Merck and River Blindness
Merck and River Blindness (Onchocerciasis)
In understanding the decision Merck made to donate medicines, we need to start by understanding the motivations and core values behind the company that undertook the actions. We can get some insight into these by examining and understanding their company mission statement:
The mission of Merck is to provide society with superior products and services, innovations, and solutions that improve the quality of life and satisfy customer needs-to provide employees with meaningful work and advancement opportunities and investors with a superior rate of return.
Analysis of the mission statement identifies several Merck stakeholders and what Merck envisions for each: 1. Community: to provide society with a. superior products and services, b. innovations, and c. solutions that improve the quality of life 2. Customers: satisfy customer needs 3. Employees: to provide employees with d. meaningful work and e. advancement opportunities 4. Investors: a superior rate of return
Following rights-based deontological rationality theories, the company has done its duty by following their own ethical standards of action. According to their mission statement, the company clearly met each of their duties to each of their stakeholders: 1. Community: The company used innovation to develop a solution to a known issue and that solution improved both the quality of life for the patients but also expanded their ability to use land that would otherwise remain dormant 2. Customer: The drug satisfied a customer need 3. Employees: Those involved or aware of the drug feels the satisfaction of having ‘meaningful work’ 4. Investors: The investors were promised ‘superior’ and not ‘maximum’ rate of return
From a rights/responsibility lens it would appear that Merck has chosen to honor the principles outlined by their founder by adhering to the mission statement. The results lens allows
In understanding the decision Merck made to donate medicines, we need to start by understanding the motivations and core values behind the company that undertook the actions. We can get some insight into these by examining and understanding their company mission statement:
The mission of Merck is to provide society with superior products and services, innovations, and solutions that improve the quality of life and satisfy customer needs-to provide employees with meaningful work and advancement opportunities and investors with a superior rate of return.
Analysis of the mission statement identifies several Merck stakeholders and what Merck envisions for each: 1. Community: to provide society with a. superior products and services, b. innovations, and c. solutions that improve the quality of life 2. Customers: satisfy customer needs 3. Employees: to provide employees with d. meaningful work and e. advancement opportunities 4. Investors: a superior rate of return
Following rights-based deontological rationality theories, the company has done its duty by following their own ethical standards of action. According to their mission statement, the company clearly met each of their duties to each of their stakeholders: 1. Community: The company used innovation to develop a solution to a known issue and that solution improved both the quality of life for the patients but also expanded their ability to use land that would otherwise remain dormant 2. Customer: The drug satisfied a customer need 3. Employees: Those involved or aware of the drug feels the satisfaction of having ‘meaningful work’ 4. Investors: The investors were promised ‘superior’ and not ‘maximum’ rate of return
From a rights/responsibility lens it would appear that Merck has chosen to honor the principles outlined by their founder by adhering to the mission statement. The results lens allows