Ethical Dilemma CH. 7 Principles of Operations Management 11th edition by Heizer

Question

Ethical Dilemma CH. 7 Principles of Operations Management 11th edition by Heizer

For the sake of efficiency and lower costs, Premium Standard Farms of Princeton, Missouri, has turned pig production into a standardized product-focused process. Slaughterhouses have done this for a hundred years--but after the anumal was dead. Doing it while the animal is alove is a relatively recent innovation. Here is how it works.

Impregnated female sows wait for 40 days in metal stalls so small they cannot turn around. After an ultrasound test, they wait 67 days in a similar stall until they give birth. Two weeks after delivering 10 or 11 piglets, the sows are moved back to breeding rooms for another cycle. After 3 years, the sow is slaughtered. Animal-welfare advovates say such confinment drives pigs crazy. Premium Standard replies that its hogs are in fact comfortable, arguing that only 1% die before Premium Standard wants them to and that their system helps reduce the cost of pork products.

DIscuss the productivity and ethical implications of this industry and these two divergent opinions

Explanation / Answer

This has been a case which is being contemplated even after years -
Moral ethical standards versus the associated pain of animals.

There are many arguments supporting the ethics and arguments against
ethics, telling that it is the day-to-day work, for the living of
certain sections.

They are supposed be very dangerous working conditions, which is in a
way leading to abuse.

Let's be on the ethical part and see it from that angle.

There is a lot of pain that goes through the animals, be it Pig or Cow
or any other animal.

That cannot be measured and it cannot be compensated just by saying
that production and end costs of meat is reducing.

There is an artificial process being implemented for enhanced birth
rate, which is not acceptable at any cost.

If known is work is so much, there is always chance that there is a
lot happening behind the screens.

Are health and safety tests in place to find if the meat/pork
extracted this way is conforming to hygienic standards?

Even if it conforms, for how long can this go on without accumulating diseases?

There are many open ended questions this way.

But when this is looked from Premium Standard Farms of Princeton, they
are well within their right as long as proper consent is taken from
the Government bodies. They do not become antagonists just because
they are slaughtering animals. Also, they have provided a statistical
proof that only 1% die before they want them to, which makes the
matter even more insignificant.

Other aspect, to support the company, is the number of job
opportunities, number of living-hoods provided by them.

So they are not entirely unethical, this is their livelihood and they
are dependent on this.

There is a thin line between being unethical and being ethical in this
case. It has to be observed very keenly that no one breaching the
line.

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