Environmental Disasters and Ethics of International Companies: The case of Bhopal

Harry Johnson, CEO of international Chemical, called a meeting of the newly formed crises management committee, which consist of the vice president of manufacturing; the Venice president-legal; the vice president of health, safety, and environment; the chief financial officer; and the public relations officer. Johnson had formed the committee after Union Carbide's Bhopal disaster to examine International Chemical's contingency plans. Because the two companies have similar international organizations and produce similarly toxic products, he asked the members to review the information they had on the Bhopal disaster and make recommendations as to what each person's area would do should their company have a similar accident. Johnson also asked the vice president of health, safety, and environment to begin the meeting by giving the committee a synopsis of the series of events that occurred during the first days after the disaster.

Discuss the possible causes of the accident. What are the steps one should have followed in order to avoid the disaster? Should international corporations be engaged in the production of such toxic materials for profit? Do multinational organizations have the responsibility of bringing awareness to the people who lack adequate knowledge about the negative effect of such business operation?

Sources: Berenbeim, Ronald, "Can Multinational Businesses Agree on How to Act Ethically?" Business and Society Review, Number 9/8, 1997

Question: Assessing alternatives: comparative approach along with pros and cons of all situations. It is important that your arguments are supported by quantitative approach via data collection, processing and presenting them (data) in tabular form and graphs.