2. Select one of the case studies in our textbook (chapters 1-2) and discuss how and why you would make a decision you would consider to be ethical. (refer to the case study analysis steps we discussed in class) Why is your chosen case study important for the study of ehics in the workplace?
Slavery in the Chocolate Industry:
The Ivory Coast in Africa produces much of the world’s cocoa beans, but in order to do so cheaply, thousands of cocoa farms use child slavery. Many large American chocolate companies knowingly purchase these tainted cocoa beans, also in order to keep costs low.
The stakeholders in this case study are child slaves, the farmers, the distributors, and the chocolate manufacturing corporations and the consumers. The slaves keep the costs low for the farmers and the corporations. The distributors gather the cocoa beans from the small farms. The chocolate manufactures produce the goods and the consumers buy the products.
The large American chocolate factories unwillingness to get involved in the issue of child slavery would imply that their mission is to continue to make cheaper products. Because the companies involved are all large corporations, it would seem that they are more concerned with pleasing their investors and shareholders, rather than focusing on their ethical/social responsibilities.
The managers of these large companies should be looking for the truth and asking themselves if they are doing enough to improve the situation. They should also be asking themselves, how will their consumers react if their decisions are made public? If they had to pay farmers more to ensure that they were not using slave labor, could their products remain profitable?
The companies may want to consider the cost of sending employees to the Ivory Coast to monitor labor. They should also consider possible language barriers, difficult terrain, the