Effects of Applied Business Research and Ethics Proposal

Question: Discuss about the Effects of Applied Business Research and Ethics Proposal. Answer: Introduction: Stem cell therapy is a currently a popular topic, which is used for curing different diseases. Body cells, also known as the somatic cells are generated from the stem cells. Different kinds of diseases like yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, and dengue are related to Zika virus (Musso et al. 2014). The Zika virus has the ability to spread from a pregnant woman to the fetus. It generates a disease named "microcephaly" in the fetus. The effects of this illness involve a weak development of intelligence, disability in speech, dwarfism, strange facial structures and others (Nowakowski et al. 2016). The ABC Company has generated a gene therapy that can decrease the problems created by microcephaly. This therapy uses human stem cells. It can be categorized into three parts, which are adult stem cells, human embryo stem cell (less than 14 days old) and embryo stem cells (more than 14 days old). According to the study, the embryo stem cells over 14 days old are most useful as it cures the disease entirely. A lot of ethical concerns about the use of this therapy are present in the market. The stem cells which will be used have to be extracted from other healthy people. ABC Company has to open its laboratory in such a country where the supply market of stem cells is large. The authorities of the company have to consider the consumers' viewpoint while creating the business plan. As the business depends solely on the customers, their opinion has to be taken seriously, and choose a country accordingly while opening a laboratory (Sterneckert, Reinhardt and Schler 2014). The aim of the report is to clarify the methods which are commonly used for this therapy. The report carries an outline of the data collection and analysis methods. A reasonable analysis of the derived results is also discussed in here (Zikmund et al. 2013). Problem statement: This research work will determine a proper plan of business for ABC Company regarding stem cell therapy, and the legal and ethical manners related to the process in different countries. Research questions: The report considers these research questions: What are the basic laws and ethics of the concerned country for stem cell therapy? Using of which type of stem cell will be most beneficial for the company and the customers? What are the ethical concerns which should be kept in mind while using stem cell therapy? Which country would be most appropriate for opening the company's laboratory? Research hypothesis: The hypotheses for this research are: H0: The existing legal and ethical practices of the given country are not convenient for opening stem cell laboratory by ABC. H1: The existing legal and ethical practices of the given country are convenient for opening stem cell laboratory by ABC. Literature review: Mainly two kinds of cells are present in a human body, the somatic cells, and the stem cells. The primary body cells existing in a body are called somatic cells. New cells cannot be formed by differentiating these. The master cells of a human body are called stem cells. The stem cells have the potential to discriminate and create several other kinds of cells. A human body has more than 200 types of tissues (Garbern and Lee 2013). These tissues are originated from the stem cells. The human embryo, parts of the body like bone marrow, adipose tissue, cartilage, human umbilical cord, peripheral blood tissue and others are the body parts, where stem cells are located. The cells can be conserved for future use. In most of the developed and developing nations, stem cells are preserved with new techniques in the laboratories. This kind of cells is commonly used for curing various types of diseases. The Zika virus relates to the family "Flaviviridae." In the year 1947, the virus was first found in Uganda. The diseases caused by this virus are similar to yellow fever, encephalitis and others (Oehler et al. 2014). It causes a disease named microcephaly which is found in the newborns. The affected person's brain becomes small due to this disease. The symptoms of this disease are weak speech, under-developed systems and many others (Lee 2014). Abnormal development of the brain is the main reason behind this. It does not even have a proper cure in medical science (Owojaiye and Are 2012). A human embryo is the dominant source of stem cells. These cells are also available in the human fetus. Adults have these cells in their "placenta, umbilical cord, bone marrow, adipose tissue." Normally, there are four major types of stem cells: embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, and tissue-specific stem cells (Mlakar et al. 2016). Bone marrow and the blood cells are the tissue specific stem cells. The laboratories convert body cells into stem cells. ABC uses three types of stem cells for gene therapy. The first category is the stem cells of adults which are collected from placenta and umbilical cord (Guo 2016). This kind of stem cells has less effect in curing microcephaly (about 15%). The second category of stem cells is those which are found in the human embryo and are less than 14 days old (Blint and Szatmari 2016). These stem cells have the power to decrease the disease by 50%. Using stem cells of the human embryo which are more than 14 days old can cure the disease up to 100%, and is of the best type among all. If ethical, using fetal stem cells of adults is the best choice. Alzheimer's disease, heart diseases, and others are cured by stem cell therapy (Ding et al. 2015). Other types of cells are created in the laboratories using these cells. Organ transplant, rejuvenation of tissues and others are done by using stem cell therapy. Stem cell therapy has changed the recent medical science and is revolutionary in nature. In spite of the positive results of this process, stem cell therapy has faced a lot of social, ethical, and legal disagreements. Destruction of the human embryo is the primary unethical use of stem cells. Stem cell therapy can be used for curing incurable diseases and also for destroying human life. Here lays the dilemma regarding ethical issues of using stem cell therapy (eurostemcell.org 2016). In some cases, the stem cell is gathered from miscarried or stillborn fetuses. There are also other ways of collecting the stem cells, like obtaining stem cells from live fetuses provided there are ways of removing them from the mother's womb unharmed (Schwartz et al. 2015). The placenta also can be used as the source of stem cells (hfea.gov.uk 2012). Nonembryonic stem cells such as the cells from bone marrow, adipose tissue are widely used for stem cell research. The success of this therapy increases its demand (Nakamura and Okano 2013). It made the scientists believe that non-embryonic stem cells have the potential of improving the stem cell therapy, which was not considered previously. The cord blood that is acknowledged as a waste material after a baby's birth is used by the doctors currently (Arsenijevic and Decembrini 2015). Extracting cord blood claims permission from the parents of the child. Keeping the placenta still in the body, the cord blood can be removed, taking the co nsent of the mother. This process is banned in most of the countries (Schwartz et al. 2015). Some religions do not permit stem cell therapy. People with orthodox belief are also against this process. These are enough causes to harm the business of an organization. Hence, the organization should open its laboratories in places where people are liberal and literate enough to understand the concepts (Crane and Matten 2007). Purpose of the research Many ethical issues follow extraction of stem cells. A stem cell is not easily available because of this. The cells have to be extracted human body. The process has to be legal, and consent of the giver has to be taken before the extraction process. There are three kinds of operational stem cells which are effective for therapy usage: 1. adult stem cells, 2. embryonic stem cells less than 14 days old, and 3. embryonic stem cells more than 14 days old. The third type of stem cells is the best for therapy. The obtaining process of stem cells raises ethical and moral issues. The law of collection and using stem cells varies from country to country. This report has the purpose of determining the legal and ethical issues regarding this matter (Ginn et al. 2013). The ABC Company will make their decision, which will be based on this report. Data operations: 1. Introduction: The research philosophy, research design and research approach, methods of data collection, sample size and sampling techniques will be discussed here. This report has used positive philosophy. It incorporates data collection and drawing conclusions from analyzing those data (Silverman 2016). As the sample size will be appropriate, it encourages positivism. The deductive research approach was used for the research purpose, as the availability of data supports it. Both qualitative and quantitative research will be appropriate for this report. Qualitative research design will be done using articles of journals. A questionnaire will be prepared for the purpose of recording quantitative data. The data collection method is described in detail below. Data collection: The data collection depends on the country where the company ABC determines to open the laboratory. A country with high population will be ideal for the business like India, United States of America, China, Japan, and others. China has the rule of "one child," which will not be suitable for the business. The citizens of the country have to be educated and liberal. Orthodox beliefs will bring down the project. People should have a general idea about the stem cell therapy. This information can be gathered by using a survey with the help of a properly designed questionnaire. The questionnaire contains questions regarding the knowledge of stem cell therapy. Countries like India, United Kingdom, and Japan fits the profile perfectly. Cross-sectional data can be collected for this purpose by using an early online survey. This kind of data will give the point of view based on a single point of time (Panneerselvam 2014). India has legal issues regarding extraction of the fetal stem (bic.icmr. org.in 2016). The traditional survey can be done after analyzing the online survey. Interviewing the doctors and medical practitioners will serve the purpose. 3. Sample size: The sample size to be considered here has to be appropriate for the survey, as it can give proper estimates of the population. For these reasons, the study is done in the country India. Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai are four major cities in India and are chosen for the survey purposes. These cities are highly populated and hence the sample size, which will give the desired confidence interval, can be readily determined from here (census2011.co.in 2016). The Same process can be followed in the United Kingdom and the United States of America (eurostemcell.org 2016). 4. Sampling method: Cluster sampling method is best for this purpose. Samples can be taken from each city in a cluster format. The country's legal issues and ethical views can be collected this way using secondary data. 5. Research process: The research process incorporates all the steps of the research work. Identifying the research problem is the first level. The extensive literature survey is a must in order to point the issues. After his, the data collection will be done. Both primary and secondary data are included in his research (Wild, Wild and Han 2014). The questionnaire will help to gather primary data. In the next step, the data will be analyzed. The assignment's last level would be to draw a conclusion from the findings. 6. Analysis and interpretation of data Different statistical methods have to be used in order to analyze the collected data. The data gathered will be in Likert scale. Simple central tendency measures will give a rough idea about the citizen's view on stem cell therapy. To understand the ethical issues, and their effect on the people, a regression study is needed. India incorporates diverse cultures, which increases the possibility of variation in belief and judgment. The literacy rate has to be considered in certain cases. These attributes will show the inequality in the thought process of the citizens. The place for opening a laboratory has to be considered accordingly. Religious and cultural beliefs are. A cluster can be formed according to the religious or cultural background. These data will be used to get a descriptive statistics for each and every cluster. The variation in the result will represent the differences in opinion among the different communities (Bianco et al. 2013). 7. Report and findings It is expected that the alternative hypothesis of the research will be accepted here. This situation implies that ethical issues and laws of the countries are ready to provide a favorable environment for ABC to open their laboratory in the country. This will lead to a profitable business for ABC. On the other hand, in the case of acceptance of the null hypothesis will suggest that the country is not ready yet to host stem cell therapy. Considering the people and the authorities of the country, opening a laboratory for "stem cell therapy" research purposes will not be profitable for ABC Company (Ishii, Pera and Greely 2013). Conclusion: According to the research, the alternative hypothesis is accepted. The choice of the country should depend on the legal and ethical situation of the country. The assignment provides an extensive idea about the related ethics regarding stem cell therapy. The report will help the company ABC to determine which country is the best option for opening a laboratory. The research incorporated various issues related to stem cell therapy. According to the research, embryonic stem cells more than 14 days old are the best for reducing microcephaly. This report guides the company ABC through the legal and ethical barriers of several countries and helps to find a place which is suitable for opening a laboratory for stem cell research, which will be profitable and beneficial for the company. Recommendations: Many political and religious issues related to stem cell therapy. These factors have to be considered while opening a laboratory in a country. In the countries where the sample subjects are neutral to stem cell therapy, certain campaigns can lift the mass knowledge and make it favorable for the ABC Company. This will benefit both the citizens and the organization (Goodwin 2014). Using stem cells is risky because of the extraction procedure. The safest way is to ensure that the cells collected are from the embryonic stem cells which are going to be wasted. ABC Company has to make sure that the legal and ethical issues are addressed while looking for profit in the market (Henderson 2015). The stem cells which are embryonic and more than 14 days old yield the best result in curing microcephaly. The company ABC must keep this in mind while addressing the legal and ethical issues as this will maintain the company afloat through years (Biffi et al. 2013). References: Arsenijevic, Y. and Decembrini, S., 2015. An Advocacy for the Use of 3D Stem Cell Culture Systems for the Development of Regenerative Medicine: An Emphasis on Photoreceptor Generation. Journal of Stem Cell Research Therapy, 2015. Blint, B.L. and Szatmari, I., 2016. Stem Cell Research. Bianco, P., Barker, R., Brstle, O., Cattaneo, E., Clevers, H., Daley, G.Q., De Luca, M., Goldstein, L., Lindvall, O., Mummery, C. and Robey, P.G., 2013. Regulation of stem cell therapies under attack in Europe: for whom the bell tolls. 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