Coca Cola and the Ethical Issues it has in India
Description of the Situation
The community surrounding the Coca Cola company plant in India presented complaints about the passage of sludge as fertilizer, bringing in environmental as well as health hazards. The most significant issue that concerned these surrounding communities is the water level depletion that was caused by the Coca Cola Company bottling operations that have greatly reduced water availability for the irrigation purposes. Another issue that came up is in regard to availability of pesticides in the soft drinks. This was a health issue that was caused by the Coca Cola Company where it was complained that the soft drinks and bottled water contained pesticides and this was tested by CSE, the reputed non-governmental organization (Bremner & Lakshman, 2006). The company also has received accusations about having dual standards in regard to safety measures regarding human health. The allegations made against Coca Cola affected its sales greatly and even caused the company to close one of its bottling plants in India. Moreover, the products of the company have been banned in Kerala, India (Havilland, 2003).
Moral Problem
The moral framework that can be applicable in this case is the “The Publicity Principle”. This principle states that “in order to act in a morally acceptable way, you ought to act in such a way that you would be willing to have your actions published on the front page of the newspaper the next day” (Yezzi, 2006, p. 1). This principle contributes towards taking the interests of other people into account for the reason that doing this is regarded as being more publicly acceptable (CSR News, 2012). The Coca Cola Company failed to follow this principle because their actions caused an outcry in the community and the public saw the company as acting in a manner that is not morally acceptable. The company’s actions were considered as being harmful to the environment and quite dangerous to the human health.
Solutions for the Moral Problem
Following the allegations made by the surrounding community against Coca Cola’s conduct in India , this calls for this company to engage in showing corporate social responsibility and also to ensure that the product quality is of good standards. They should take the appropriate measures to ensure all villages are reached for a good cause. They should ensure they have established a trust among the publics within India. This company has to prove that they have engaged in upgrading their laboratory with advanced instrument that has the ability to measure pesticide residue that can be found in the soft drinks. All these measures will enable the Coca Cola Company to win back the public confidence; they will enable it to be regarded as now having started engaging in the actions that are morally acceptable, as having now followed the principle of publicity. In any particular successful community, there is need of having social justice (Velasquez, et al., 2013). Social justice “implies fairness and mutual obligation in the society: that we are responsible for one another, and that we should ensure that all have chances to succeed in life” (RSA, 2014, p.1). Therefore, as the Coca Cola operates within particular communities, it has the responsibility to ensure that its operations does not affect the communities negatively but gain in one way or the other while the company itself gains profits and a good reputation.
References
Bremner, B. & Lakshman, N., 2006, India: Pesticide claims shake up Coke and Pepsi. [Online], Available at: <http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-08-09/india-pesticide-claims-shake-up-coke-and-pepsi>. (Accessed 9 March 2014).
CSR News, 2012, Four ethical approaches: virtue, duty, consequence and relativism. [Online], Available at: <http://www.csrnyc.com/philosophicalbaseofcsr/fourtypesofethics.html>. (Accessed 9 March 2014).
Havilland, C., 2003, Coca Cola challenged in Kerala, [Online], Available at: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3125520.stm> (Accessed 9 March 2014).
RSA, (2014).What social justice means. [Online], Available at: <http://www.thersa.org/action-research-centre/learning,-cognition-and-creativity/education/social-justice/what-social-justice-means> (Accessed 9 March 2014).
Velasquez, M. et al. (2013),Thinking ethically: a framework for moral decision making. [Online], Available at, <http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v7n1/thinking.html>.(Accessed 9 March 2014).
Yezzi, R. 2006, Moral frameworks, [Online], available at: <http://krypton.mnsu.edu/~uw9842qe/moralframeworks2.htm> >.(Accessed 9 March 2014).
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