Corporate Governance and Ethical Responsibility Research Paper

Corporate Governance and Ethical Responsibility - Research Paper Example 46; Wolper, 2004, pp. 164). Based on their relationship to the organization, external stakeholders may be categorized as input providers, competitors, and special interest group (Wolper, 2004, pp. 161-163). Following the above definitions, three internal and external stakeholders that Dr. DoRight might have to deal daily at the Universal Human Care Hospital are its doctors and nurses, its patients and the pharmaceutical companies. The doctors and nurses, being employees of the hospital, bound by its VMG and policies are expected to provide satisfactory healthcare; thus, they are considered internal stakeholders. The patients, being one of the hospital’s input providers based on their interest to get proper medication at a reasonable rate, and the pharmaceutical companies, being one of the hospital’s suppliers, which are expected to supply safe and effective drugs and other medical paraphernalia, are both considered external stakeholders. As the hired hospital president tasked to supervise and monitor the hospital’s 5,000 workforces to address the hospital’s various stakeholders, Dr. DoRight’s duty of loyalty to doctors and nurses is to ensure that they do their jobs responsibly. As such their illegal activities and negligence must be stopped, because failure to do so would jeopardize the integrity of the hospital that would consequently harm the corporation’s interest. As defined in the American corporate law tradition, â€Å"the duty of loyalty is the obligation to act in good faith to advance the best interests of the corporation† (Strine, Hamermesh, Balotti & Gorris, 2009, p. ii). In short, whatever Dr. DoRight does should be for the best interest of the hospital provided it does not violate the constitution and federal and universal laws (Palmiter, 2010). To hospital patients, Dr. DoRight’s duty of loyalty is to ensure that they get safe and sound healthcare. Such is in the best interest of the corpora tion, because by providing effective and safe healthcare, the hospital is not only living to its sworn VMG but could also increase patient patronage that could mean greater profit. To pharmaceutical companies, Dr. DoRight’s duty of loyalty is to act in good faith by transacting with these companies only as authorized by the hospital’s Board of Directors and only in pursuit for the best interest of the hospital. For example, Dr. DoRight should not endorse pharmaceutical products that are not needed by the hospital, that are unsafe or overpriced; even if his endorsement would earn him a considerable commission. Thus Dr. DoRight should put the interest of the hospital above his own personal interest. 2. Potential Conflicts of Interest between Internal and External Stakeholders Stakeholders’ interests may not always conform to each other, primarily due to the different roles each play in the organization. Thus Dr. DoRight may confront an in-role conflict between his duties of loyalty to doctors and nurses and to patients in Universal Human Care Hospital. As the investigation of the illegal procedures and negligence of the hospital’s doctors and nurses drags on for two years, patients remain untreated effectively causing their deaths. Dr. DoRight, knowing that both parties have fundamental rights – the right of doctors and nurses to fair investigation and the rights of patients to safe and effective