Question Description
Need a reply to two of my classmates discussion posts. Please provide an open-ended sentence at the end of each reply and needs to be two paragraphs long for each reply. Please also reference at least one resource with an in-text citation.
Reply #1
This was the question:
Given the recent media attention surrounding supply chain accountability for forced labor, the CEO of the XYZ Inc. is concerned about the companys most profitable brand of canned seafood. The CEO has asked one of the Compliance Department staff members, Elizabeth Morrisey, to take a trip to Thailand to evaluate the situation.
While in Thailand, she has difficulty getting answers from the government as well as the captains from the fishing vessels. Many non-governmental organizations discuss stories of human rights violations including exploitation and trafficking that are used to support the seafood export industry.
Upon returning to the home office in the United States, Elizabeth Morrisey is asked to summarize the risks in this supply chain and the best long-term approach to this situation.
What ethical concerns should she highlight?
How should she counter the argument that Thailand is the companys largest supplier of seafood for their profitable products?
In what way can the company make the supply chain more accountable?
Need a reply to my classmates discussion: Her name is: Georgiana
Companies that benefit from forced labor put themselves at risk legally as well as jeopardize their reputation. Corporate social responsibility practices of many businesses contain a moral obligation for better working practices and conditions (Plant, 2008). Thailand seafood labor market consists of many ethical concerns. Elizabeth Morrisey should be concerned with the recruitment, employment, and employment practices, such as lack of transparency between the company and supply chain, the amount of time workers spends at sea, and employee health hazards (Verité, 2015).
The company should develop a long-term framework to concentrate on susceptibility of workers, worker migrant legal status, recruitment fees and exploitation, creating legislation along with the government, guarantee supply chain traceability, make sure suppliers provide effective worker protections, utilize independent supervision of supplier management, provide adequate resources for internal and supplier communication and training in order to follow company trafficking policies (Verité, 2015).
Following in the footsteps of Nestle, Morrisey should guarantee to stockholders and the public that the company, and any others obtaining seafood from Thailand, would have succumb to the same hazards (Kelly, 2016) given how difficult it is to manage subcontractors within the supply chain.
In order to make the supply chain more accountable, it should endure regular audits and subcontractors should be obligated to provide documentation that they are adhering to the standards of the company and/or following governmental regulations. Partnering with other companies in the industry or groups similar to the Marine Stewardship Council, which aids consumers by labeling seafood which has been ethically sourced, can attribute to the companys accountability (Smithers, 2014).
Kelly, A. (2016). Nestlé admits slavery in Thailand while fighting child labour lawsuit in Ivory Coast. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/20…
Plant, R. (2008, January 28). Forced Labor: Critical Issues For US Business Leaders. Retrieved October 3, 2018, from https://www.ilo.org/empent/areas/business-helpdesk…
Smithers, R. (2014, June 11). Slavery in prawn trade: Consumers urged to check source of seafood. Retrieved October 3, 2018, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/11/slav…
Verité. (2015). Recruitment practices and migrant labor conditions in Nestlés Thai shrimp supply chain.
Reply #2
What ethical concerns do you have about how multinational corporations managing their supply chain particularly in countries with weak governance?
As Mont (2013) stated “A major issue for boards and senior management is knowing how far down to vet their supply chain“.
How far down should chocolate manufacturers vet their supply chain?
What about regulations or protocols that are self-policing or voluntary?
Why do think the issue of child labor persists in this industry?
What does Cooper (2012) mean when he states that “There have been many false dawns in the history of this issue.“?
Need a reply to my classmates discussion: Her name is: Judemia
It makes absolutely no sense that slavery still exists in this new age of technology where you can send drones to spy on people and drop bombs on terrorist countries. Nestlé is a global company with outstanding financial resources and human capital, which they pride themselves on. I respect that Nestlé came out and admitted the new-found slavery, but lets think about this situation in depth and not be so naive. For the sake of politics and keep Nestles semi-clean reputation, they had to fess up and make it seem as if they caught this unethical practice of business a year ago. This information was quarantined and cleaned up, if you read between the lines, youd question why it would take an entire year to be address to the public? Another reality between the lines of discernment unveiling the fabrication of this story is the question of how long has this new age slavery been going on? They say a year but thats highly unlikely, supporting evidence of this question resides in the reputation of Nestles chief executive Nick Grono.
Quote: The disclosure was considered by many to be ground-breaking. Nick Grono, the chief executive of NGO the Freedom Fund, which has invested heavily in anti-trafficking initiatives in Thailand, believes Nestles admission could be a considerable force in shifting the parameters of what can be expected if businesses when it comes to supply chain accountability. (2016)
Grono is totally dismissing the fact that slavery has taken place within a company he represents for an entire year. He so casually goes on to say that Nestles human trafficking/slavery event will set new parameters will be set in place, but hardly goes into detail of the investigation process of how this situation took place. I truly dont understand how nonchalant Grono is treating this event, the frame of mind of rich business executives keep situations like this secret until blood begins to seep from under smoking mirrors and continuous masquerades. Its defiantly not a question of a lack of financial provision or resources Nestle lacked in order to crack down on global slavery, but its a question of character/characters that are money and power hungry. They look at those who work for them as cattle, this is the main concern of how and why multinational corporations mismanage/undermanage their chain of supply. They dont care about people they care about numbers, power and status.
Quote: There have been many False Dawns in the History of this Issue but at the very least this is a significant event in the battle against child labor in the Ivory Coast cocoa production. Whether it is a seminal one depends not only on Nestles actions but on how other actors now respond.
Solution:
Replace all board of directors and chairs with people who have ethics and morals and real transparency that many companies falsely abide by will actually come to fruition.
Kelly, A. (2016). Nestlé admits slavery in Thailand while fighting child labour lawsuit in Ivory Coast. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/feb/01/nestle-slavery-thailand-fighting-child-labour-lawsuit-ivory-coast (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Cooper, B. (2012, July 4). Comment: Nestle takes responsibility on child labour. just-food.com. Retrieved from https://www.just-food.com/comment/nestle-takes-responsibility-on-child-labour_id119682.aspx (Links to an external site.)
