Science and Technology
Assisting Third World nations with needed medicines and vaccines that stop the effects of starvation on their citizens is the essence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Management theorist and thought leader Peter Drucker called this "bounded goodness" and considered such philanthropic acts as contributory to an organizations' growth in terms of value (Smith, 2009). Acting as the leader of a pharmaceutical company, I would study the costs of creating a manufacturing plant in the regions of the world most in need of these vaccines and see if these potential locations could be used to distribute vaccines that used comparable production processes that could be resold to more prosperous nations. If this could not be accomplished, I would argue that the vaccines be donated to the Third World nations in the most need of them. In defining this strategy of making major donations of the vaccines and medicines, I would argue that doing well by doing good to these nations is the best type of CSR-based initiatives there are. Second, these efforts to help those nations most in need would also support their economies on a much longer-term perspective. I would also argue that these donations were not expenses; they are investments in these economies and their growth. It is in furthering the standard of living for these nations that the corporation I was leader of fulfilled its mission as an organization. In any organization capable of this level of philanthropy there is also the ability to invest in new product development. Concentrating on partnering with these nations and with other companies is critical for the long-term viability of their economies and for the growth of CSR programs globally in the pharmaceutical industry (Wechsler, 2006). While there is not an ethical requirement to do this, there is the moralistic one and more importantly, the need to do well by doing good and enriching others less fortunate.
References
Craig Smith. (2009). Bounded goodness: marketing implications of Drucker on corporate responsibility. Academy of Marketing Science. Journal, 37(1), 73.
Retrieved March 6, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1654388551).
Jill Wechsler. (2006, September). New Partnerships Pursue Old Diseases. Pharmaceutical Executive, 26(9), 50,52. Retrieved March 7, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1137181681).
