Dupont and Benlate 50DF

Dupont and Benlate 50DF

1. Should we balance the benefits and harms of products on the market? What would be an appropriate way to do this?

Introducing products to the market require careful assessment and ensuring that there is a better structure in place within which it would be possible to control adverse outcomes. Therefore balancing benefits and harms requires a clear understanding of the product and potential harm before introducing it to the market (Huq et al., 2016). To achieve this, the company must have experts who can determine the harms within a product and help in deciding on whether the product should be introduced into the market. In this context, it is evident that Dupont was blinded by the success brought by the previous version of the Benlate product, which was the company’s most successful product.

The introduction of the new Benlate 50DF did not go through all the review and assessment measures before it was rolled out of the market.  The company was expected to conduct many trials across different contexts to determine the benefits and harms based on evidence-based practice. Before putting the product on the market, it is essential to focus on presenting a more substantial system that helps give a highly structured approach for a successful change and integration of better processes that help define the difference (Gallego-Álvarez et al.,2018).

The company should make an independent decision to determine whether the harms outweigh the benefits as realized later on when the product was already in the market. The company made massive errors that had a detrimental influence on many individuals considering that the product had already been rolled out within the international markets. The damage was extensive. The best approach that the company would have regarded as is rolling out numerous trials to assess the efficiency of the product and the possible harms (Tait, 2019). The fact that the product was contaminated by other chemicals while still in the product phase means that the company quality control failed in controlling the quality of the product and did not detect contamination before the product was introduced in the market.

2. Torts – harms – could be handled more efficiently if society just demanded compensation rather than assigning fault. Thus, for example, DuPont would pay out compensation based on affidavits or exposure according to a schedule of harms. (Worker’s compensation operates in such this way.) Similarly, a firm making lawnmowers could design a foolproof model or a chapter one that is more likely to result in injuries to users. Without the need to assign fault or blame, considerable savings would be achieved through avoiding litigation. The cost of compensation would be passed on to consumers, who would ultimately decide through their purchasing choices whether they prefer more expensive and safer goods or less expensive riskier ones. If there were to be a large number of fraudulent claims, then the market forces at work would lower the amount of compensation for an injury. Do you see any moral problems with this approach?

This approach has serious moral concerns. It is evident, based on the information provided, that the contamination of the Benlate 50DF was done during the production process. Another consideration is that the injuries caused by the product to clients vary significantly, and the company was unable to fully determine the extent to which its product affected human life. These measures make it difficult to develop a comprehensive platform that would be used as the basis for compensation. Firms are required to present an understanding of the full-scale influence of the company product clearly so that it would be possible to determine whether a particular effect is a result of the product (Tait, 2019).

Dupont did not have a specific system that provided information on the harms that were likely to be caused by their product, which shows the level of negligence and lack of emphasis when focusing on the underlying effects.  The case scenarios that have been provided in this case present a better understanding of the likely harms of the products developed. This makes it easier to develop a general compensation plan mainly because the company has assessed the benefits and harms of their products and determined that the benefits outweigh the harms hence making it possible to calculate the compensation while also understanding the liability and the responsibility (Huq et al., 2016).

Any decision that is made, especially in product production, must be honest and trustworthy. The company must be able to outline the potential harms of using a given product. This information should be provided accurately and with honesty. The ability to have a positive influence in this context present a highly structured system that offers a well-defined system through which it would be easier to improve efficiency. Dupont did not provide accurate information regarding its Benlate 50DF product, thus creating the complicated situation as witnessed and the company paying more than $1 billion in fines and compensation.

3. In a Canadian case, there was an unusual cluster of children born about the same time in the same area with underdeveloped or missing eyes. Lawyers claimed that the mothers had all been exposed to microscopic amounts of Benlate, as it was being sprayed on a local orchard. What standard of proof do you think should apply in a case like this? If you were on the board of DuPont, would you assume any responsibility or fight the claim?

The Dupont as a company had a deficient bargaining power when it comes to assessing the extent of harms caused by their product because they did not have an overall statement regarding the potential damages that the product had, which would have formed the basis of such cases. The standard of proof that should apply in this case is an assessment of whether the chemicals in the product can cause such a massive effect on human biological and physical compositions (Juntarawijit & Juntarawijit, 2018).  This would have presented a well-engaged emphasis on the underlying measures which promote successful attainment of outcomes. The company was expected to have accurate information about their product. There is a need also to focus on whether exposure to microscopic amounts of Benlate would lead to such serious effects (Schulze et al., 2018).

If I were on the board of Dupont, I would have fought the claim. I would have requested an independent assessment of the Benlate 50DF to assess the extent of the harms before assuming any responsibility. The argument brought forward by Canadian lawyers was lame and did not fully explain the interaction between microscopic exposure of Benlate and the physical growth challenges. The lawsuit was opportunistic, considering that there is no proof on whether all of the mothers to the children were exposed to Benlate while it was being sprayed on a local orchard. The claim lacks basis and can be challenged.

4. If you were on the board of DuPont, how would you respond if a Third World country wanted to buy up all the remaining stocks of Benlate at a discount, with assurances that the company would be completely immune from any potential liability?

From the massive lawsuits filed, I would have opted against selling the remaining stock of Benlate to a third world country without assessing and understanding the total implications of the product on human lives. The third world country residents are not laser beings; hence also need protection. It is vital to prioritize on human nature of individuals and protect innocent individuals. They are likely to be duped into buying the product while knowing well its negative implications on the lives of individuals as well as the environment.

It is the responsibility of the company to assess and ensure that the products that are introduced into the market do not harm users. A business organization must remain ethical and ensure that it protects the lives and interests of users who might not be aware of the side effects of the product. The assessment of the situation offers a detailed understanding of essential processes that present a more straightforward system that helps in promoting change and the adoption of better ideologies (Tait, 2019).

5. From an environmental point of view, do you believe that chemical pesticides are useful? How do you measure the efficiencies of farming with fungicides against a more natural approach?

The chemical pesticides release these chemicals into the atmosphere hence contributing to pollution. The implications of these pesticides might be observed in real-time since they take a longer time to suffice. Some of the chemicals that are used do not disintegrate but have a more considerable influence on the environment, which exposes humans and other living organisms, both terrestrial and marine organisms, to high-level risks, as witnessed in the case of Benlate 50DF. Therefore I do not believe that chemical pesticides are useful (Gallego-Álvarez et al.,2018).  It is difficult to measure the efficiency of farming with fungicides and the use of more natural approaches. This is because fungicides tend to be more efficient in the short run without assessing the implications of the application as compared with natural methods where there are no side effects of using natural approaches.

References

Gallego-Álvarez, I., Lozano, M. B., & Rodríguez-Rosa, M. (2018). An analysis of the environmental information in international companies according to the new GRI standards. Journal of cleaner production, 182, 57-66.

Huq, S. M., Nekmahmud, M., & Aktar, M. S. (2016). Unethical practices of advertising in Bangladesh: a case study on some selective products. International Journal of Economics, Finance and Management Sciences, 4(1), 10.

Juntarawijit, C., & Juntarawijit, Y. (2018). Association between diabetes and pesticides: a case-control study among Thai farmers. Environmental health and preventive medicine, 23(1), 3.

Schulze, S., Sättler, D., Neumann, M., Arp, H. P. H., Reemtsma, T., & Berger, U. (2018). Using REACH registration data to rank the environmental emission potential of persistent and mobile organic chemicals. Science of the Total Environment, 625, 1122-1128.

Tait, J. (Ed.). (2019). Management of pests and pesticides: Farmers’ perceptions and practices. CRC Press.