Ethical dilemma… Buyer vs. Seller… 28 December 2007

(around 350 words)

I give below two short definitions of Ethics:

· a discipline dealing with what is good and what is bad, and with moral duty and obligation

· a branch of philosophy, encompassing right conduct and correct way of living

While talking of Ethics in Business, a term that usually comes up is Caveat emptor, a Latin term which means “Let the buyer beware”. Under this doctrine, the buyer can not recover from the seller for the defects on the product that have rendered the product unfit for use. This term seems to have evolved from the basic suspicion that a seller is an unethical person always out to rob you and therefore you- the customer- should be alert and careful.

Let me give this a twist. I give below two scenarios.

· A seller offers you a discount of ten percent on the price of a product (let us assume the price is Rupees 100.00). The seller prepares a bill for Rupees. 85.00. You make the payment, collect the product and sneak away quickly from the showroom while fully knowing that discount of ten percent means Rupees 90.00 and not 85.00.

· You buy a product for Rupees 92.00. You give the seller Rupees 100.00. He returns Rupees 18.00. You simply pocket the money and vanish from the scene with the full knowledge that he has paid you Rupees 10.00 extra.

Now the questions are:

· Should you have alerted the sales person about his mistake and paid him the correct contracted price (or returned to him the extra amount that you received)?

· If you did so, will you be branded by the Society as a stupid person who is not `worldly-wise’?

· If you didn’t do so, is your behaviour unethical (a term usually reserved for the seller)?

Think it over. Over the weekend, if you do not have anything else to do.

S .Gopal ….Keying in is better than idling

Holy or Unholy ?….. 12 December 2007

When there was a hue and cry about thousands of acres of government land in Bangalore having been grabbed by influential citizens, the government instituted a joint legislature committee to probe the matter.

The committee has finalised its report.

As was expected, the list contains names of politicians and their relatives, film producers and stars, real estate developers etc. However, it also includes some names that I did not expect to be there, namely corporates like IBM, L and T.

What is worrisome is that religious institutions revered by the man on the street find a place in the list. The report says that the Adichunchangiri Mutt has encroached upon about 18 acres and the Art of Living Foundation has grabbed about 13 acres. I wonder:

· What signals do these institutions send to the public?

· Are such acts sanctioned by the religious texts?

· Should the common man follow the preachings of the religious leaders or imitate their institutions in real life?

· Should we turn a blind eye to this?

S. Gopal

… keying in is better than idling

Nexus-doctors and pharma companies 15 November 2007

(more than 200 words)

I share with you some data published in the United States. This exposes the shameful and unholy nexus between pharma companies and doctors in the United States (a country which boasts to be the most civilised nation in the world) to the detriment of its patients. I hope doctors of Indian origin are not involved in this.

This is happening in India as well, but statistics are not available.

State of affairs

• Pharma Industry spends more than US Dollars 20 billion a year on marketing, about 90 per cent of which goes to doctors to influence them to prescribe medicines which it wants them to prescribe. This is equivalent to US Dollars 13 000 per doctor per year.
• Doctors get
  • free pens to free lunches
  • sponsored to conferences, compromised medical education programmes and unaffordable holidays

The effect

• Doctors enter into a quid pro quo arrangement with the pharma industry and they tend to prescribe such medicines the pharma companies ask them to. They
  • ignore cheaper alternatives
  • prescribe unnecessary medicines
  • put medicines to off-label use (for indications that the regulatory authorities have not approved them).
  • The patients are taken for a ride and cheated. Their health is endangered by the doctors to whom they go for cure.

What United States is doing

• The government is bringing out a legislation to make it compulsory for pharma companies that produce medicines and medical devices with a turnover of more than US Dollar 100 million to reveal the amount of money they give to doctors to influence their prescribing patterns.
• Many medical institutions are not allowing medical sales representatives inside their premises.
  

S .Gopal
….Keying in is better than idling

Work ethics… 11 November 2007

I recently read a newspaper article on attitudes towards work.

America: The more you worked, the more you billed, and more the profit you generated for yourself and your company.

France: The fewer hours you work, the more vacation you take, more the time you get to grumble about the state of the universe, and smarter you feel.

Australia: On Mondays, they would talk on how they enjoyed the just-ended weekend; on Thursdays, the talk would be on what one would do on the coming weekend; on Friday afternoons they would not be any talk as they are already driving off to the nearest beach or hill ranges.

Urban India: When I meet software professionals, I see that the talk is like as in America – billings and profits. While attitudes of work are seen in some other areas of businesses, most others exude a chalta hai attitude; anything will do; performance and good work be damned ! North Indians have coined a special word for it – Jugaad – meaning a patch work so that work continues.

S .Gopal
….Keying in is better than idling

Swamijis and other mortals… 29 October 2007

Swamijis, as per my understanding, are those who have renounced worldly matters and materialism. They are the ones who have taken a vow to lead an austere living. To symbolise their beliefs, they shave off their heads and wear saffron clothes. The common mortals look up to them for advice as they believe in their impartiality. After all, swamijis would not say or do anything for their personal gains.

What happens in practice, however? Read on.

Sri Shivapuri Swamiji of Omkarashrama in Bangalore died on 25 July 2007 leaving behind property worth crores of rupees. Immediately after that two swamijis – Madhusudhanandapuri Swamiji and Purushottamanandapuri Swamiji – made counter-statements; each said that he was the true successor to the deceased Swamiji; each of them claimed to hold a will executed in their favour by the departed Swamiji. There was also a caste clash – one is from the brahmin community and the other from the Uppar community.

Swamjis and property? Swamijis and caste?

Now the politicians have entered the fray and the government has now taken over the property.

S. .Gopal
…keying in is better than idling

Whose money, flowing where to? 19 October 2007

The price of crude oil in the internatonal market is rising, but there is no corresponding increase in the sale prices of its end products. The users (mainly the urban population) are being indirectly subsidised by the government.

Product Subsidy in Rupees

Petrol 2.79 per litre

Diesel 4.65 per litre

LPG 178.15 per cylinder

Rupees 80 000 crores are spent every year towards agricultural subsidy but most of it goes to the fertiliser, power and irrigation sectors. It hardly trickles down to small farmers.

31 percent of grains and 36 percent of sugar meant for the poor through public distribution system are being sold in black market for huge profit.

The elected representatives of one political party were lodged for two days in a reosrt in Bangalore to prevent them from meeting their rivals. Estimated expenditure: Rupees Ten lakhs .

If elections are held in Karnataka earlier than scheduled, the government will have to spend immediately about Rs. 75 crores.

Moot questions are: Whose money? And where is it flowing to ?

S. .Gopal …keying in is better than idling

Are we playing with God or playing God Himself? 11 October 2007

Some peculiar (mild expression) things are happening in the frontiers of medical science.

DNA researcher Craig Venter, Nobel laureate Hamilton Smith, and another 20 scientists have built a synthetic chromosome made out of laboratory chemicals. They are poised to announce soon the first artificial life form on earth. Using lab-made chemicals they have stitched together a chromosome that is 381 genes long containing 580 000 pairs of genetic code.

A 72 year old man is due to become the father of his own grandchild by acting as a sperm donor for his daughter-in-law !

A 51 year old woman played surrogate mother for her own daughter and delivered twins. Hence she becomes grandmother to the children she has given birth to !

Questions:

· Are we stretching ethics and morals to a breaking point?

· How are we going to resolve the complex legal issues invloved?

· Are we playing with God (or Nature, if you would like to call it that way) or are we playing God Himself ?

S. Gopal …..keying in is better than idling