The industry I will explain the issues undertaken by CKDBS is that of the pharmaceutical industry. This industry is tasked with manufacturing many types of drugs. The components of these drugs will vary from one area to another one. The concentration of the drugs has been done in order to prescribe the drugs to the clients basing on the severity of the disease. The concentration will also be done in order to vary prices. Another variation is the originality of the drugs. In drug manufacturing, there are those drugs which are considered to be original and effective and those which are considered to be generic and less effective when compared to the original drugs.
The CKDBS administrator could develop the database system and integrate the instruction that will assess the financial status of the patient before giving the price. The prices are higher for original and highly concentrated drugs. The administrator might base the price allocation on the financial status of the client. This can be obtained by getting the estate where the client lives. The administrator can, therefore, have a field where the client will enter the estate where they live. There could also be a place for the client to enter the type of car they drive. If these fields indicate that the client is well off, then they system will prescribe the expensive drugs. If the fields indicate the weak financial situation, then the generic drug with low concentration will be prescribed. In business, this situation is legal and in order. This is because there is market segmentation where clients are categorized into segments basing on their financial ability or their health status. For this behavior, it is legal but not ethical. It is not ethical because of the fact that the drug that is sold to the less fortunate in the society could not heal the disease effectively. All clients should be treated well and and with equal measure.
Another situation is that of selling old stock in order to clear that stock. This is wrong in the sense that the drug could lack current components. The old stick could be lacking some components. This is a common situation in business. It has no effect on other types of stock but in drugs, diseases keep on changing and drug components keep on changing as well. The CKDBS administrator could design the database so that it dispenses drugs from old stock first. This behavior is both illegal and unethical.
Another example is that of altering the price of a drug in order to meet the price that a patient is able to offer. If there is a patient who has a chronic disease and cannot afford a higher price drug, then the administrator can alter the price in the database in order to meet the price that is being offered. This behavior is ethical but illegal.
The last issue is if there are retail clients who would take drugs in bulk in order to sell them in smaller units. For this type of behavior, the price will be set to be different for the retail clients (usually lower price) and for the patients, the price is higher. This is legal and ethical.
The client and CKDBS could be selling old stock. This is common in the industry, where most companies are based on First In First Out basis. Considering drugs, if the client is informed of the current changes in the components of the drugs but the client company still insists that the client gets the old stock in order to clear that stock, it is against the law. This is a common trend for most businesses.
Works Cited
Connolly , Thomas and Carolyn Begg. Database Systems: A practical approach to design, implementation and management. New York: Cengage Learning, 2009.
