Business Ethics; Multinational Companies and child labour - Essay Example

Business Ethics: Multinational Companies and child labour Topic/issue “Child labour can be defined as the work that denies children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development”(International labour organization, 2014). This report shall be looking into the topic child labour and its impacts on the development of children. Theory/conceptMny people believe that globalization is one of the major culprits in encouraging child labour.

According to Brown et al. (2002, p.45), the “trade between an unskilled-labour abundant/developing country and a skilled labour abundant/developed country will raise the relative rate of return to unskilled labour in the developing country. This change lowers the return to education and raises the opportunity cost of an education, thereby stimulating child labour”. Code of conducts/policy initiativesAccording to the article 32 of The United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, “the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the childs education, or to be harmful to the childs health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development” (All India council of human rights, n.d.).

This report shall look into three core principles; 1)How child labour causes problems to the development of children? 2) Why organizations are keen in encouraging child labour? and 3)Why parents take child labour lightly?Organizations/businessesThe case of Nike and Disney shall be discussed as case studies in conjunction with the child labour issue in this report since these companies have met with severe criticism related to its policies towards child labour in the past. “Nike has been accused of using child labour in the production of its soccer balls in Pakistan” (NIKE: Nike Shoes and Child Labor in Pakistan, n.d.).

“Disneys best-selling Cars toys are being made in a factory in China that uses child labour and forces staff to do three times the amount of overtime allowed by law” (Disney, Mattel and Wal-mart toy-maker accused of child labour, 2013). References All India council of human rights, N.d. Child labour laws and initiatives. [Online] Available at: http://www.humanrightscouncil.in/index.php/component/k2/item/124-child-labour-laws-and-initiatives [Accessed 20 January 2014]Brown, D.K., Deardorff, A.V. and Stern, R.M. 2002.

The determinants of child labour: Theory And Evidence. [Online] Available at: http://www.fordschool.umich.edu/rsie/workingpapers/Papers476-500/r486.pdf [Accessed 20 January 2014]Disney, Mattel and Wal-mart toy-maker accused of child labour, 2013. [Online] Available at: http://www.globalmarch.org/content/disney-mattel-and-wal-mart-toy-maker-accused-child-labour [Accessed 20 January 2014]International labour organization, 2014. What is child labour. [Online] Available at: http://www.ilo.org/ipec/facts/lang--en/index.

htm [Accessed 20 January 2014]NIKE: Nike Shoes and Child Labor in Pakistan, n.d. [Online] Available at: http://www1.american.edu/ted/nike.htm [Accessed 20 January 2014]