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Ethics Paper Essay There are many factors to consider when implementing a strategic plan including considering stakeholders needs, the needs of the company, as well as the needs of the employees; however, one factor that is often overlooked is the need and desires of the consumers. This act includes fulfilling the social responsibility to benefit their community to implement economic growth or other equally important acts to benefit the society as a whole. It is a task in its own to balance the needs of the involved parties, and, unfortunately, sometimes the best decisions get trampled by the stakeholders agendas, and the community as a whole suffers. As a part of the community, the company has certain ethical and social responsibilities that are expected of them. These responsibilities are unwritten rules that are often implemented by the competitive nature of the business. Some standalone companies can continue with business without the support of their local community while other companies are unable to profit without the outside influencing factors of the community. If the community is directly affected by the interactions of a business, a social responsibility should be personalized to benefit the surrounding environment. Unfortunately, more often than not, social and ethical responsibilities are often overlooked by the company in order to benefit the stakeholders, and detrimental factors are swept under the run in order to provide a bigger return to investors. McDonalds is one of the biggest companies worldwide that fail to comply with social and ethical responsibilities. Though McDonalds is known as the pioneers of the fast food industry, and remain the highest grossing fast food chain for roughly the past 30 years (Whitt 2010). ETHICS PAPER 5 3 Although the sales have remained among the highest in the United States as well as other competing countries, McDonalds continues to cut corners to turn an even larger profit. This company developed an uniform production method by mass producing every ingredient form the hamburger meat to their French fries. These issues include using frozen beef patties instead of fresh ground beef and developing a genetically-modified potato rather than using locally grown produce to ensure that all McDonald’s fries have the same uniform taste† (Whitt 2010). Along with using ethical ingredients for their friend, McDonalds also uses questionable practices when it comes to their meant. Research shows â€Å"a typical fast-food hamburger patty contains meat from more than one thousand different cattle, raised in as many as five countries† (Gibson, 2014). The unknown origin of this meat would make contaminated product hard to trace and even harder to prevent in the future. Aside from the unethical choice of using genetically mutated produce, McDonalds has failed to uphold the social responsibility of the wellbeing of their consumers. With a company that cashes in over $30 billion dollars a year in sales, you would think that they would be able to afford to revamp their menu with healthier lifestyle choices. Instead, they chose to market meals that contain 1,250 calories and 66 grams of fat per serving (McDonald’s Nutrition, 2014)- that is over 300% of the recommended American consumption per meal. Along with neglecting their contributions to obesity, raised cholesterol, heart disease, McDonalds has embraced the American addiction of greasy cheeseburgers and fries and has gone as far as increasing the original serving portion by more than 24% (McDonalds Nutrition, 2014). ETHICS PAPER 5 4 Efforts can be made by the McDonalds cooperation to undo the severe damage that the company has inflicted on the society. Their efforts can be shifted to focus on offering healthier alternatives to the famous greasy burger and fries combination they have profited on. The first improvement could be on using all natural ingredients including produce grown from local farms. This change would eliminate the producers being collected from hundreds of different locations and reduce the risk of potential diseases and the spreading of harmful pesticides, all while making an effort to support their local producers. Along these same lines, McDonalds can also chose to use fresher and leaner meats and cook them in olive or coconut oil instead of the fat or lard that is currently used. These small alternatives can be implemented immediately in order to show their efforts to fulfill their social and ethical responsibility. Making an effort to improve their nutritional options means that they are investing in a better future for the consumers. Unfortunately, the questionable ingredients and lack of concern of the diet offered is only a small piece of McDonalds unethical and blatant disregard of their social responsibility. In order to ensure the stakeholders agendas, McDonalds currently upholds an endless list of labor related issues, as well as legal battles, backlash from the negative impact on foreign countries, and nonchalant approaches to backlash and lawsuits. It is painfully obvious that McDonalds is only interested in continuing the profits for their stakeholders, at any and all cost†¦. including the health and wellbeing of their consumers. ETHICS PAPER 5 5 References Gibson, A. (2014). McDonald’s: A Good Image with Bad Ethics. Retrieved from http://www. neumann. edu/academics/divisions/business/journal/review_08/gibison. pdf Schlosser, E. (2004) Special report on slow food. In J. Johnson (Ed. ), Global Issues, Local Arguments. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Whitt, R. (2010). McDonald’s: A Good Image with Bad Ethics, Dallas Observer. Pennino, M. (2012). Nuggets of wisdom; Author paints picture of out Fast-Food culture. Intelligence Journal. McDonalds Nutrition. (2014). Retrieved from http://nutrition. mcdonalds. com/getnutrition/nutritionfacts. pdf.