Foxconn: Impact of globalization on labor conditions.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd which trades as Foxconn Technology group or as the media calls it Foxconn has been in media limelight recently due to labor problems that have surfaced from the organization. Foxconn is a major equipment manufacturer supplier to electronics giants like Blackberry, Apple, Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation and the Nintendo Wii. The internet has several articles and controversies regarding the deplorable worker conditions and cases of suicides by the workers.
Foxconn has factories in Asia, Europe, Mexico and South America why is it that only China’s Foxoconn was in highlight and not any other country? While the Chinese factories happened to be the largest factories in China, these factories are also facilitated with dormitories and other infrastructure to host the workers and provide workers to go back at end of the 12 hour shift to relax and reenergize for the next shift. A quarter of the employees live in these so called dormitories. My Case study will analyze how the various news sources revealed the global sweatshop to the world and the reactions by the companies who were using Foxconn to manufacture electronic goods. The Chinese newspaper displayed Foxconn employees having social and psychological reasons leading to suicides whereas US news showed it as human rights violation. Both of them did not acknowledge the social justice and world economy aspects and steps that were taken by the electronics giants to rectify the problems that were being faced in Wuhan, China.
Central facts and assumptions
The central facts for Foxconn involved protest by 150 of the 32,000 employees at its campus in the city of Wuhan in China and suicides by 18...
... middle of paper ...
...rticle2/0,2817,2402391,00.asp
China Labor Watch. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/: http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/pro/proshow-127.html
Greene, J. (2012, September 25). CNet.com. Retrieved from http://www.cnet.com/news/riots-suicides-and-other-issues-in-foxconns-iphone-factories/
National Chamber Foundation. (March 2012). Corporate Responsibility and Sustainable Economic Development in China. 7-12.
Sethi, S. P. (2012). Two Faces of Apple. Carnegie Council.
Shanghai, M. M. (2010, May 27). Inside Foxconn's suicide factory. Retrieved from The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/7773011/A-look-inside-the-Foxconn-suicide-factory.html
The Telegraph. (2012, August 22). Retrieved from www.telegraph.co.uk: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/9492839/Apple-and-Foxconn-improve-conditions-says-watchdog.html
In today’s world, increasing big companies open factories in developing countries but many people said it is unethical and the factories are sweatshops. Most of the sweatshops were opened in east Asia and third-world countries and regions. The companies open the sweatshops in order to get more benefits is a kind of very irresponsible behavior. For example, Apple's factories in China are not good and unethical. Audit finds
With the continued rise of consumer "needs" in "industrial" countries such as the United States, and the consistently high price that corporations must pay to produce goods in these countries, companies are looking to "increase (their) profits by driving down costs any way possible... To minimize costs, companies look for places with the lowest wages and human rights protections" (Dosomething). Countries with lax or unenforced labor laws grant multinational corporations the leeway to use cheap foreign labor to mass-produce their commodities so that they can be sold in countries like America. These inexpensive, sometimes borderline illegal, establishments are known as sweatshops. In his book Timmerman discusses the topic of sweatshops in great detail. Originally in search of "where (his) T-shirt was made(;) (Timmerman) (went) to visit the factory where it was made and (met) the people who made (it)" (Timmerman5).
On the other hand, it is viewed as a horrific way to abuse individuals in different countries by paying them tremendously trifling wages, working in strident conditions, and overall being treated inadequately by the factory owners. United States corporations exploit different countries around the world such as, China, Indonesia, Mexico and
It is common knowledge that communist countries often do not keep their promise of utopia for the common man, abundance and equality for all. China in the 1900s, as described in I Love Dollars: And Other Stories of China, published in 2007, is no exception. The story takes place in a power plant factory in which many workers experience a living hell of corruption on a daily basis. The government does not care for the workers, and for one of them, Xie Weigang, even leaving the factory is a difficult task. According to Jonathan Spence, Zhu Wen, the author of the aforementioned book, “is from a third generation. He was born in 1967, at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, and raised during that period of frenzied trashing of China’s traditional
Heffernan, Margaret. "What happened after the Foxconn suicides." CBS Money Watch . (2013): n. page. Web. 16 Sep. 2013. .
In china, for example, Wal-Mart’s importing operations have significantly affected the manufacturing sector in a manner that gradually unemployment has been stimulated (Holmes 1). The trade deficit between Wal-Mart and China have led to a loss of almost one hundred and thirty- three employment opportunities, especially with Wal-Mart importations. Despite China’s efforts of trying to purchase United States’ treasury bills along with federal securities in an effort to reduce the exportation costs to America, Wal-Mart’s entry into the Chinese market has propelled china’s labor abuse along with internal violations of recognized trade norms (Fishman 1). This is caused by the retail’s growing and vast conduit that allows the distribution of subsidized and cheap Chinese exports to the doorsteps of United States’ market (Neumark, Junfu, and Stephen
In 2010, this was far more than simply a risk as there were a reported 18 attempted suicides, 14 resulting in death (Heffernan, 2013). When the working environment is that appalling, and the notion of working daily in Foxconn causes people to take their own lives, it is blatantly obvious that Apple are abusing their global reach and are solely focused on maximising profits by mistreating and exploiting their employees. There is quite simply no debate that Apple are as far as possible from ethically sound in this regard. W.D. Ross’ take on ethical theory revolves around the deontological aspect of duty, and among his prima facie (morally obligatory) duties is keeping promises (Bowie, 1999), and in this respect Apple have well and truly broken far more than their fair share. Regrettably, Apple’s failure to treat their own employees equally and justly resulted in the loss of many lives, and no amount of profit can justify
The electronics market stays competitive due to the continuing stream of new technology. Every addition of a new product by Apple’s competition must in turn be met with a more innovative product. Apple must remain on top of the industry to remain relevant and continue to produce profits. The competitive nature of this industry also dictates that all corporations in the market will face ethical dilemmas. According to an article entitled “Apple ‘attacking problems’ at its factories in China”, there are only 3 companies with facilities in the world capable of keeping up with the needs that Apple’s market demands (Moore, 2012). Unveiling a new iPhone nearly once a year continues to put stress onto those few facilities that handle so much of the production. Speed is a factor in how quickly a product can be turned from pieces into profit. This leads to a predicament if the supply cannot meet the demand and cost begin to rise. A very common way to reduce cost is outsourcing production to locations overseas. Outsourcing can be beneficial due to the lower cost of wages, but also has its drawback. Outsourcing is by no mean a bad idea, however, the many facilities that are ran overseas may not be held to the same standards that they would be in the United States. One way to show that corners are not being cut at the expense of employees is to be transparent with the
Lee, A. (2011, May 6). Inside Foxconn's Factory: Report Exposes Conditions At Apple Manufacturer. Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 7, 2011, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/06/foxconn-factory-conditions_n_858619.html
Having poor working conditions impacts the society in such a way that workers are depressed and do not work in peace. Apple should look for ways in which their suppliers can offer working conditions that are humane. If the current suppliers do not improve their working conditions, then Apple should consider looking for other suppliers since the working conditions of their workers should be of most priority (Apple Inc. 2016). Moreover, having good working conditions will attract more qualified personnel into the company, thus increasing the quality of their products. However, the main problem in Apple making sure that their suppliers offer better working conditions is that Apple has no legal liability in any operation that happens in China factories since their ownership is by separate manufacturers. It, therefore, gives Apple the dilemma of choosing between what is correct morally and what is correct legally. It also represents situations that are unfortunate since an action of being socially responsible is not what is best for the running of the business as using cheap labour to minimise cost has led to Apple to achieve margins that are spectacular and profits on its products (Dhaliwal 2011, 59-100). Apple should keep in mind that the aim of business is not always based on making profits since long-term goals are
Further investigations revealed Foxconn had been guilty of unsafe and unfair working environments long before the incidents, which included the employment of extended working hours, discrimination, and military management techniques (Xu & Li, 2013). Due to Foxconn’s sole focus on maintaining businesses relationships by fulfilling Apple’s demand of technical products, their subsequent mistreatment of employees was exacerbated and generated 80-100 hours of forced overtime per week (Xu & Li, 2013). However, in an attempt to combat the negative publicity, each firm denied responsibility for the incidents, which ultimately added fuel to the media fire (Xu & Li, 2013). Since then, each firm has enacted superior regulations designed to maintain efficiency while recognizing limitations on labor hours and increased spending on compliance audits (Chandler & Werther, 2014). Yet, as Foxconn continues to sustain their global leadership and Apple’s profits remain unaffected, the disadvantages associated with the incidents at Foxconn have not transcended the outcomes. From a profit standpoint, the increase in spending and subsequent alterations of labor methods serve as the biggest disadvantage to each company’s bottom line. However, after both companies attempted to negate blame, their ensuing developments indicate assuming responsibility was the best avenue to recoup reputation issues and focus on long-term growth. Therefore, the greatest advantage for both companies was their heightened reputation resulting from increased transparency and the employment of business models focused on the welfare of all supply chain
Aside from extralegal activity a portion of Burma’s economy stems from jobs provided by large international companies. Although they do allow for more jobs and essentially more money for citizens they also serve as a hindrance for individual economic growth because of the new found competition for local companies and also the implications towards child labor. I was extremely surprised at the number of American corporations that have been or are currently one way or another involved in forced and child labor. I recently came across a story about a 28 year old woman who stumbled upon a letter in her Saks Fifth Ave. shopping bag. This letter was from a Chinese prisoner who wrote numerous letters and stuffed them in these bags in hopes that someone on the outside would someday find and read one, little did he know that the letter would end up in West Harlem, In this letter he explains to this stranger how he is being treated, he compares his life to slavery, he spends over 13 hours making thousands of bags every day and experiences abuse regularly. The point that I am trying to make is that Saks Fifth Av is a large corporation, items in this store range from fifty to over a thousand dollars, they have a revenue of billions of dollars yet their profit comes from forced laborers. Companies like Hayne’s, Walmart and JC Penny, stores that most Americans know of and have
...orking environments for their factory employees. Even with international groups and organizations keeping a constant watch on companies who outsource work to impoverished countries, there is often little that can be done to control these companies. Lack of local enforcement and overlooked international law makes it easy for money-hungry companies to get away with morally wrong behavior. By bringing attention to these types of situations and not supporting companies who do not treat their workers fairly, executives will be hit where it hurts them the most, their pockets. When their profits decrease, they will be forced to look for alternatives to manufacture their products.
First of all globalization has led to exploitation of labor. We can’t ignore the fact that ethical aspects of international business deserve special attention. Corruption and engaging in illegal practice to make greater profit is a source of continuing controversy. Sometimes companies go international and move their production to foreign countries so they could employ workers for long hours, at low wages and in poor working conditions (sweat shops). They are also using child labor, the employment of children to a full time work that can be otherwise done by adults all that so they could get out of their responsibility towards their workers by avoiding paying them national insurance …When these multinational firms go abroad they forget all about principles and about human beings and their rights, according to Kent, J., Kinetz, E. & Whehrfritz, G. (2008/March24). Newsweek. Bottom of the barrel. “The dark side of globalization: a vast work force trapped in conditions that verge on slavery”, David, P. Falling of The Edge, Travels through the Dark Heart of Globalization..Nov 2008. (p62) also agrees with them when he explained his concerns about Chinese and Indians t...
"Pentagon Warns China's Military Is Growing Rapidly | Fox News." Fox News - Breaking News Updates | Latest News Headlines | Photos & News Videos. Associated Press, 24 Aug. 2011. Web. 14 Oct. 2011. .