Reference no: EM133147735

QUESTION 1

Texon Manufacturing Sdn Bhd is a manufacturing company that handles domestic as well as international markets. It is situated in the Selangor Business Industrial Park, close proximity to many other notable local factories. The management of Texon aims to be the market leader in the industry. Over the years, many factories discharge their waste and water into a nearby lake which flows into a river. Unfortunately, the river situated in a recreational park which is used by nearby residents. Jismi, is the newly appointed Environmental Engineer in Texon. One of the duties assigned to him is to prepare periodic reports to be submitted to the Department of Environment (DOE) on the information about the percentage of chemical substances discharged by Texon into the environment. In the recent reporting cycle, Jismi discovered that the level of chemical substances release from the plant were slightly above the standard set by the DOE. Nevertheless, the breach of the DOE standard would still give a negative impact to the environment especially to the local communities and life below water in the river. As an engineer, Jismi knows the solution to the problem, which is to install a special equipment that would cost RM300,000 to neutralize the chemical substances before it can be safely released to the environment. This issue has been brought to the knowledge of his supervisor, Encik Razak. From the management perspective, the installation idea is too costly. Texon doesn't have any budget allocation, thus it will affect the overall budget of the business. Encik Razak argues that, "If we were to invest in the equipment, we might need to downsize our people, and they are all our loyal staff". He further comments that, it is not worth to let go the staff just to install the equipment since the breach of the DOE standard is minimal. Therefore, Encik Razak asked Jismi to manipulate the data so that it seems the plant complies with the DOE standard. The top management of Texon are very cautious with the business reputation especially when it concerns with the environment and society. They would like to maintain a good image and relationship with the local communities. Jismi knows that the nearby residents use the park for family activities.

Required:

a. Explain the stakes of the following stakeholders: (i) Jismi, (ii) Department of Environment and the (iii) Nearby residents. (6 marks)

b. With reference to the above case, analyse the ethicality of Texon based on the following theories: (i) Deontology and (ii) Consequentialism.