In: Operations Management
A recent article by an investigative journalist has gone viral; exposing some pretty disturbing labor practices in one of the company’s factories in India. Worse still, this comes on the heels of another high profile documentary exposing the environmental issues in cotton production. The company sources cotton from both India and China. Corporate management is coming under intense international pressure as well as from the US press, public, environmentalists, shareholders and the board of directors. The CEO is looking to you to:
You've been asked to provide examples of country-specific and culturally sensitive initiatives that the company will be taking to remedy the situation and improve the company's image in the eyes of its international stakeholders. (RAA Excellence System Mastery Level Civic & Social Responsibility)
Below are the examples of country specific and culturally sensitive initiatives that the company will be taking to remedy the situation and improve the company's image in the eyes of the international stakeholders:
1. Labor laws: The company would be formuating country specific labor laws in the organization across different geographies in order to ensure that labor is not ill treated in different countries and all the labor rights are provided.
2. Adequate compensation: Company shall also ensure that labor is adequately compensated for the difficult job being performed and in case their dues are not paid, then all the dues are cleared immediately for all the labor.
3. Cultural provisions: Company shall make efforts to understand cultural preferences of each country and make sure that any labor is not discriminated based on culture and is also treated fairly. In case of any ill treatment in the past, company must issue formal apology letters to all such labor and make sure that no such incidents happen in future.