Chapter 3
Case Study 3-A
Corporate Responsibility:
Just Selling or Doing Well by Doing
Good?
I chose to do a case study that
frankly I thought I had her figured out. Water is the biggest Diva. She gets so
much free press and exposure and like Angelina Jolie, she still retains a bit
of mystery. The issue at hand was regarding a NY Times article stating the
bottled water lost in sustainability, the water filter industry was about to
launch. In 2008, the Brita Company was about to launch its Go Green campaign
with the introduction of its do anti-bottled website: filterforgood.com. What
more could a green advocate want? According to Beth Terry from Southern CA, she
wanted Brita’s parent company Clorox to take on the shared responsibility of recycling
all of its filters. But she did not stop there, her evidence was that Europe’s
Brita affiliate had set up a recycling system and therefore they should have
had this all planned out.
Terry’s claim was based in truth.
America does not have any recycling facilities set up for water filters. This
would make Brita’s Go Green campaign void for the green citizens of the United
States of America. At first Clorox a public relations responded that the cost
of setting recycling centers for the entire country would be an expense that
would put them out of business. The article exposing this dilemma was written
by Mya Frazier published on October 5, 2008 (Times Pressure to Recycle Filter). As a long time consumer of Brita water
filter, I am outraged the press. I have not been made aware I was killing the
natural resources of Mother Earth. According to the SJC Code of Ethics,
Minimize Harm, it states, “Show compassion for those who may be affected
adversely by news coverage.”
The introduction of social media and
random claims by anonymous websites, I would agree the contextual reason
“public opinion is hardly monolithic” (Cooper page 23). This sparked many
questions like why “Postmodernism reject the correspondence theory of truth?”
(Patterson &Wilkins page 26). If I applied Plato’s theory that “truth was
knowable only to the human intellect-it could not be touched or verified”
(Patterson & Wilkens page 22) to question about Brita’s intent on Sales or
Doing Good, then I would have to become an intellectual on the very illusive
matter of justice. I would also have to
disqualify Brita and Terry has being sincere. For questions can lead to
answers, that my postulate a fact. As I was failing at the “Seek Truth
and Report it” method, (Society of Professional Journalists ), I surrendered to the Platonic unverifiable truth theory. On
Saturday I decided it was time to do a severe “Qualitative Study” (MaxWell Chpt. 7). I
designed a macro study based on different views and methods of water filtration
and recycling.
I created a simple interactive model
study in where I could see on paper all the different views, concepts and
information. I would then evaluate how data “components may affect and be
affected by one another” (Maxwell page 215). A simple setup of source,
information question, rating and answer for meaning would bring me closer to
the truth. After three days of readings and logging data, something unexpected
seem to appear in my study. I could make out connections from understanding a
meaning to source information. I intuitively started seeking out the right
sources and filtering out the babble. The framework based on questions and
answer has given me the confidence to ethically expose the issue presented in
case 3-A.
The corporate entity is not a real
person and throughout history people were aware of the fact. A consumer like
filter loving Terry and a corporate giant like Clorox is a relationship that is
not real. According to Forbes Magazine articles and blogs (blogs.forbes), the term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) viewed
as a risk factor and a marketing strategy. They acknowledged Unilever as one of
the top CSR companies quoted, “Unilever
CEO Paul Polman really spoke the language of CSR as value – not just donations”
(Forbes.com). The action of value to the consumer is a big
seller, even if the consumer doesn’t understand why a product is green. They
are more likely to buy it on the humanitarian principle of recycling.
Furthermore as consumers start accepting these values, they also accept
corporations as real people that care more than just profits. The new bottom
line is the transformation of business from money addiction to consumer BFF’s.
The article in question about Brita’s intention is yes to
both. It is just selling and it is doing well by doing good. The Corporate
Social Responsibility makes consumers feel like they are being heard. It feeds
into the need of trust when buying a product. Beth Terry’s action of applying
Extend Producer Responsibility (EPR) is Kantanian but in no way Golden. “Why do
you think environmental policies so often fail to address environmental
problems? Because legislators are
more interested in collecting money and votes than in “catering” to
“extremists” was the response given by Richard Porter, the pragmatic author of
“The Economics of Waste” (everydaytrash.com).
The alarming data about high cost of recycling and
consumer illusions of unintellectual social responsible actions may risk our
democracy. Beth Terry started a campaign toward a corporation that was adhering
to their legal responsibility. On January 29, 2009 she had collect six hundred
and eleven water cartridge filters. If
she only knew in 2002, 1.1 billion people lacked access to improved water
sources, which represented 17% of the global population and nearly 4 million
children died due to water related diseases (WorldWaterCouncil.org).
 |
| United Nations Report 2000 |
I
will be posting a second part to this blog where I will attempt to "frame" the Recycling process, New water innovation, Alhusser, Marxism and democratic relativism.
Works Cited:
Patterson P. & Wilkens L.,Media Ethics: Issues & Ethics 7th Ed., McGraw-Hill, NY 2011
Cooper, T. Between The Summits: What Americans Think About Media Ethics, Journal of Mass Media Ethics, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 2008
Maxwell, J Designing a Qualitative Study Chapter 7
filterforgood.com.
http://www.takebackthefilter.org/
NY Times Pressure to Recycle Water Filters
Society of Professional Journalists
blogs.forbes
Cooper, T. Between The Summits: What Americans Think About Media Ethics, Journal of Mass Media Ethics, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 2008
Maxwell, J Designing a Qualitative Study Chapter 7
filterforgood.com.
http://www.takebackthefilter.org/
NY Times Pressure to Recycle Water Filters
Society of Professional Journalists
blogs.forbes
Forbes.com
ExtendedProducerResponsibilityPolicy.pdf
http://www.everydaytrash.com
WorldWaterCouncil.org
ExtendedProducerResponsibilityPolicy.pdf
http://www.everydaytrash.com
WorldWaterCouncil.org
Althusser, Louis P., Politics
and History, New Left Books: London (1972)
Works Referenced:
Charles de Secondat, Baron de
Montesquieu, The Spirit of Laws Translated by Thomas
Nugent, Bell &
Sons, Ltd., London 1914
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/reporter/greengds.shtm
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/reporter/greengds.shtm
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