Water Bottling Plant and Wonthaggi Desalination Plant (Essay Sample)

ETHICAL ISSUES IN NESTLÉ WATER BOTTLING PLANT AND WONTHAGGI DESALINATION PLANT
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Ethical Issues in Nestlé Water Bottling Plant and Wonthaggi Desalination Plant
Individual Learning
In the course, I have learned that conflicts are unavoidable in every situation where different people have to do tasks as a unit. However, I was required to be in a group but I could not have managed it because other commitments, which I have to undertake during the time, allocated for the group work. Nevertheless, I believe in teamwork because it helps people to improve their decision-making processes as they are can learn new ways to solve conflicts with the group members. I wish I had the time to associate with my peers because it could have helped me to understand how to deal with different personalities and understand how people from diverse backgrounds view some of the social problems that we face in our daily lives. In any team, ethical issues arise which leaves the members in a dilemma as they choose the best solution that would not hurt any of the members. I believe that when making an ethical decision, one should consider normative ethics that demand a person to choose what is morally right. On the other hand, one can opt to use virtue ethics, which requires a person to do what is normally a habit in the society.
EBL Learning: The Nestlé Water Bottling and the Wonthaggi Desalination Plant Case
In principle, every person in the world has the right to free water; however, some organizations have taken upon themselves to change water to a commodity to enrich the firm. In effect, many people cannot access the necessity, even though, the firms deplete the available sources to leave the masses without an adequate supply of clean water. The Nestlé Water Bottling Plant in Sacramento draws more than eighty million gallons of water from the region’s aquifers in the dry season. Subsequently, this leaves many people without water; therefore, they have to purchase the commodity from the plant at inflated prices. The residents of Sacramento believe that the water organization makes huge profits from the sale of water, even though, the commodity should be free to all residents. The residents have found a coalition that fights for the right to water since the firm is not limited to the amount of water it can draw from the aquifers. In effect, “The coalition is protesting Nestlé’s virtually unlimited use of water – up to 80 million gallons a year drawn from local aquifers” (Bacher, 2015). On the other hand, the law allows all residents of California only seven to ten percent of the water used in the state. In that respect, the people feel that the plant receives biased treatment, which is a way of increasing its profitability.
The Wonthaggi Desalination Plant is based in Victoria and focuses on desalinating water, bottle it to sell to the public. In reality, Australia is the driest inhabited continent; as a result, the government has developed a solution to persistent water problem to desalinate seawater because the source does not depend on rainfall to supply enough water to the residents of Melbourne city. However, the water plant would raise water levels and increase the amount of cloud cover as there would more water that evaporates into the atmosphere. In that manner, it would affect the people's lives because of the changes in the atmosphere. However, the public-private partnership undertaking the project only looks at the bright side of the project for the plant would alleviate water problem in the city. Importantly, the desalination process leaves an effluent of concentrated brine residue that would be pumped back to the sea (Takver, 2015). The high concentration affects the ecosystem of the rocky coastline; in effect, it would drive away fish and change the lifestyles of the many people who depend on the coastline for their survival.
Business Ethics
In essence, business ethics should be applied by all managers to reduce conflicts within the communities (Donaldson et al, 2002, p. 65). It is unethical to bottle water, sell it at high prices, and at the same time, deny the public access to the available water in the aquifers. Innately, it amounts to forcing the people to purchase a commodity that they could acquire free of charge directly from the aquifers. The organization does not have normative ethics since it uses the resources in the area to enrich a few people at the expense of the public. The firm and the authorities need to do what is morally right and allow the public access to equal amounts of water to use for their various tasks. The law should be applicable to all the people; subsequently, the masses are suffering as more people neither have access to clean water nor the resources to purchase the product from the company.
On the other hand, the management of the plant believes that water is a need but not a human right. In effect, the firm uses its financial and legal powers to increase demand for water in the public to increase sales and profitability. The management should understand that water is a human right, which should be accessed by any person at any time. Notably, the authorities should provide adequate and affordable water to all residents without making any profits out of the same. Nonetheless, to allow the firm unlimited access to water resources in dry times of the year limits the amount of the commodity each person could have; thus the people have to buy the bottled water at whatever prices the firms deems fit. Despite the people’s complaints, the firm remains deviant that their actions were justified because they provide clean and safe water from the aquifers without caring about the people’s rights.
The effects on ecology from the Wonthaggi Desalination Plant are unethical because the plant should drain the effluent four or five kilometers into the sea where strong currents would aid to disperse the concentrated water. In that manner, the project would not have adverse effects on the ecosystem of the coastline; thus, the government would be improving the lives of all the people. However, the firm is concerned about the profits it would make from delivering clean water to residents of Melbourne city without considering the damages it causes those living closer to the sea. Business wise, any organization should be determined to give back to the communities in which it operates. On the contrary, the Wonthaggi Desalination Plant seems to take all the good things from the community without giving anything back. For a business to be sustainable, it must embrace a socially responsible culture, which understands all the social issues associated with its operations...