1 Do you think it was unethical that the attendees tweeted o

1. Do you think it was unethical that the attendees tweeted out information about the new drug and results of the study? Why or Why not?

2. How have social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook changed the discussion about confidentiality and social responsibility? Explain.

3. Suppose you were the marketing director at a pharmaceutical company that had just received promising results about a new drug still in the development stage. What ethical responsibilities do you have to keep the information confidential?

Solution

1. Ethics refers to the set of moral values that govern the individuals\' behaviour and defines the set of principles to be followed. From the above statement it seems that the attendees of some conference have tweeted out the information regarding the new drug and the results of the study. It will be considered as unethical when the drug will be in the development phase and if further work on it is to be done. Sharing the information on social platform would be wrong as the drug is not fully prepared and the information so shared can be misused by anyone. Such an act would be considered as unethical as it compromises on the moral principles and values. On the other hand if the drug is in its completion phase and ready to be launched in the market, then sharing out information and sharing the results of the study will be treated as ethical, as more people will become aware of the drug and this will lead to awareness.

2. In the recent years the number of people who connect themselves with social platform are increasing. As more and more people are connecting with each other on different social platforms, they are becoming more aware of one another and connect is also increasing. People are now using social media for discussion forums, anyone can give their views on any issue openly, due to which some part of confidentiality has reduced. The meaning of confidentiality has decreased and transparency is increasing day by day. It is becoming hard to define how much portion of the available data is private and how much can be accessed by the third party. For example a password protector on facebook can be considered as private, but an open discussion on twitter can be categorised as public. The data is private or public will depend on the extent we are ethically bound to seek permission from the social media user.

Moreover these social platforms lead a way towards more social responsibility. With more transparency and more people available on one platform it becomes important for business houses to be responsible towards the society, as showing a laid back attitude for the welfare of the society would lead to downfall and set back on the goodwill of the organisation. Organisations are taking steps and working for the welfare of the society, for example Starbucks uses facebook and twitter to educate people regarding ethical coffee making and its proper distribution. It is also running its own community known as MyStarbucksIdea where users are free to share their own ideas about coffee making. Like Starbucks, Cisco also uses social platform for the benefit of the society and shows CSR efforts, in a way it opened up a website which connects education leaders worldwide to improve access to education, discusses on relevant topics and talks about media literacy.

3. Being the marketing director at a pharmaceutical company, it becomes my moral duty to protect the information about the new drug (still in development phase) confidential. I will be bound to follow the code of ethics for the national pharmaceutical system. Marketing director usually face ethical issues regarding their own actions and the actions of its team members, they face issues such as insider trading, illegal practices etc. Confidentiality is the core duty of any marketing director, especially regarding any drug which is still in development phase. Disclosing or leaking out information would harm the launch of drug in future and being responsible for its confidentiality I should wait for the drug to reach the final stage and wait for its launch, after which its information can be easily shared.