The Pharmaceutical Industry

Not All Companies Are Viewed as Equal

In the land of free trade, the public does not view all industries as equal. Do you believe that is ethical? Do you believe that some industries are unfairly targeted? Should it be consumers’ choice to partake in products that are not healthy for them, or do those companies have an ethical obligation to protect people? In this assignment, you will choose from one (1) of the following industries to write about: The pharmaceutical industry The payday loan industry Cloning for medical purposes Write a paper in which you: Become an advocate for either the consumer or the industry. Prepare an argument explaining the major reasons why you support either the consumer or the industry. Discuss if you believe it is possible for a company to cater to both its best interest and that of the consumer conjointly or if one always has to prevail. Justify your response. Use at least two (2) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as academic resources. The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are: Determine the considerations for and process of ethical business decision making to balance corporate and social responsibilities, and address moral, economic, and legal concerns. Analyze selected business situations using the predominant ethical theories, such as utilitarian, Kantian, and virtue ethics to guide ethical business decision making. Use technology and information resources to research issues in business ethics. Write clearly and concisely about business ethics using proper writing mechanics.

 

The concept regarding consumers and the products they purchase from different
companies has been argued by various researchers to determine operational models. Mainly, the
current international economy operates as free trade. In a free-trade economy, the government
has inadequate ability to influence how different users perceive an industry and even
discriminate against specific commodities (Ma, 2011). However, the primary objective of this
paper is to determine whether it is ethical for consumers to view all industries differently in line
with the pharmaceutical industry. Besides, I consider advocating for the consumers by providing
arguments to support why I fail to believe that some industries are unfairly targeted, as in the
case of the pharmaceutical industry. Lastly, I will inspect the ins and outs to support why users
need to partake in selecting the industry and products to consume.
Mainly, I believe it is correct that the public perceives that all the industries are different.
In other words, each industry affects society differently based on their operational models. In the
pharmaceutical industry, the primary purpose is participating in the discovery, development,
production, and marketing of pharmaceutical products such as drugs for medical use. The
pharmaceutical drugs are administered to patients to enhance their health status via symptoms
alleviation and vaccination. Besides, the pharmaceutical industry deals with medical devices,
brand medication, and generic medication (Yousefi et al., 2017). Very few consumers of
pharmaceutical products understand components used to manufacture pharmaceutical drugs. As
an advocate for the consumers, it an obligation for the pharmaceutical industry to educate
consumers on their products to prevent adverse side effects. However, some pharmaceutical

BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
companies sell sensitive products to consumers, yet they know some undesirable side effects. In
such cases, the industry has not right to say the consumers unfairly target it.
Moreover, industries operate with different types of products and services to provide
consumers with the capabilities to select what they like. It is ethical for consumers to choose
from products and services from different industries because they have the freedom to buy
products they prefer most. As an advocate for consumers, I believe the problem lies in the culture
of excess consumption where consumers use products in large quantities, thereby undermining
their integrity (Ma, 2011). Therefore, the pharmaceutical industry needs to control excessive
consumption by the consumers by educating the public about the negative impacts of
overconsumption. Based on the use of pharmaceutical drugs, which are ethical, it is of
importance to maintain the appropriate margins required by the pharmaceutical industry.
I also believe that companies should protect consumers on the type of products and
services they choose to consume. In the modern world, technology has adversely affected the
quality of products in the market. In the pharmaceutical industry, some products and drugs have
been manufactured using advanced technology and certain chemical elements (Yousefi et al.,
2017). Therefore, consumers tend to buy these products because they believe they are organic. In
some cases, consumers with other health conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart
diseases by generating adverse side effects from these drugs. Again, the industry is using
technology to advertise and market their products. Therefore, some of the target markets consist
of illiterate consumers who purchase products even if they do not understand them. In that
regard, I believe companies have a full obligation and responsibility to protect consumers by
regulating consumption and declaring all the side effects. Consumers can decide either to
consume or not consume these products.

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I also believe that capitalism plays a crucial role in assisting consumers, companies, and
leaders in making viable decisions in the corporate setting. Leaders in companies consider the
interest of the companies and stakeholders to maximize profits. Such leaders neglect the voices
of consumers, which makes it easy to target these companies when they fail to deliver their
obligations. In other words, a pharmaceutical company dealing with pharmaceutical products can
make any decision to maximize profits and to minimize losses. In that regard, industries
accomplish their agendas through the Kantian and Utilitarian approach to make decisions (Ma,
2011). Nonetheless, it is paramount to understand that public capitalism is used to enhance the
corporate decision-making process to improve the public good.
Overall, as a consumer advocate, I believe that it is possible for an industry to cater to
consumers and at the same time, cater to its best interest. In the current global world of business,
companies can conjointly work with consumers to promote mutual benefits. The leading interest
of most companies, such as the pharmaceutical industry, is to discover, develop, produce, and
market pharmaceutical products such as drugs for medical use (Yousefi et al., 2017). The
company also aims to generate profits from the business. An increase in sales of pharmaceutical
products maximizes the profitability of the company. Nonetheless, it is also possible for the
pharmaceutical industry to cater to the best interest of the consumers by proper adverting and
marketing that does not provide information about the products. Thus, companies can work
together with consumers to maximize profits and increase consumer satisfaction, respectively.

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References

Ma, J. (2011). Free Trade or Protection: A Literature Review on Trade Barriers. Research in
World Economy, 2(1), 69-76.
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.913.1435&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Yousefi, N., Mehralian, G., Rasekh, H. R. & Yousefi, M. (2017). New Product Development in
the Pharmaceutical Industry: Evidence from a generic market. Iranian Journal of
Pharmaceutical Research, 16(2), 834-846.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5603895/