How can utilitarianism be applied in an organizational context?

Understanding Business
12th Edition
ISBN:9781259929434
Author:William Nickels
Publisher:William Nickels
Chapter1: Taking Risks And Making Profits Within The Dynamic Business Environment
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Japan has approved a plan to release more than one million tonnes of contaminated water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.

The water will be treated and diluted so radiation levels are below those set for drinking water. But the local fishing industry has strongly opposed the move, as have China and South Korea.

 

Tokyo says work to release water used to cool nuclear fuel will begin in about two years. The final approval comes after years of debate and is expected to take decades to complete. Reactor buildings at the Fukushima power plant were damaged by hydrogen explosions caused by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011. The tsunami knocked out cooling systems to

the reactors, three of which melted down. More than a million tonnes of water have been used to cool the melted reactors.

 

Environmental groups like Greenpeace have long expressed their opposition to releasing the water into the ocean. The NGO said Japan's plans to release the water showed the government "once again failed the people of Fukushima".

The country's fishing industry has also argued against it, worried that consumers will refuse to buy produce from the region.

 

The industry was hit extremely hard after the 2011 disaster, with many countries banning the import of sea food caught off Japan's north-eastern coast. The decision has also prompted criticism from Japan's neighbours. Ahead of the decision, South Korea's foreign minister on Monday expressing "serious regret".

 

Scientists argue that the elements remaining in the water are only harmful to humans in large doses. With dilution the treated water poses no scientifically detectable risk, they say.

While the tritium is radioactive, it has a half-life of around 12 years, meaning it will disappear from the environment over a period of decades rather than centuries.

Radiation from tritium can be ingested, however, which is why fishing industry groups are concerned about the risk of it getting into the food chain and being consumed through sea food.

 

The risk of this happening is not zero, but the scientific consensus is that it does not pose a threat to human health.

 

a) How can utilitarianism be applied in an organizational context?

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