: p.221, The Oil Rig, Ciulla - Case Study Example

The Oil Rig Case Study: The Oil Rig. Ciulla describes the living arrangements aboard the Explorer IV; a small oil rig owned by a US oil drilling company on an exploratory mission in the Angolan coast. She specifically focuses on segregation of local Angolan workers from predominantly white expatriate workers in the oil rig. The writer observes that minority expatriates and majority Angolans are sequestered into the upper level and lower level living quarters respectively. Angolans live in Spartan dormitory like conditions on the lower level, and on the upper level, expatriates enjoy semiprivate quarters with bathroom, gallery and recreation facilities (Donaldson, 2002).

Other discriminatory practices are policies prohibiting access to the expatriate section, use different means of transport for each group to get to and from the shore, access to quality and timely medical treatment, separate clothing and meals, lack of proper means of communication as both groups speak different languages. Despite the disparity in numbers, both groups receive equal budgetary allocations. She notes that the unexpected presence of a black American on the expatriate section and several Angolan government official entourages to the rig have not affected conditions of the Angolan workers; as their government still turns a blind eye to their plight.

Excepting any emergency, the two groups keep to their quarters.Legally, multinationals are bound by human rights standards protected by global and regional conventions, treaties between nations and national laws of both home and host countries. Such include employees’ human and labour rights, such as the right to dignified and equal treatment and corporations cannot escape liability for actions in weak jurisdictions. The US courts allow claims against its multinationals by non-citizens (Mayer and Jebe, 2010) for human rights violations, with government complicity.

Dietrich observes that multinational oil corporations in Angola to maintain the status quo and observe minimum provisions in letter and spirit of the law. Since in Angola law and situation may be inadequate for ethical conduct as in the US, compliance is quite easy. Most oil companies have been accused of disparate employment standards and exploitative practices (Mayer and Jebe, 2010). Socially, ethical considerations require multinationals to be mindful of conditions enabled by their presence.

While Dietrich posits that major oil corporations maintain high standards for labour, the case study above demonstrates that this is not true. Conducting business responsibly involves setting good examples of corporate practice and work environments beyond legal requirements. Mayer and Jebe (2010) argue that acting contrary can negatively affect a company’s image and profits especially in light of civil society and NGO boycott campaigns as experienced in Sudan and Nigeria. Ciulla’s findings of lack of adherence to legal and moral provisions on the rig are quite suggestive of multinational corporations’ insensitivity to local employees (Donaldson, 2002).

Some of the presuppositions observed from the case study include the fact that multinationals are less concerned about working conditions of local workers and that the workers, with no bargaining power to agitate for better conditions, have no recourse in their own governments, who are seemingly comfortable with this arrangement. ReferencesDonaldson, T., Werhane, P., & Cording, M. (2002). Justice. In Ethical Issues in Business: A Philosophical Approach (7th ed., p. 221). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.

Dietrich, R. (n.d.). Ethical Considerations for Multinationals in Angola. Retrieved March 6, 2015, from http://www.issafrica.org/pubs/books/Angola/12Dietrich.pdfMayer, D., & Jebe, R. (2010). The Legal and Ethical Environment for Multinational Corporations (p. 165 -167). Retrieved March 6, 2015, from http://www.enterpriseethics.org/Portals/0/PDFs/good_business_chapter_13.pdf