Question

Workers’ rights. It’s not something we often think about when we’re purchasing the latest tech gadget. However, look at this list of some issues that investigations have uncovered: work shifts lasting up to 60 hours; factory explosion killing numerous workers that resulted from a build-up of combustible dust; repetitive motion injuries that are so bad workers lose the use of their hands. “According to recent press reports, that’s what work is like for assembly workers in China who build Apple’s iPhones, iPads, and iPods.” In other locations where workers are assembling products for other tech companies, factory workers have committed suicide because of the pressure and stress.⁹⁹

According to this passage, Should ethical/ corporate responsibility issues be part of the international strategy decision-making process? Why or why not?

Answer 1

A sound decision-making process is supposed to include all the elements that are incidental to the production of the final product, in any manufacturing organization. When outsourcing the production activity, the onus should still lay upon the parent Company to ensure that no incorrect or unethical means are employed in the channel to produce the offering in the market. If such an act happens, then the genuineness of the product fails. In this regard, if need be, international strategy needs to be designed by the Organization in such a way that it out rightly discards all such third-world countries wherein the outsourced employees are treated mercilessly, thereby unethically to manufacture the products of the parent Organization. Any offering in the market at the cost of worker’s exploitation, is highly unethical and therefore, it is the prime responsibility of the parent organization to ensure that it is not party to such a crime. This would in turn, discourage the third-world countries to exploit their workers, thereby an attempt overall to offer a better standard of living to the workers. The humane approach should hence not be compromised by any Organization and thus taken as a corporate responsibility issue as a part of a Organization’s international strategy in the decision-making process.