Companies in the US: Sanlu's Milk Contamination Crisis

Sanlu’s Milk Contamination Crisis
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Sanlu’s Milk Contamination Crisis
To what extent do the economic pressures of demand and supply influence an organization’s ethical boundaries?
In any given organization, the levels of demand and supply affect the quantity and quality of goods produced. This in turn determines their price tags. The ethical gap in many organizations is widened as the pressure of increasing profits trumps the welfare of the society. In the Sanlu’s case, milk from its farms could not meet the demand and it resolved to collecting milk from brokers, which was ethically allowed. However, despite Sanlu setting quality standards for collected milk by performing a hydrogen test to determine the protein levels in the milk, the brokers invented an easy way of increasing their deliveries by diluting the milk with melamine. This contaminated milk would always pass the hydrogen test undetected since there was no other way determining the quality.
Do you believe Sanlu leadership received fair punishment in light of the case findings and contextual background?
I do not believe that Sanlu leadership received fair punishment in this case. The vice president received 15 years in prison yet he played a part in covering up the issue despite the confirmation of the milk melamine contamination. The advice of Fonterra to announce a full recall which could have prevented more deaths was also ignored. Fifteen years and 5 to 8 years in prison for the vice presidents and two administrators respectively, was rather lenient. They are as guilty as the CEO.
What lessons does this case provide for the international organizations considering collaboration with Chinese organizations?
This case exposes China’s weakness in food safety standards. Theref...