Whether Mighty-Mart and Anne-Marie Bedford are Responsible for the Prevailing Working Conditions at Yellow Dragon Enterprises
Mighty Mart and Bedford are indeed responsible for the prevailing working conditions at Yellow Dragon Enterprises since they are parties to the contract manufacturing arrangement. Thus, they needed to exercise due diligence and acquire all the information relating to the production process. However, they both acted negligently and thus did not act despite the worker’s continuous accusations of unfair labour practices. Inasmuch as Mighty-Mart did not support the violation of fundamental workplace rights, it not did act on the negative report that was submitted by the auditors. In business, information is paramount hence it is imprudent for Anne-Marie to purport that she was oblivious of the worker’s poor working conditions. Conversely, Yellow Dragon acted as an independent contractor hence it had a responsibility of ensuring that workers are provided with desirable working conditions. In addition, Yellow Dragon should have paid the workers all their dues and treated them with respect thus upholding ethical standards in the workplace (Hondeghem et. al., 1998). Might-Mart was also aware that Yellow Dragon was one of the company’s that failed to adhere to the Chinese labour laws though it still thought that it was capable of forcing Yellow Dragon to adhere to the laws. Subsequently, Mighty- Mart still went ahead to do business with Yellow Dragon despite having such knowledge.
Whether a Process of Self-regulation can ensure that Labor Rights will be upheld in Foreign Manufacturing Operations
The Self-regulation process can be effective in ensuring that labor rights are upheld if there is disclosure of information and transparency (Anderson, 1999). However, the process is not entirely sufficient hence more needs to be done. Might-Mart was not successful in its attempt to regulate the foreign manufacturing operations. Thus, must more government regulations and also social accountability in order to ensure effectiveness in implementing various labour laws (Anderson, 1999). Stringent measures e.g. imposition of hefty fines can be placed by the governments to ensure that employers who do not adhere to the labour laws are punished. Such measures will act as a deterrence to company’s who intend to humiliate their employees (Hondeghem et. al., 1998). In this case, the government regulations would prevent Yellow Dragon from intimidating their employees.
What Dexter Lewis Needs to do to solve the Problem
In order to solve the problem, Dexter Lewis needs to incorporate various strategies that will assist in regaining the customer confidence. First, Dexter Lewis needs to restructure the company. The fact that Mighty-Mart was unaware that its name was being used to run a sweatshop in China simply means that there existed communication breakdown and inefficiency. The restructuring process will allow the CEO to dismiss inefficient employees, alter various duties and also improve performance through adopting new techniques and technologies. Dexter also needs to make an effort to correct the past flaws through dialoguing with the employees and ensuring that workers rights are upheld. Additionally, Dexter must make sure that the employees are regularly assessed through conducting a performance evaluation exercise. Reviewing employee performance is important as it assists in problem solving, provision of valuable information to the employees and fostering growth of competent employees through training (Hondeghem et. al., 1998). Otherwise, companies need to adhere to existing labour laws and also ensure that employees remain motivated through providing them with better wages and appropriate working conditions (Hondeghem et. al., 1998).
References
Anderson, J. J. (1999). Regional integration and democracy: Expanding on the European experience. Lanham [u.a.: Rowman & Littlefield.
Hondeghem, A., European Group of Public Administration., & International Institute of Administrative Sciences. (1998). Ethics and accountability in a context of governance and new public management: EGPA yearbook. Amsterdam: IOS Press.
