop protection substances can be harmful if used without care.
❏ But increased the yields, quality of food.
❏ Cost of the food fallen over the years.
❏ We can stop the usage of these products only if we are over-productive.
❏ But, we need lot more food, so we need these pesticides.

31. INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE
❏ 10000 pests Vs 300
Chemical components
❏ Most chemicals are copy
out of nature
❏ By 2020, no chemicals, only
solutions which are much
better than organic farming.

32. COLLUSION OF INDUSTRY AND
GOVERNMENT
❏ There are many flaws in the way that pesticides are registered and in our political
process that allows corporations to influence pesticide policy to allow the continued
use of their poisonous products.
❏ According to the US EPA, more than 70 active ingredients known to cause cancer in
animal tests are allowed for use.
❏ Although industry tests for a wide range of environmental and health impacts, the
vast majority of pesticides currently on the market have not been fully tested
❏ Unfortunately, the public is not provided information about what inert ingredients
are included in pesticides in most cases

33. WAYS TO ERADICATE ETHICAL
ISSUES/CONFLICTS
❏ Create policies and practices
❏ Hire right
❏ Put controls in places
❏ Build a culture of transparency, openness and communication
❏ Have a code of conduct
❏ Stress the advantages of ethical approach
❏ Document key methods