...The Great Non-Debate over International Sweatshops Maitland considers the argument going against sweatshops in a precise and candid appearance. Maitland does not escape against the items upon sweatshops such as ‘child labor’ and ‘abuses of human rights.’ He depends on the assumption that one who intends to reveal the issue is conspicuous and doing this merely for attention and publicity. Maitland states Kernaghen's efforts in regarding this issue seem to advise a favor for the media: ‘this image, accusations of oppressive conditions at the factory and the Claiborne logo played well on that evening's network news.’ Despite being correct in which the media of the sweatshop ‘plays well,’ problem that exists has not yet vanished. Maitland's defense towards the issue is motivated by external encouragement where he intends the audience to accept his point of asserting classical liberalism. Maitland comments the issue that the sweatshop is absence of a ‘livable wage’ by bringing up the fact that sweatshop wages ‘are comparable wages in the labor markets where they operate: ‘According to the International Labor Organization, multinational companies often apply standards relating to wages, benefits, conditions of work, and occupational safety and health, which both exceed statutory requirements and those practiced by local firms.’ Another argument Maitland stated was that workers who operate in such locations as sweetshops carry out the occupant of economic liberalism if they willingly...
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...city can maintain its lively beauty. This is when the narrator unsentimentally reveals the existence of the child and describes in great detail the awful conditions in which it is forced to live in. These two atmospheric aspects seem to counterbalance each other, the light reflects the good and dark reflects the evil found in the city of Omelas. According to philosopher John Leslie Mackie, "evil is necessary as a counterpart to good" (203). There cannot be light without darkness, pleasure without pain, or good without bad. One cannot be without the other and both must be present for either to have meaning. No matter how brilliant the society or how advanced their technology is, the equation must contain evil. The child locked in the basement room is the city of Omelas necessary evil. This could be cause “in spite of God's all-powerful and all-good nature, evil exists" (Mackie 208). When the author states that “it is the existence of the child, and their knowledge of its existence, that makes possible the nobility of their architecture, the poignancy of their music, the profundity of their science” (Le Guin 407), this shows just how unavoidable it is to have evil in society. Additionally, exploitation is the central theme in “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.” The citizens of Omelas that choose to bask in the continuous good fortune of their city are able to tolerate the exploitation of a single innocent child. They are able to live with the fact that this child is being...
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...Case Study 1 Nike: The Sweatshop Debate TFSU Zhu Mo In recent five years, as a global sport empire, Nike’s success has been widely discussed and debated on the level of the world. However, Nike’s affluence has appealed dozens of doubt coming from media and non-profit institutions, which have conducted investigations on its value chain. As an astonishing result, its manufacturing factories in south-east Asia, as reports indicate, are sweatshops where workers slaved away in hazardous conditions for below-subsistence wages. <1> Should Nike be held responsible for working conditions in foreign factories that it does not own, but where subcontractors make products for Nike? As for the question one, I reckon, Nike is definitely responsible for working conditions in foreign factories, even Nike does not own. Globalization, the way I see it, has created all the advantages for the terminal “point” or “dot” in the value chain, in which, of this case, the Nike controls and occupies these vital resources. However, its advantage should not be an excuse for lowering the benefit that the manufacturing factories, which are in the end of value chain, deserve to obtain. My second point is, although Nike does not own those foreign factories, there is a certain kind of interrelationship between them, which in this case, the contract. The profits of those factories are solid because of Nike’s proportion for them. If Nike’s proportion...
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...Rhetorical Analysis Many agree that exploiting impoverished people as a source for cheap labor and consequentially cheap products is a morally unacceptable practice. However, the problem of sweatshops remains prominent in our globalized world. Tara J. Radin and Martin Calkins explore this problem in “The Struggle Against Sweatshops: Moving Toward Responsible Global Business” by breaking down their essay into two primary sections. The first describes the difficulties of both external and internal forces in permanently discarding sweatshops while the second division highlights the complexity behind any plausible solution. While the content of this article is of elevated interest, more important for our purpose is the success behind their rhetoric. They utilize the emotions of an audience on an already sensitive topic while simultaneously providing evidence from a variety of environments and sources to point out that their conclusive recommendations are of great value when the urge to change the manner in which we get products finally sets in. In their essay “The Struggle Against Sweatshops: Moving Toward Responsible Global Business”, Radin and Calkins both inform and persuade their audience at an effective level through their credibility, emotion, and logic—ethos, pathos, and logos, respectively—to conclusively come about at more fully understanding the need for reform in global labor markets. I will first define ethos followed by an analysis and illustration of the rhetoric...
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...recognizable swoosh logo decorating the attire of many of the globe’s most famous sports teams, and has established a long-lasting brand legacy both with its ability to adjust to trends, as well as to build a profitable business model. Naomi Klein’s famous book, No Logo – Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, first published in 1999, attacked many big brands accusing them of violating labor laws and using dirty tactics to dominate the changing markets. One of the brands that took a heavy hit in the book was Nike. In the case study Nike: The Sweatshop Debate, the author of this article continues on Klein’s theme, addressing accusations made against Nike for child labor usage through their suppliers as well as dubious sponsorship agreements. These accusations focus around the poor and hostile working conditions of Asian factories, the below-minimum wages and suppressive employee treatment. Nike, in many ways, became the evil representation of the entire sweatshop issue, then a surfacing theme and in many ways a new corporate territory in big scale, and opportunism had its price. Nike would be seen as a brand that would mercilessly exploit the labor opportunities of poorer countries, caring little of the origins of their products. It is fair to say, that changing this stigma would become a globally relevant issue for the entire corporation, and fixing the damaged brand image would be a challenge for the entire company for years to come. According to the article, Nike’s approach has been to...
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...Analysis of Case Study for International Business By Assistant Professor Asif Mahbub Karim MBA, CA(Inter.), KPMG, MCFC,MBA, B.Com. PhD Research Fellow, Malaysia Coordinator – BBA & MBA Program Stamford University Bangladesh Introduction Background of the Case Established in 1972. Company has $10 billion in annual revenue. It sells in 140 countries. It only Sub Contracts. Employs 550,000 all around. Mission Statement “ Just Do It “ Accusations !! Products are made in Sweatshops. Many are Child Worker. Work in hazardous condition. Less than Subsistence Wages. Nike have become symbol of Evils of Globalization. Global Exchange – A Human Right Organization targeted Nike for repeated critisicm. Accusations !! The condition at foreign factories was at stake. Subcontractors were not matching minimum local labor laws. Long working hours. Working environment very poor. Minimum Wage rate very low. Safety & Security compliances not followed. Case Against Nike In search of cheap labor Nike looks factories as such in target countries where minimum wage level is not set. Targeting literate , disciplined and desperate job seekers. Mostly young women are hired. Labors don’t share Nike’s huge profit. They work 6 days a week for only $40 a month - just 20 cents an hour. Attack on Nike’s Sub Contracting Some factories were employing 11 years old labors in Indonesia for their sneakers. Wage...
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...once again become synonymous with labor rights violations. This phenomenon is largely due to globalization, a movement that has led multinational corporations (MNCs) to invest in cheap labor available in emerging economies. The possibility of this investment has spurred local government to ease regulatory measures on labor rights to lure MNCs as well as pitted local manufacturers against each other in the spirit of competitive pricing. These actions have led to diminished standards in factories that have translated to issues like insufficient wages, forced overtime, suppression of free speech and a hazardous working environment. Some proponents of sweatshop labor argue that sweatshops bring about economic prosperity, even going so far as to say that the “simplest way to help the poorest Asians would be to buy more from sweatshops, not less” (Kershner). Increasingly, however, the consensus has shifted in support of the fact that employing the poor for “near subsistence wages...generates little self-sustaining economic development” (Moberg). The light that has been shed on cases of abuse and mistreatment of laborers in Indonesia, Vietnam and Pakistan has mobilized various labor rights organizations and university student groups to take a stance against the exploitation of third world citizens. Groups like Campaign for Labor Rights and...
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...Nike: The Sweatshop Debate Summary: Nike is one of the foremost marketers of athletic shoes and apparel on the world. It established in 1972 with a handshake between two visionary Oregonians-Bowerman and his university runner Phil knight. It has annual revenue of $10 billion and it sells in total 140 countries. Nike does not do any manufacturing process only it designs and markets its products. It has 600 factories around the world that employ some 550,000 people. Nike is recognizable for its “swoosh” logo or the faces of its celebrate. Nike being one of the largest sportswear manufacturers, they don’t have any factories of their own but they manufacture through the subcontractors. Here lies the accusation that Nike’s subcontractors manufacture the shoes and the other products in sweatshops. This accusation though denied by the management of the Nike inc, however was seen by a report titled “48 hours” by Roberta Baskin. Besides this many other human right organizations like the global exchange and many others published their reports against the Nike incorporation. In response to these accusations Nike took many steps that included appointing a work assessment officer named Andrew Young, a former US ambassador to the UN, and also taking steps against their subcontractors who don’t follow the child labor laws. On March 1998, Phil Knight in a conference declared their initiatives regarding to improve working conditions for the 500,000 people that make products for Nike through...
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...Ethics in International Business Chapter Outline OPENING CASE: Wal-Mart’s Chinese Suppliers INTRODUCTION ETHICAL ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS Employment Practices Management Focus: Making Apple’s iPod Human Rights Environmental Pollution Management Focus: Unocal in Myanmar Corruption Moral Obligations Management Focus: News Corporation in China ETHICAL DILEMMAS THE ROOTS OF UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR Personal Ethics Decision Making Processes Organizational Culture Unrealistic Performance Expectations Leadership Management Focus: Pfizer’s Drug Testing Strategy in Nigeria PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACHES TO ETHICS Straw Men Utilitarian and Kantian Ethics Rights Theories Justice Theories FOCUS ON MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS Hiring and Promotion Organization Culture and Leadership Decision-Making Processes Ethics Officers Moral Courage Summary of Decision-Making Steps SUMMARY CRITICAL THINKING AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS CLOSING CASE: Google in China Learning Objectives 1. Be familiar with the ethical issues faced by international businesses. 2. Recognize an ethical dilemma. 3. Discuss the causes of unethical behavior by managers. 4. Be familiar with the different philosophical approaches to ethics. 5. Know what managers can to do to incorporate ethical considerations...
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...University of Phoenix Material Nike: The Sweatshop Debate Nike is in many ways the quintessential global corporation. Established in 1972 by former University of Oregon track star Phil Knight, Nike is now one of the leading marketers of athletic shoes and apparel on the planet. Today the company has $20 billion in annual revenues and sells its products in some 140 countries. Nike does not do any manufacturing. Rather, it designs and markets its products, while contracting for their manufacture from a global network of 600 factories scattered around the globe that employ some 650,000 people.1 This huge corporation has made Knight into one of the richest people in America. Nike’s marketing phrase, “Just Do It!” has become as recognizable in popular culture as its “swoosh” logo or the faces of its celebrity sponsors, such as Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. For all of its successes, the company was dogged for more than a decade by repeated and persistent accusations that its products were made in “sweatshops” where workers, many of them children, slaved away in hazardous conditions for below-subsistence wages. Nike’s wealth, its detractors claimed, was built upon the backs of the world’s poor. For many, Nike had become a symbol of the evils of globalization—a rich Western corporation exploiting the world’s poor to provide expensive shoes and apparel to the pampered consumers of the developed world. Niketown stores became standard targets for antiglobalization protesters. Several...
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...Nike: Sweatshops and Business Ethics (Adapted/summarised from original) By Charles Hill*, University of Washington Introduction: Nike is a global corporation, founded 1972, and now one of the leading marketers of athletic shoes and apparel. It has a turnover of $10bn and operates in some 140 countries. Nike does not manufacture anything. It focuses on design and marketing and contracts out (outsources) its manufacturing to some 600 factories worldwide, employing over half a million people. For over a decade, Nike has been dogged by bad publicity and persistent accusations that that its products are made in “sweatshops” where workers, many of them children, slave away in hazardous conditions for below subsistence wages. Nike’s wealth, its detractors claim, has been built on the backs of the world’s poor. To many, Nike is a symbol of the evils of globalisation. Nike has taken many steps to remedy the situation but admits there are still problems in overseas factories, despite laying down minimum standards of working conditions and pay, and having their standards independently audited. But the accusations, protests and bad press continue. The Case against Nike: In 1996 a CBS 48 Hours news reported from a factory near Ho Chi Min City (formerly Saigon, Vietnam) … The signs are everywhere of an American invasion in search of cheap labour. Millions of people who are literate, disciplined, are desperate for jobs. This is Niketown near what used to...
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...Wrongful Beneficence: Exploitation and Third World Sweatshops Chris Meyers Much of the merchandise produced by U.S. companies and sold to U.S. consumers is manufactured by workers in third world countries who earn as little as 12 cents per hour drudging away in harsh and even dangerous work environments. Such workplaces are referred to as sweatshops and are especially common in the apparel and shoe industries and in toy making. Many critics object to sweatshops on the grounds that they harm the workers or violate basic human rights. These moral objections are aimed at certain sweatshop practices such as coercion, unsafe working conditions, deception, paying workers less than promised, etc. These practices are not seriously defended by many people, if any. But the “sweatshop” label can still apply to jobs that do not involve any of these more obvious moral atrocities. A difficult job with long hours that pays very little may still be referred to as a sweatshop job and, I will argue, may still be morally objectionable. The question I want to consider is whether it is morally justifiable to pay the very low sweatshop wages for the very arduous sweatshop labor even if there is no coercion, deception, or direct causing of harm. Some defenders of capitalism and supporters of free-market economics have defended sweatshop wages on the grounds that they benefit the desperately poor workers of these impoverished countries who are very glad to get the work. In an important and widely reprinted...
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...child labor. In Britain, for instance, the Factory Acts demands that children not more than ten years should not be allowed to work. Child labor is mainly contributed by poverty. Most parents send their children to work so that they can bring the much needed income. The practice is common in poor countries. Children are forced to work in sweatshops, factories, fields; mines match factories, and households. On the other hand, children may work as tourist guides and some are sexually abused by tourist. Such cases are common in places like Kelala and Goa. In the current world, more than 200 million children work, most of them in full-time basis. Majority of these children do not attend school, and are given little time to play. Moreover, they do not get proper parental care or nutrition. More than 50% of these children work in drug trafficking, slavery, prostitution, as well as in armed conflict Child labor is unacceptable and a violation of children rights. Some developed countries boycott products or goods made by these children. Children should be allowed to enjoy their childhood and should not be allowed to work like adults. The practice is evil and should be banned by...
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...between their responsibility to shareholders and to society at large. They underestimate the influence that they have in countries like hina, who want the investment as much as the companies do. I believe that they should push their host country partners for human rights improvements by explaining to them that it is economically beneficial in the long run, to have international public opinion on their side. Some of the major human rights concerns currently involve forced labor in factories (or sweatshops), where workers of all ages are operating in poor conditions for meager wages. Then there is the more visible media censorship that goes on in many countries. Most companies in response to similar problems have created codes of conduct or taken it a step further and banded together to have a unified charter. They’ve had success in at least publicizing issues. Solutions to the above are deceptively complex though. For one, crudely branding factories “sweatshops” and forcing broad reforms will raise manufacturing costs and put companies out of business. The jobless workers may end up resorting to illegal professions or working in hazardous landfills collecting scrap metals. MN s should instead be mandated to have reviews of their factories done by independent agents to see where improvements are needed. Media censorship is done in order to maintain a level of control over the population. In order to have these controls loosened the...
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...Globalization and our Responsibilities Vanessa Strachan Saint Leo University Globalization and our Responsibilities Globalization Globalization is the integration of the world’s economies; it helps to increase productivity, which can raise the standard of living. It is driven by technology advancements in communications and transportation and motivated by the desire for free markets. “Globalization can be technological (the Internet), economic (trade, pro- duction), cultural (television). Globalization can also foster international solidarity. But the dominant view is that globalization means increased commercial relations between people of different countries” (Unknown, 2009). Globalization is the opportunity for developing countries to tap into the world’s economy, which will allow the opportunity to sell many goods to as many people around the world. Globalization includes markets and production. “Globalization of markets refers to the merging of historically distinct and separate national markets into one huge global marketplace and the globalization of production refers to sourcing goods and services from locations around the globe to take advantage of national differences in the cost and quality of factors of production (such as labor, energy, land and capital)” (Hill, 2011). Globalization is an opportunity for big corporations as well as for small businesses; it is the movement of jobs, goods, finances, and investments. With the advancement of technology...
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