Harrison Company - Case Study Example

Download file to see previous pages... It is important to highlight that the company faces multiple social and ethical issues. The issues are being identified and discussed in the table below: Issue Description about the issue Association in terms of outsourcing with a Honduran company that engages unethical manufacturing practices in its units The issue of unethical manufacturing practices engaged by a Honduran company came into focus when one of the ex employees of the company spread the word in the media that the company share a buyer relationship with the Honduran company that follows slave like working conditions for its employees. The ex employee brought the accusation that Harrison Company engage in buying inexpensive clothing from the Honduran company. Lack of whistle blowing policy It can be assumed that the claim by the ex employee that he was fired because he tried to generate awareness among the top management about the unethical practices of the Honduran company as true. The reason behind considering this incident as a true one is because there is no possible documentation of this incident, which further reveals that the top management did not want to keep a record of this incident and preferred to keep it hidden from the employee view. The lack of a whistle policy within the organization and the option of protecting an employee who engages in whistle blowing activity for the welfare of the organization perceived as a very serious ethical issue. Lack of ability to form a union The company’s focus on restricting the freedom of the employees to form a union has to be considered seriously from the ethical angles. The inability to form a union by the company’s employees will keep themselves vulnerable to the whims and fancies of the top managements. The top management has the ability to make certain changes in regards to pay as well as working conditions which may not be on the employees’ collective favour. The lack of ability to form a union by the employees will lead to the loss of the power of the employees to engage in collective bargaining, which has the potential to develop a sustainable and healthy work environment within the company. Significant amount of donation to the charity It has been identified that the company makes a huge amount of contribution to the favourite charity of the previous president, which is located very close to the company headquarters. Since the company is facing financial difficulties in the current times, the large contributions to the charity become an indirect social issue. The reason this can be a social issue for the company is because the company is focusing on generating profits by relying on part time workers, thereby reducing the chances of full time employment for the potential employees. Significant amount of contribution to the various communities It has also been found that the company makes a considerable amount of contribution to various community specific endeavours. Since the company is facing financial difficulties in the current times, the large contributions to the community endeavours become an indirect social issue. The reason this can be a social issue for the company is because the company is focusing on generating profits by relying on part time workers, thereby reducing the chances of full time employment for the potential employees. Talking in regards to a factor of environmental stability, the issue of unethical slave like manufacturing conditions within the Honduran company needs to be taken into focus. This particular issue has been considered since it has the ability to trigger a threatening situation in terms of political as well as social environment stability in the host country. It needs to be considered that the continued engagement and association of Harrison Company with the Honduran company, which already has developed a notorious reputation for slave type manufacturing conditions, will have a strong negative impact on the company’ ...Download file to see next pagesRead More