M. P.

Birla Institute of Management

Business Ethics

A Case Study Presentation

 Astra USA:
A SEXUAL DISCRIMINATION
SCANDAL
 Group – 8
Niraja Patil
Rahul Patwari
Shilpa S.
Sudhakar R. Kulkarni
Sudhir Karkannavar
Tejashree K.
Discrimination

Sexual
Discrimination
Introduction
Harassment

Sexual Harassment

Essence of Ethics
 Discrimination
• A sociological term referring to the treatment
taken toward or against an individual of a
certain group in consideration based solely on
class or category.
• Discrimination occurs when someone, or a group
of people, is treated less favourably than another
person or group because of their race, colour,
national or ethnic origin; sex, pregnancy or marital
status; age; disability; religion; sexual preference;
trade union activity; or some other characteristic
 Why Discrimination ?
• It is human trait to dislike and distrust anyone we
perceive as being "different.”
• It is taught and/or learnt
• Humans evaluate people and situations based on
their beliefs and life experiences.
• Ethnocentrism – viewing the world strictly from
the perspective of your culture.
• Stereotyping
 Types of Discrimination
• Racial
• Age
• Sex and Gender
• Caste
• Language
 Sexual Discrimination
• A belief or attitude that one gender is
inferior to, less competent, or less valuable
than the other

• It is also called male and female chauvinism

• It can also refer to hatred of, or prejudice

towards, either sex as a whole called as
misogyny and misandry
Types of Sexual Discrimination

• Direct Discrimination

• Indirect Discrimination

• Harassment
Types of Sexual Discrimination
 Direct discrimination is treating someone unfairly
or less favourably on the basis of his or her sex,
that is because they are a woman or because they
are a man
 Indirect sex discrimination is treatment that can
appear on the surface to be fair or neutral, but
which has an unequal effect on people of a
particular sex.
 In Indian scenario, sexual discrimination mostly
starts from our house.
 The Case

• Astra USA
• Hakan Mogren
• Lars Bildman
• The Scandal
 Astra USA
• Astra USA is a wholly owned subsidiary of the
international pharmaceutical company Astra AB
of Sweden

• Established in 1900s

• Developed a four – pronged strategy

• 1982 – Long term agreement with Merck & Co.

 Hakan Mogren
• 1987 – appointed as president

• Shook up the sleepy company

and intensified international
marketing.

• Style – not traditionally Swedish

• Employees spoke of his

extravagant personal
indulgences
 Lars Bildman
• CEO of Astra USA

• Lanky man with piercing

eyes and he was
charismatic

• Style – had similar

business approach as that
of Mogren but was
autocratic
 The Scandal
• Mr. Bildman began to hire young sales people

• Appearance for female recruits was especially

important

• All had to attend a rigorous nine-week training course

• “Work 8 hrs, play 8 hrs, sleep 8 hrs”

– Mr. Bildman
 Contd..
• Entertaining is ‘The Astra Way’

• Mr. Bildman & other managers would invite new

hires out on the town

• Open – Bar nights and ‘Come-On’ bar were frequent

 Contd…
• Business Week Magazine exposed the scandal

• Internal investigation raised numerous sexual

harassment allegations

• EOCC found Mr. Bildman was guilty of extensive

sexual harassment

• Mr. Bildman was punished and the litigants received

compensation
 Harassment
 Behavior intended to disturb or upset

 It is defined as Persistent and unwanted sexual

advances, typically in the workplace, where the
consequences of refusing are potentially very
disadvantageous to the victim.
 Harassment
 Racial

 Psychological

 Bullying

 Sexual

 Physical
 Sexual Harassment
 Sexual harassment is a form of sex
discrimination.
 The legal definition of sexual harassment is
“unwelcome verbal, visual, or physical conduct
of a sexual nature that is severe or pervasive and
affects working conditions or creates a hostile
work environment.”
 While assessing, the focus is on the impact on the
person harassed and whether or not the behaviour
could reasonably have been expected to harass.
 Types of Sexual Harassment
 Verbal or written

 Physical

 Nonverbal

 Visual
Impacts of Sexual Harassment
 Depending on the situation, a sexual harassment victim can
experience anything from mild annoyance to extreme
psychological damage.

 Loss of trust in environments and colleagues.

 Depression , Anxiety, panic attacks, stress.

 Job dissatisfaction and increased absenteeism from work.

 Withdrawal from active participation and isolation

MOGREN BILDMAN

Slow moving sedate Good position

company He was
He was not interested interested(hiring)
in rapid growth
Democratic Autocratic
He was not practicing He was practicing
discrimination discrimation
 Case Analysis
 Abuse of Power
 Company funds for personal use
 Hiring was based on female candidate’s looks
 Physical Harassment
 Sexual Harassment
 Ethical Essence
 Evolution in sexual discrimination and sexual
harassment

 The fact that the Golden Rule hasn't ended all

controversy over sexual harassment is proof of how
deceptively difficult the principle of reciprocity can be to
apply.

 Utilitarianism – A sophisticated tool to practice sexual

discrimination at workplace

 Sexual Discrimination Vs Utilitarianism

“ They were onto something. It was a phenomenon
that spread within big pharma as wild fire. Today
we see it everywhere and I for one just realised
that Astra (now AZ) employed these girls not
only to sell but to do other things for such pigs as
their former CEO.”
- Anonymous
“ The so called poor victimized girls only worked for ASTRA long
enough to marry a doctor. ASTRA is full of them right now. All the
reps there today complain that women come to work dressed like
streetwalkers and throw themselves at the doctors they call on.
Poor Pamela Zortman who was the victim of the Business Week
article....fired after having sex with another rep on the balcony of
the hotel overlooking the pool. Spare me. The women who
supposedly sued Astra for harrassment actually took a payoff from
Mogren to unseat Bildman, and everyone knows it. They'd all been
fired for cause. Not one went to court, and their allegations were
thrown out like yesterday's dishwater. But the press loves a
scandal...too bad its all b******t
- Anonymous (Employee)
“ I worked for Astra 92-95...Bildman gave his sales
people huge rewards for great sales. He demanded a lot,
but he gave us a lot. Best job I ever had.
Never saw him misbehave, other than a few too many
cocktails. And most of us knew how good we had it. All
the women who sued were girls who got fired or
seriously reprimanded for poor performance or
substance issues. He was always polite to me and I did
well. I'm out of it now but I hear ASTRA is an unhappy
place.”
- Anonymous (Employee)
 “a sick company”
“They robbed me of a year and a half of my life.
They caused me psychological trauma that I'm
still struggling with.”
- Melanie J. Strobel
Former Employee)
“As someone who was very close to Mr. Bildman over a 4 year
period, he had his issues like we all do but, provided a wonderful
working environment for his employee's. I was with him during
all of the events that occurred off site during my tenure.
Each and every woman named in the Business week article never
said no to his advances and willingly had relations with him. All
the woman talked privately with me about the money they would
get from Astra should he be exposed. Simply, in the business
world and a CEO at Astra...he was a genius. I was his Security
Manager from 1992-1996.”
- John ( Former Employee)
Conclusion
Thank You