Essays on Sweatshops

Companies should inflict western values and their own corporate values in countries where they outsourced their production, because they are a part of complex interconnected production network. It would be unfair to divide people by their nationality and citizenship and apply different standards according to the geographic location and place in the value chain. At the same time, it is clear that Nike and other global companies cannot apply similar business practices in developed and developing countries due to differences in business culture, level of economic and social development, etc. Therefore, companies should strive for corporate social responsibility, which ...

A. Select a leader who you feel has exhibited exemplary ethical conduct and do the following:

1. Discuss at least two ethical traits that the leader demonstrated. A good example of an individual that exhibited ethical leadership is Sallie Krawcheck. Krawcheck is the current CEO and Co-Founder of Ellevest, and Chair of the Ellevate Network. Her previous employment include head of Bank of America’s investment banking division, CEO of Merrill Lynch’s wealth management division, and CEO of the Wall Street research company Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.. In an industry wherein fraud and dishonesty are rampant, Sallie Krawcheck’s ethical leadership was exemplary. As observed by Fortune Magazine columnists, the quest for an honest ...

The Role of Labor Unions, HR Management and the Government in the U.S.

Abstract

This paper talks about the roles of the three major players in the American labor landscape. First, the paper discusses the role of labor unions and how it changed the labor settings in the United States. Moreover, it also discusses the role of human resource management in promoting good employer-employee relationship, which has become a major issue that brought about the formation of labor unions in the first place. Lastly, the paper also discusses the role of the American government in maintaining the power balance between ...

The four schools of thought in regard to labour relations

The handling of day-to-day labour relation and interactions is complex and uniquely elaborate in contemporary societies. In most cases, it comprises the use of human power, resources, and the integration of voices of reason that strive to retain the rights and privileges that are bestowed upon the workers. Indeed, there are numerous challenges that confront the labour sector across world. The aforementioned challenges are complimented by the reality of existent solutions to issues that affect workers in the work place contexts. Ergonomic experts have developed schools of thought that are designed to evaluate and ultimately contextualize the essence of ...

Is the outsourcing of low-paid jobs to developing countries a strictly positive development for workers in such countries? Clarify your position by reference to notable industrial relations incidents or economic developments from the last decade.

The business practices of outsourcing and offshoring have been the subject of both praise and criticism. Critics of outsourcing refer to the loss of job opportunities (locally), lower quality products, and unequal pay rates among domestic and foreign workers. Proponents point to its potential to enhance productivity, lower costs, and enhance core efficiencies for outsourcing companies. There are, however, more in outsourcing in addition ...

Introduction

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) entails the practices that are undertaken by the organization as a way of giving back to the society b solving the social or environmental issue. For instance, the business may fund projects in the community such as schools programs and clean water projects. Additionally, the corporations may undertake climate change activities such as planting trees and reducing emissions as well as funding for research for common good such as Ebola and cancer programs. Implied, the corporations bet on these projects to create customer awareness and as a way to win their loyalty in the long-term. ...

Thesis statement

Although for the duration of their existence sweatshops have had their economic benefits felt by the locals in the areas of establishments, their negative influence is far reaching and appalling. The evidence of how workers are mistreated in the workshops and subjected to working in environments whose safety is below standard can be deduced from the numerous accidents and deaths taking place in the workshops

A summary of Paul Krugman’s case for cheap labor

In his article “In Praise of Cheap Labor: Bad jobs at bad wages are better than no jobs at all,” Paul Krugman tries to explain how cheap labor has benefited the developing economies. This ...

This is the only book that has comprehensively analyzed the globalization of the American Apparel industry. Allen Israel Rosen spent almost 10 years investigating the US domestic apparel workers’ problems. She is now probing for the changes in the trade policies and the global economics which have been responsible for changes in the global textile industry. In her book, “Making Sweatshops” she probes the possibility of promoting globalization in a way that blends both economic development and globalization in both developed and developing countries, (Rosen, 3). Rosen bases her concern on economic and social justice. She focuses mostly on ...

Globalization is the magic word; for well-established, multinational corporate it usually means cheap labor and a larger profit margin. It all started in 2009 when two of Nike`s largest apparel manufacturing factories closed their doors in Honduran, leaving almost 1,800 workers unemployed. Therefore, waves of protests were initiated by trade unions and movements due to the unpaid $ 2 million that were supposed to be settled by the athletic apparel giant as unemployment aids.

Obligatory Compensation.

“Alex Bores, president of the United Students Against Sweatshops chapter at Cornell, argued that it was only fair for Nike to make good on ...

Today and in the future, organizations need to take social responsibility for their long-term sustainability. Corporate social responsibility is a promise to behave ethically and contribute to improve the environment we live in the community (Savitz, 2010). A corporate needs to focus on the significance among equity, environment and economic, which is called the triple bottom line within corporate practices. If a company practices in CSR providing services that are environmental-friendly and fair-trade, corporate will benefit in creating value of customer loyalty. In other words, the triple bottom line business is dedicated to cost reduction in terms of energy ...

Riis photographs .2

Other life Half Lives .8 Riis approaches to photography .9

Work Cited 12

Introduction Riis was born in Denmark in the 19th century. When he moved to the United States, he faced several tribulations that later informed his career of photographing the less privileged (Hapke, 403). Therefore, he knew how to suffer, how to be homeless, and other basic necessities of life. He was a writer in the newspapers and magazines before venturing into photography. Basically, he wanted to show the Americans and the whole world what he saw while facing the low life. From the nature of his photographs, it is ...

Thesis.

Sweatshops provide better living standards for their workers in third world countries. Appeals Pathos comes out when the writer starts breaking down the statistical data especially on the brands that have been protested against as being sweatshops one example being Nike. The author argues that in Indonesia Nike employees received wages higher than the national average and also non-monetary compensations in form of healthcare benefits and meals, thus, earnings were understated here the writer tries to provoke sympathy from the reader towards the multinationals (Powell and Skarbek 13). The final mode of persuasion is logos and is in the ...

Introduction

The footwear and apparel industry has developed over the last few years. Sportswear keeps outgrowing the overall category as it remains the best acting segment of the apparel and footwear industry for another successive year. Currently, it bears to be noted that sportswear operators are switching their focus to the female segment of the sportswear industry. In May 2015, a female only store was opened in London that caters for Europeans. There is various trends that have come about that have changed the manner in which business in the industry is conducted. The industry is divided into the external ...

Abstract

The shift towards globalization was induced by social, economic, political and technological realities of a changing world. As such, this paper discusses the main drivers of globalization and what specific factors determined the shift towards a global economy. The paper investigates how the economy became global and what are the implications of a global economy for domestic industries, for consumers and for companies activating in various countries and competing with very diverse rivals. The paper shows that while globalization has its challenges and also its negative effects of maintaining less developed countries or third world countries in poverty, there are also advantages ...

Introduction

In the year 1972, Nike was established by Phil Knight and Bill Bowernman. Currently Nike has emerged to be one of those global companies targeted by a broad range of campaigning non-governments as a symbolic representation of the business in society. Nike has established a forum, which is a well-developed focus of being responsible in improving condition in contracted factories (May, Cheney, & Roper, 2007). Nike aim for carbon neutrality as well as making sports available to young people across the world.

Question 1

Nike has experience many legal issues in its lifetime. Nike has long been accused of many allegations. For instance uses sweatshops ...

Nike Inc. is a global company activating in the sports apparel, ranking as the first player in this industry, as a result of its business strategy. The company incorporates a complex mix of organizational, operational or marketing strategies for assuring its leadership position on its market, succeeding with this integrated business approach to become one of the world’s most recognized and valued brands.

Organizational Analysis

Part of the integrated business approach to the international sports apparel market in which it activates is the organizational strategy. The organizational strategy comprises the Nike Inc.’s ethos and business philosophy centered on diversity, celebrating the differences ...

Executive Summary

Nike has been a world-class manufacturer of sports footwear and apparel for the past few decades. With immense marketing campaigns and celebrity endorsements, Nike has been able to establish a strong public image. With operations in more than 30 countries, Nike is truly a global operator. Most of these operations are concentrated in the developing countries – mainly Asia. However, the last few decades have seen a tarnishing of this giant’s reputation. Beginning with the labor practices issue in Nike’s Third world countries sweatshops to an inappropriately responding forecasting and ordering software, Nike has had its share of international problems all resulting ...

Commercialism

The ascent of commercialism is a curio of the development of corporate force. It started as a major aspect of a political and ideological reaction by enterprises to wage weights, climbing social consumptions, and the achievements of the ecological and shopper developments in the late 1960s and early 1970s (Cappelli 2014). Organizations encouraged the opposition to expense development and backing for corporate welfare, which helped make subsidizing emergencies in state and nearby governments and schools, and made them additionally eager to convey business promoting. They pushed "free market" philosophy, privatization and consumerism, while slandering general society circle. In the late 1970s, Mobil ...

[Author Name(s), First M. Last, Omit Titles and Degrees] [Institutional Affiliation(s)] [Include any grant/funding information and a complete correspondence address.] Globalization of corporations has affected the geography, people and the economic system. It is not surprising to understand that globalization has developed across borders to progress in trade; however globalization has not been beneficial for the people as the advantages of globalization are savored only by the corporations. The present approach of globalization has made people lose their national identity. The developed nations, for example, United States is considered to provide good living standards, and ...

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair talks about the poor conditions of immigrant workers in the meat packing industry in Chicago. The place, aptly named Packingtown, is the area where the major meat packing companies were found. This is where Jurgis, his family, and his then girlfriend and later on wife’s family migrated from Lithuania in hopes of a better life. Sinclair discusses in vivid details the hardships that the whole family went through in Chicago as their naivete as immigrants in a foreign country were played on and taken advantage by both the influential and the not so influential ones. ...

This paper is going to present a discussion on Nike’s main officers, their compensations and some corporate governance issues that the company is facing.

Nike’s Main Officers

The main officers in Nike include Philip Knight, the chairperson of the Board of Directors; Mark Parker, the President, CEO, and a member of the Executive Committee; Donald Blair, the Executive Vice President and also the Chief Financial Officer; Trevor Edwards, President of Nike Inc. Brand; Jeanne Jackson, President, product and Merchandising; Erick Sprunk, the Chief Operating Officer (Nike Inc., 2014).

Brief Description Officers

Philip Knight Knight is Nike’s Chairman of the Board of Directors. He moved ...

Wilding is a term coined by Charles Derber in his book “The Wilding of America: How Greed and Violence are Eroding Our Nation's Character”. In the book, Derber tackles the concept of the American dream and how individualism is glorified at the expense of the common good. Success as depicted in the American dream is tantamount to the amassing of material wealth gained by doing everything within one’s power to achieve it regardless of harm caused to others. Derber regarded this phenomenon as wilding and defined it as a degenerate of individualism which encompasses a variety of antisocial behavior (Derber 11). ...

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I consider the arguments of Benjamin Powell and Matt Zwolinski (1 – 24) in the defense of sweatshop labor relatively solid and convincing. I agree with all the philosophical arguments that they forwarded except in minor areas in their supporting arguments. As such, this essay is largely a rejoinder of their arguments with additional supportive points that may strengthen their pro-sweatshop labor position. I agree that the labor market for sweatshops continues to be competitive, and the prima facie proof that the sweatshop employment was the best alternative accessible to them rests on the ...

Introduction

Nike is the world’s main supplier of the athletic shoes and attire and is multi-billion dollar corporation. The company was established in 1972 by Philip Knight and since then it is been successfully supplying the athletic shoes and other sports equipment across the globe. In the year 2009, Nike reaped a remarkable profit of US$ 19.2 billion with selling the products in over 140 countries and contracted with 700 factories in more than 40 countries across the globe. Yearly revenue of $19.2 billion (Hill, 2009). The company employs more than 750,000 – the largest in the supply chain. However, ...

An individual only needs to remember the remarkable words of the current president Barrack Obama. “Right now, there is a man casting the net with his bleeding hands, knowing he deserves a life of dignity Right now, there is a young boy in a brick factory; hauling in heavy load and covered in dustall of them do not understand whether there is someone paying attention to their plight.” Today, there is an estimated 21 million slaves of all kinds across the globe. This heinous crime robs millions of people their basic rights and dignity. The current victims of modern day slavery include not ...

1. What are the ethical issues associated with Walmart’s extensive sourcing of low-cost products from China?

There are various ethical issues associated with Walmart's extensive sourcing of low-cost products from China.

The first issue is more of an ethical character and concerns the degrading manufacturing sector in the US. And this issue is more complex that it seems from the first sight. On the surface is lack of patriotism and care for local manufacturers that have to shut down their production or move it to China to avoid bankruptcy. That itself is damaging to the economy of the State as the industry that could otherwise improve country's GDP and decrease the external debt, ...

Does it Pay to be Unethical?

Introduction A review of business history in the world and in economically developed nations such as the UK reveals that ethics has never been a popular concept among operating businesses and their leadership. As a result, there are countless instances of unethical business practices among firms that have operated within the United Kingdom, were such business practices actually gave these firms a competitive advantage over their competitors. It is important to note that there is a distinct difference between unethical and illegal business behaviour. In particular, there are a wide variety of business practices that would be considered highly unethical but are not ...

How the department works

The HR department in Sweatshop works in collaboration with other departments of the company in providing efficiency on services such as enhancing workforce excellence. It performs various for the company namely; hiring and training of employees, addressing specific performance issues, employee record keeping, compensation and providing employee law compliance.

Sweatshop Company has over 24 million employees.

The working hours per week Sweatshop employees work for 60 to 80 hours per week. Wage rate per hour of its employees Sweatshop pays an hourly rate of as low as $2 and force employees to work overtime. Hiring procedures Hiring procedures in Sweatshop Company ...

The United States Department of labour defines a sweatshop as a factory that violates two or more labour laws. These laws range between a number of issues such as working conditions, working hours, abuse and the overall salaries for the work done. More often than not, it is a factory that exhibits all the traits attributed with poor working conditions and exploitation. Such enterprises are present globally from developing regions like Asia and South America to major cities in the developed world where the exploitation is centered on the immigrant population. Despite the obvious drawbacks, sweatshops do have their proponents. A notable argument ...

Poverty standards all over the world are posing a challenge to the international community. While the developed nations are making bigger arrangements such as the labor standards, people in the developing economies such as Ghana and Cambodia lack jobs and live in abject poverty. The author says that there are some 19 year-olds and 13 year-olds, who work in sweatshops and earn less than $1 a day. The author compares the employment ages in the United States and other developed nations with those in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The major issue addressed in the article is an appeal to the United States ...

International Media Policy

Abstract Aspects such as globalization, continuous technological breakthrough, the state of conflict, the visible separation between the West and the East, or Occidentalism and orientalism, which intensify the discussion about otherness and emphasize the racial hate speeches define the nowadays media context. Currently mass media negotiates its role in this environment, defined by the above-mentioned social coordinates. Because globalization entered the social normality, mass media followed the game imposed by this social movement and applied a globalized media discourse, sustained by the available technological innovations that allow for the rapid dissemination of media content throughout the world due to ...

Since the advent of globalization, the presence of Multinational Corporations on foreign shores has increased manifold, especially in foreign countries. This increase in the presence of foreign companies in developing countries brings with it its share of pros and cons. This essay seeks to provide an overview of the historical growth of these corporations up until the current level of presence of Transnational Corporations across the globe. The advantages and disadvantages, with a focus on the labor and human rights impact of MNCs in developing countries, will also be covered. This analysis will include impact on employment and labor conditions, ...

Introduction

Nike was founded on January 25, 1964 by “University of Oregon track athlete Philip Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman” as “Blue Ribbon Sports”. In 1978, the American company was renamed “Nike” in homage to the Roman “goddess of victory”. Between 1964 to 1978, Nike created the first “brand advertisement” called “There is No Finish Line” which helped the company achieve a market share of about 50% in the US, fueling the company’s next step of listing in the stock market. In December of that same year, Nike was listed in the New York Stock Exchange . Nike is a ...

Introduction

In Defense of “Sweatshops”, Benjamin Powell argues that since sweatshops are better than their alternatives, any reforms aimed at enhancing the lives of workers in sweatshops should not jeopardize jobs that these workers already have. In this article, Powell clearly discusses the economic nature of sweatshops. Powell begins his discussion with a number of images and personal travel stories. He uses these images to demonstrate normal working conditions in developing nations. Nevertheless, Powell does not realize that when he protests against sweatshops, he is contributing to destruction of little opportunities that poor people in third world countries have (Powell). Considering ...

‘Name’

‘Instructor’s name’ The Scientific American printed in its edition published on September 22, 1860, that sewing machine is the third most important invention of mankind next only to the plough and spinning Jenny. (Perkin, 2002).Though there is no proper data as to who exactly invented the first sewing machine, Thomas Saint of Britain who filed a patent in the year 1790, is generally considered to be the first to discover a working model. But mass marketing of these sewing machines were first done by Isaac Merritt Singer, who made it a household product across the globe. (Forsdyke, 2013)

Economic impact

Though ...

Question 1

Collective bargains and labour relations are usually associated with adversarial approaches. However, there are also ways the adversarial approach can be avoided. Normally, there are two opposing sides, each seeking to have its terms accepted in the collective bargains. In other cases, the labour relations are aggressive such as holding demonstrations. However, the compliance and collaboration strategy can be used effectively without causing adversarial impacts. In this case, both parties agree to comply with the terms and conditions of the bargaining process or labour agreements. The parties then collaborate in working towards achieving the collective bargains or improving labour ...

The consequences for granting exemptions to U.S. federal labour laws to garment subcontractors operating in Saipan was that they could pay the workers a fraction of the minimum wage, work them harder in poor conditions and for longer hours. This proves that the neoliberal agenda breeds the growth of inequality as the multinational corporations will naturally move their factories to countries that allow exploitation of third world workers. Free trade only benefits the one percent, the other ninety nine percent are left without jobs in their own countries because all the factories have moved to third world countries ...

INTRODUCTION

Corporate social responsibility is a form of business self regulation that is incorporated into the business model. CSR policies are built into business operations to ensure compliance with ethical standards, laws and established international norms (Crane, Matten &Spence, 2008a, p. 5). Most CRS activities extend to the customers, communities, environment, shareholders and all members of the public who may be count as stakeholders. The rationale for CSR is that to become sustainable, businesses need to create and operate in healthy economies, friendly communities and clean environments. The key drivers of CRS are enlightened self interest, social investment, transparency and ...

INTRODUCTION

Corporate social responsibility is also known as CSR, and it is the growing social trend of businesses. It is now being practiced throughout the world by many companies to enhance their image and build good reputation of the company (McWilliams, Siegel, & Wright, 2006). Even many multinational firms today are highly active in such activities, regardless of the fact that wherever they are operating, they just want to have positive image of their companies and in a way establish relationships with their customers and other stake holders. Corporate social responsibility is defined as the responsibilities that an organization has towards ...

In many organizations, certain individuals are able to exercise power and authority depending on their position and role they exercise. This puts them in control of making decisions, influencing people and also getting work done willingly from their colleagues. Such rights allotted to an individual stem from the concept of exercising power which is legitimate and in certain situations accepted by all. Legitimate power is one of the many types of power which an individual demonstrates when they perform the role of a leader. Power can be used both positively and negatively. According to research done by John R.P ...

In the essay sweatshirts to sweatshops several universal intellectual standards have been violated. To begin with, the speaker breaches the fairness that should be upheld in an argument by presenting the “little girl was working hour after hour while trying not to collapse from the heat” (Cournoyer, 2011). In putting this across, the speaker is attempting to influence the audience by invoking their emotions of sympathy on the little girl. Since the speaker’s argument is not based on facts, the audience can as well dismiss it. In fact, there might never have been a little girl in the actual ...

When approaching Ursula Le Guin’s short story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” readers can interpret the story in several different ways. Some critics view the story as a rejection of the moral pragmatism supported by William James, alluded to in the subtitle of the story (Povinelli 510). Others view it as Le Guin’s indictment of first world countries’ financial exploitation of third world countries (Collins 525). Still others view it as Le Guin’s attempt to explain the workings of human nature and religion (Collins 525). However, to an average reader, the story resonates as a cautionary ...

Q. 1 Differentiate the concepts of morality and social ethics

Morality refers to a situational context where individuals conform to the set standards by the society that are regarded as best for the welfare of the community at large (Kant YouTube, 2012). These standards are based on tradition, and in some cases, they are just arbitrary. However, it is important to note that a person’s views on morality changes depending on the situational factor, for instance, murder is considered immoral in the everyday normal life. However, during times of war, killing an opponent in the battlefield is permissible. Therefore, morals are set of agreed upon definitions of what is wrong ...

International Business and Globalization

Question 1 Multinational Corporation or MNC is a result of clear managerial control and coordination together with elements of ownership legally linked distinct companies operating in several different foreign countries. Most of the foreign plants have poor working conditions that make it risky for workers. It is therefore the responsibility of the United States multinational corporations to intervene and ensure that the standards are universal. The fact that foreign plants are far from the United States does not mean that the corporations cannot be in a position to monitor them. They send auditors regularly to the foreign plants for the ...

Part 1

One of the most popular sports movies in the United States is Hoosiers, which is ostensibly the story of tiny Hickory High School’s trip to the finals of the Indiana state basketball tournament – and its escape with the championship trophy. It is also the story, though, of Norman Dale, who coached Hickory to its title. Hired to coach the team by an old friend who was an administrator at the school, Dale has an extremely hoary skeleton in his closet – the fact that he hit one of his own players while coaching in Ithaca, New York, and that ...

Introduction

“Sweating” was an original 15th century term which was a metaphor for a severe labor exertion (Wilson, p. 1). This term got to be associated with garment work during the 1830’s (p. 1). The “sweatshop” was initially defined in the 1890s. It became popular during the 19th century as a “system of subcontracting by which rival manufacturers distributed work to contractors. These contractors, then, turned to other rival contractors and subcontractors to complete the jobs. Since fast work was required and the products were anticipated, the contractors and subcontractors would “sweat” as much labor from their workers. Under this system, the ...

Introduction

Multinational companies like Nike have been accused of their insidious exploitation of labor. The practices of Nike with respect to its treatment of labors in third world countries have received considerable attention due to violation of labor laws. The reasons behind this is that several developing countries don’t have strict adherence to the labor laws, unlike Europe and United States and the business from multinational companies are promoted by the political system. The labor exploitation in third world countries are ignited by unresponsive government. Though, the activists across the world have been compelling Nike to follow labor laws ...