Corporate Governance and Ethical Responsibility - Coursework Example

1. Dr DoRight has to deal with the following internal stakeholders: the human resources management. He mainly interacts with the managers in this particular department since he is directly responsible for overseeing the operations of this department. He also has the responsibility of dealing with managers from other departments in the hospital. The other internal stakeholders are the patients receiving treatment from the hospital. Somehow, the Dr has to interact with these people so as to come to terms with their perceptions about the treatment they will be receiving from the institution. On the other hand, Dr DoRight has to deal with the following external stakeholders: he should periodically meet with the members of the board of trustees to update them on the operations of the hospital. The board of trustees is mainly responsible for making major decisions at the hospital and Dr DoRight being the president of the institution has the task of updating the board of trustees about all the developments taking place in the institution. He also has the task of meeting the suppliers of different products used since he will be responsible for negotiating for different deals as well as procurement of medicines. The Dr will also be responsible for dealing with other medical officials who regulate the operations of all healthcare centers in different locations. 2. The external stakeholders may feel short changed by the operations of the employees who constitute the internal stakeholders of the hospital. The employees in particular have their own way of working they are used to and they are not at liberty to change their usual way of carrying out various tasks. However, the quality of service may be seen as poor by the external stakeholders but the employees will be content with the way they will be carrying out their duties. There may be conflicts of interests when the needs of the employees and the needs of the external stakeholders are not compatible. As reported in the case study, there have been deaths reported as a result of negligent behaviour by the workers. This may not go down well with the external stakeholders who expect to receive quality treatment from the medical staff. The level of satisfaction gained by the patient determines their commitment to use the same medical center in future. However, if the service is poor, they may shun using the institution. As a result, there may be a conflict of interests where the external stakeholders are never satisfied by the services they get from the hospital while the internal stakeholders do not need to change the status quo. 3. To a larger extent, Dr DoRight has fulfilled his ethical duties by reporting illegal activities by the medical staff at this hospital. Ethically, a doctor should behave in a professional manner where he ensures that all ethical principles are upheld. If a medical professional sees something wrong happening at the institution where he or she is working then he should make a report to the responsible authorities who can then try to solve the problem. In some cases, the doctor will be expected to take the correct action that is meant to address the situation. Essentially, the main duty of a doctor is to make sure that all patients receive satisfactory treatment from the hospital. This can be achieved if the medical professionals treat the patients with due care. Failure to uphold this principle of treating patients with care and dignity is likely to result in patients complaining about the poor service they will be getting from the hospital. This can tarnish the image of the hospital in the long run. Therefore, it will be imperative for the person responsible for running the institution to take corrective measures in the event of malpractices by some members of staff. In this regard, it can be said that the doctor did the right thing to report the illegal activities by some of the employees at the hospital. 4. In this particular case, the dilemma facing Dr DoRight is that he is receiving accolades for outstanding performance at the hospital against the background of deteriorating health standards that have resulted in deaths of many people. Instead of accepting these accolades, the doctor should instead turn them down and make efforts that are meant to ensure that health standards at the hospital have been improved. In this case, the doctor is expected to do the right thing and make sure that the patients receive fair treatment from the hospital. The deontology perspective suggests that there are certain moral rules that govern our lives and these should not be broken not be broken at any given time in life (Garet, 2008). This ethical principle tries to teach people that we should do the right thing for the good and benefit or everyone. It is important in our lives to ensure that we do good things to other people while at the same time avoiding issues that will put the lives of other people at risk. People have moral values that make them treat other people as important. Failure to respect the values of the other people will be a violation of the natural law that compels all people to treat each other as important. This has an impact on the doctor’s work since people are dying due to negligence and such cases have been reported to him but there is no action being taken by the responsible authorities. Morally, every person has an obligation to ensure that he treats the lives of other people as valuable. In this case, the doctor is facing an ethical dilemma in that people are dying at the hospital as a result of diligence by the members of staff. Though he is taking necessary measures to have the situation corrected, it can be seen that the moral principle of treating the lives of people as precious is broken in this case. For reasons known to the workers, they do not value people’s lives as important. This is a diversion, from the deontology principle of ethics. Thus, the doctor should make efforts to address the problem currently bedevilling the institution which will be morally good to all people concerned. 5. The utilitarian principle states that “the choice that yields the greatest benefit to the majority of people is ethically correct compared to the choice that only benefit only a few people,” (Rainbow, 2002). The aim of this principle is to encourage people to work towards certain outcomes that are advantageous to the majority of people who are likely to be affected by the actions of a particular organization. The majority of people should benefit from a certain activity that is carried out by a recognised company in a given environment. In this case, it can be seen that the hospital has various stakeholders and these should benefit from its operations. Dr DoRight is facing the dilemma that he is being recognised as a result of good leadership skills while at the same time people are dying in the hospital as a result of negligent behaviour by the employees. Essentially, the patients should be the people who are supposed to benefit a lot from the services that are offered by the hospital. The other external stakeholders that include organisations that fund the hospital should also benefit from the services it offers. It seems the main beneficiary in this particular case is Dr DoRight who is receiving recognition for his sterling leadership qualities while at the same time people are dying at the institution due to negligent behaviour by the employees. The utilitarian theory also posit to the effect that in as far as business interests are concerned, the organisation should be guided by its stated values that compel it to operate in a certain way that makes it distinct from other organizations offering the same service. Values in this case refer to religious, political as well as financial factors which often shape the operations of a particular organization. However, the utilitarian principles state that people who are impacted by the operations of the organization should benefit from such activities. Whilst the aim of any business is to generate profits from its operations, the financial gains should not be given prominence while at the same time undermining the interests of the stakeholders. The concept of utilitarianism also goes hand in hand with the concept of corporate governance. This concept posits to the effect that all organizations have a duty to ensure that their activities are beneficial to the community members instead of focusing on their businesses that would be meant to generate profits for them. Firms are expected to uphold respect for people’s moral values so as to gain their trust. Failure to comply with this principle will negatively impact on the operations of the organization. References Garret, J. (16 January, 2008). Ethical theories. Viewed from: . Rainbow, C. (2002). Descriptions of Ethical Theories and Principles. Davidson College. Viewed from: . Read More