Merck Case 1
Case #1: Merck and River Blindness
MGT 597: Leadership Ethics
Dr. Brandon Randolph-Seng
Javiaur Harmon: Winter Mini 2014 - 2015
1. Think about the definition stakeholders—any parties with a stake in the organization’s actions or performance. Who are the stakeholders in this situation? How many can you list? On what basis would you rank them in importance?
The stakeholders in this situation were the employees (research scientists doing the R&D), Merck, and the target audience which would be the consumers of the product since they would be the ones who would be purchasing the product thus Merck’s performance is dependent upon the consumers buying the product.
I would rank the stakeholders in the following order:
1. Consumers
2. Scientists
3. Merck
I would rank the stakeholders in that order because the consumers are a distinct audience to the product that Merck would be mass producing and if the consumers did not provide enough sales for Merck then the performance and profits for the company would not be favorable. Next on the order of stakeholders would be the scientists since they are the ones who are gathering the requirements and producing the end result they are essentially the ones who have invested the most into the product by being a part of the entire life cycle of producing a drug. Lastly, the third stakeholder would be Merck. I placed Merck last because even though he is the head of the company, he can’t be everywhere at the same time and with there being other areas of the life cycle with just as much importance as others it creates cognitive dissonance for Merck and even though the drug can be mass produced with his help he cannot do it all so the experience and opinions of others have just as much weight on decisions as Merck.
2. What are the potential costs and benefits of such an investment?
The potential costs of the investment would stem from the R&D aspect of the drug. The lifecycle of producing a drug seems to be
MGT 597: Leadership Ethics
Dr. Brandon Randolph-Seng
Javiaur Harmon: Winter Mini 2014 - 2015
1. Think about the definition stakeholders—any parties with a stake in the organization’s actions or performance. Who are the stakeholders in this situation? How many can you list? On what basis would you rank them in importance?
The stakeholders in this situation were the employees (research scientists doing the R&D), Merck, and the target audience which would be the consumers of the product since they would be the ones who would be purchasing the product thus Merck’s performance is dependent upon the consumers buying the product.
I would rank the stakeholders in the following order:
1. Consumers
2. Scientists
3. Merck
I would rank the stakeholders in that order because the consumers are a distinct audience to the product that Merck would be mass producing and if the consumers did not provide enough sales for Merck then the performance and profits for the company would not be favorable. Next on the order of stakeholders would be the scientists since they are the ones who are gathering the requirements and producing the end result they are essentially the ones who have invested the most into the product by being a part of the entire life cycle of producing a drug. Lastly, the third stakeholder would be Merck. I placed Merck last because even though he is the head of the company, he can’t be everywhere at the same time and with there being other areas of the life cycle with just as much importance as others it creates cognitive dissonance for Merck and even though the drug can be mass produced with his help he cannot do it all so the experience and opinions of others have just as much weight on decisions as Merck.
2. What are the potential costs and benefits of such an investment?
The potential costs of the investment would stem from the R&D aspect of the drug. The lifecycle of producing a drug seems to be