Fiji Textile Industry - Understanding the Steven Lukes Power Framework - Case Study Example

FIJI TEXTILE INDUSTRY Name Institution Lecturer Course Date Introduction The textile industry in many developing nations is dependent on the favourable legislation of the country. The textile industry in Fiji is among the driving industry of the economy of the country. This means that the industry is owned by different stakeholders who play different roles in ensuring that the industry is successful and contributes fully to the economy of the country. According to Grosse (2005), in any country the economy of the nation is controlled by different regulation and different forces that affect the performance of the industry. Being a manufacturing sector, the textile industry in Fiji is affected by different stakeholders who exercise their powers in the industry in order to ensure success of the textile industry. Cool & Goddard, (2006) argues that the government as the regulator of different business organizations in the country has a role to play in ensuring that investors in the textile manufacturing industry have a better investing environment. On the other hand, the human right organizations and the investors, who mostly are multinational corporations, have a responsibility in the textile sector. Among the responsibilities that are involved in the textile manufacturing industry is the safety of the workers. In order to ensure safety of the working environment and the employees in the textile industry, the government, human rights organizations and the investing multinational corporation have responsibilities and showcase their powers in ensuring safety of the workers and creation of a safe working environment (Groose, 2005, 395). The ways in which different stakeholders in a business sector of the economy exercise their powers can be explained using the Steven Lukes power framework. This essay discusses the roles of the government, Multinational Corporation and civil society organizations in the textile industry and how these stakeholders contribute to ensuring a safe working environment for employees in the textile industry. In addition, the essay focuses on the Steven Lukes framework to explain how the different stakeholder manifests their powers in ensuring a safe working environment for the employees in textile industry. Understanding the Steven Lukes Power Framework According to this framework, real interests of the community are conceptualized in the empirical studies of power. According to Lukes (2005), the relationship of power with an emphasis on power domination is only exercised when the individuals who are powerless are not aware of their real interests. This means that the powerful body can exercise their power of domination as long as the powerless do not understand their real interest in the economic industry and in the society. The Steven Lukes framework is based on a three dimensional argument. The first dimension of power is when power is defined as behaviour of different individuals who are able to influence the changes in behaviour and conduct of others through a decision making process (Masaki, 2007, p.20). In this case, the individual whose power are more than the other makes the decisions that should be followed by the less powerful individuals for the interest of the society. In his second dimension of power, power can be exercised when it is possible for one group of people to influence the decisions made by those in power by shaping the main agenda and not necessarily weighing on the existing decisions. This implies that the shaping of the agenda is a crucial aspect in power exercising. according to Masaki (2007), third dimension of power is based on the fact that people act with a lot of willingness to acts that may appear to be contrary to their interests. In such situations, those who are powerful are able to shape the behaviours of the powerless so that those who are powerless can behave in ways that appear desirable to the powerful individuals (McCabe, 2013, p. 57). However, it should be noted that those who are powerless should change their behaviours without the use of force or being coerced. Using the Steven Lukes Power framework in an economic industry, one can argue that different stakeholders in the Fiji textile industry exercise their powers according to this framework in order benefit each stakeholder and the society at large. Luke (2005) argues that the government exercise its powers through the control of business activities while the multinationals as investors exercise their power in terms of corporate social responsibilities. The civil society organisation exercises a different dimension of the power framework by advocating for the right of the employees in the business organisation in order to ensure a conducive, healthy and safer working environment for the employees. The Role of the Government in the Industry The government of any country gets involved in business activities for several reasons. Business organisations are established in order to make profits by using the minimal resources possible. According to Cool & Goddard (2006), the governments can get involved in the business activities of the country as a regulator of the industry, as a provider of crucial products and services that if left in the hands of private sector may create monopoly and misuse of resources and ensuring safety of the employees and society at large. In the Fiji textile industry the government has a role to play in terms of controlling the activities of the business organisations that are involved in the textile industry (Cool & Goddard, 2006, p. 33). The government controls the amount of products that are produced by the textile industries in the country. In such cases the government is seen as a regular of the quantity produces by the textile industries in the country to ensure that the government is able to benefit filly from the industry without compromising the quality of the products. According to Ron (2008), the government exercises the third dimension of Steven Lukes power framework where the textile companies are supposed to do as per the regulations of the government in order to work in the country. The government also passes laws and regulations that protect the employees of the textile industry as well as the consumers of the products from the textile industry. The safety and health regulations are among the laws that the government implements to ensure that business organisations operating in the country are able to follow the laws so as to ensure the safety of the employees. In terms of safety of the employees, the government enact requirements that all employees in the textile industry should be protected from dangerous machines, proper hygiene, and adequate breaks between shifts at the work places. In this case, the power exercised by the government is to ensure that the employees and the society has a conducive working environment by implementing legislations that the textile companies are not forced to follow but they do follow willingly so as to enable them get licences to operate in the country. In this case, the government is seen as the dominating power while the textile companies are powerless. In addition, the decision making process of the government through legislation affects the behaviours of the textile industry (Cool & Goddard, 2006, p. 38). For example, when the government makes regulations the textile firms implements these regulations in order to provide safer working conditions for the employees. In such as case, the government adopts both the first and third dimension of the Steven Lukes Power framework in the textile industry in order to protect the employees from poor working conditions (Ron, 2008, p. 274). The Role of Multinational Corporations in the Industry The multinational corporations have the responsibilities of assessing the risks exposed to their employees in the textile industries. This assessment includes all the risks and hazards that an employee is likely to be exposed while in the course of duty. The employer is also required by the health and safety regulation to assess the risks that are likely to be exposed to other people apart from the employees. These include the communities around the company. This is due avoid any health and safety risks to the communities that may arise due to the activities of the company. The assessment is useful to the employer in order to identify the appropriate measure to prevent any accident in the course of duty. These identified measures should comply with the Lawson health and safety of the employees. According to Reinhold et al (2006), the risk assessment helps the management to identify the health issues that may arise while employees are on duty. The management is responsible to identify and analyse the way the risk may arise and formulate the appropriate way that should be used to prevent the risks. Apart from identify the risks and preventing it, the management should device the proper way of managing the risks in case it occurs. This is to minimize the effects of the accident or the risks. According to Eweje (2006), the activities of a company may expose the employees to health hazards; hence, assessing the work and nature of the hazards that may be present in a particular job is also mandatory. The organization management has the responsibility of identifying the health hazards that are present in any work and develop or adopt the suitable ways of preventing or managing the hazards (Mosk, 2013). During hazards identification, the employer has the responsibility of identifying the people who are at risk. This will ensure that the correct measures are addressed to the right target group. The people who may be harmed may include the employees, e community and other workers who are in the organization. The management therefore has the role of ensuring that the tank is assesses and the hazards that are present identified. The hazards that are identified are evaluated to determine the kind of risk exposed to the identified groups (Reinhold et al., 2006, p. 120). The employers have the responsibility of introducing the best practice in the company that will prevent the risks and hazards that have been identified. These measures should include the construction of the company structure. These structures should be constructed following the health and safety measure (Eweje, 2006, p. 95). The necessary equipment and protective measures should follow the regulations which are in place. In preventing the risks, employers have the responsibilities of training the staffs on how to manage risk and prevent accidents in the work place. In such cases, the multinational assume the second dimension of framework by shaping the agenda of the government is ensuring safety of the employees in the textile industry. This means that the multinationals implements the regulations of the government on safety of employees by formulating their own safety policies that should be followed by the employees in the textile industry to ensure safety. In such as case, the government is powerful to the multinational but the multinational are powerful to the employees in order to ensure safe working environment. At some point the multinational need to offer training to the employees on how to maintain safety in the workplaces (Mosk, 2013). The Role of Civil Society in the Industry According to Salamon (2010), the civil society has a role to play in ensuring safe working conditions for the employees in a business organisation. The civil society organisations which mostly comprise of human rights organisations and nongovernmental organization ensure that the business organisations that operate in a certain country offer the best out of their services. In fact, they act as a watchdog to both the government and the employers of different industries. This means that the civil societies exercise a degree of power in the industry in that they check on the government to ensure that the government enacts the necessary legislation that will guide the different employers in the industry to develop safety policies that will ensure safe working conditions for the employees. In some cases the civil society moderates the impact of the market on the individuals. For example, civil society organisations act as whistle-blowers in situations where the textile industry is oppressing the employees of a particular organisation. When the textile industry have poor working environments and poor working conditions, civil society organisation act as the mouthpiece for the employees in advocating for improvements in the working conditions (Dehn & Calland, 2002, p. 14). In terms of labour protection, civil right organization ensures that the rights of the employees are not violated. This means that the civil society organisations are able to tie the human rights with the rights of the employees. They ensure that employees in a business organization are not sexually harassed by their employers or fellow employees. This is through offering checks and balances on the governance of textile industries in Fiji. By participating in policy making, the human rights organisation take part in decision making proves and influence the agendas of the government of Fiji. This implies that the civil society organisation adopts the second dimension of the Steven Lukes framework by ensuring that they influence the agendas of the government and the multinational corporation for the benefit of the employees in the business organisations. Hence, the civil society exercises their power in the textile industry through formal setting of standards and informal pressuring on good governance. In this case, the civil society demand that business organisations dealing with textile manufacturing should be able to comply with the safety regulations that are set by the government to ensure that there is a safe working environment for the employees (Salamon, 2010, p.174). In terms of informal pressure, civil society organisations ensure that they pressure the Fiji government to formulate the necessary legislations that will ensure safety and healthy standards in working areas. In addition, the civil society organisation can directly confront the textile industry to provide safe working conditions for the employees of the business organisations in the country. Civil society organisation organise campaigns and rallies tat sensitize different stakeholders in the industry to embrace safer working conditions in the business organisations. Sometimes the civil society organisation directly negotiates for terms that are favourable for the employees. The powers of the civil society reconcile with that of human rights organisations as they both advocates for the rights of human beings. According to the civil society, the rights of employees in terms of harassments and oppression are similar to those of any other human rights. The civil society and human rights organisation value the wellbeing of the employees of a business organization (Dehn & Calland, 2002, p. 13). Work Safety Responsibility According to Mosk (2013), the management of any company has the responsibility of ensuring that safety of the employees and the environment from where is operates. In ensuring the safety of the employees in the course of duties, the health and safety regulations should be followed. The management should ensure that all activities in the organization are according to the require standards. Equipment and machinery should be regular assessed and monitored to avoid the accumulation of hazardous substances. Thorne et al (2011) argues that the maintenance of the equipment and storage tanks that contain hazardous chemicals should also follow the normal regulations. Before, cleaning, there is the need for the workers to assess the risks involved in the activity. This will ensure the proper identification of measures to control the risks. During assessment, the management of assessing authority assess for the equipment or structure that are likely to cause accident or expose the risks. The risks is assessed and evaluated and the correct measures are taken. The work of the government is to offer the necessary legislation that guides the business organisations in formulating the policies that will ensure safety of the workers in the business organisation. The work of the civil society organization is to ensure that there is good governance that allows for the implementation of government regulations in providing safer working environments. The employees in a business organisation also have the responsibility to ensure that the working environments are safer by observing the laid down procedures in the safety and health policies of the business organisation (Thorne et al., 2011, p. 122). Conclusion The textile industry in Fiji is among the major growing industry in the country that has attracted different multinational corporations. Since business organisations aim at making profits, they are likely to engage in activities that of not regulated they may affect the health and safety of the employees of the organisations. This means that the government, employers and civil society groups in Fiji have a role to play in order to ensure safety of the employees in the textile industry. In exercising their roles and responsibilities, the government, multinationals and civil society assume different dimensions of power as per the Steven Lukes power framework. The government makes decisions that result in the enactment of regulations that govern the multinationals in formulating policies that will ensure safer working conditions for the employees. The multinational corporation implement the regulation be providing the employees with the necessary equipment that will ensure their safety at work. Civil society organization act as watchdogs that ensure the law is followed. In addition, they advocate for the human rights of the employees at their different work stations. However, the responsibility to ensure safety of employees in the business organisation lies on the employers of different business organisations. References Cool, K., & Goddard, G 2006. International Business: Theory and Practice. New York: M.E. Sharpe. Dehn, G., & Calland, R 2002. Whistleblowing the State Of The Art: The Role of the Individual, Organisations, the State, the Media, the Law and Civil Society. Available at http://www.u4.no/recommended-reading/whistleblowing-the-state-of-the-art-the-role-of-the-individual-organisations-the-state-the-media-the-law-and-civil-society/ Accessed on 18th April 2014. Eweje, G 2006. The Role of MNEs in Community Development Initiatives in Developing Countries Corporate Social Responsibility at Work in Nigeria and South Africa. Business & Society, vo.45, no.2, pp. 93-129 Groose, R 2005. International Business and Government Relations in the 21st Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lukes, S 2005. Power, Second Edition: A Radical View. 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