Kentucky Fried Chicken - Addressing Environmental, Human Rights, and Labor Standards Issues - Case Study Example

Running Header: Local Network Student’s Name: Instructors’ name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Introduction The Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is a chain of famous fast food restaurants headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. It operates in 109 countries and has more than 5,200 restaurants in the United States and 15,000 units in different regions in the world. The primary products sold at KFC include chicken pieces, sandwiches, salads, wraps, side dishes, desserts, kebabs, poutine and hamburgers (KFC 2008). This business essay is a persuasive submission on behalf of KFC that proposes recommendations to achieve compliance with two principles, the first and the eighth, set by the United Nations Global Compact. The first principles addresses how businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights (Rasche 2010, 6). The eighth principle addresses how businesses should undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility (Piasecki 1995, 67). This paper reviews and presents business practices and approaches that are used by KFC and other similar industries to comply with these two principles. It further discusses the positive and negative lessons that can be learnt from these business practices and approaches. It finally provides recommendations that can help to improve compliance to these two principles and the advantages, challenges and implications to stakeholders if they implement these recommendations. Most business practices and approaches used at KFC are aimed at supporting and respecting the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights. An analysis of the company’s mission statement, vision statement and core values shows that the company aims at respecting and upholding internationally recognized human right laws. Even though there have been cases that have seen the company taken to court for not protecting its workers when their rights were being violated, the company has put in measures to ensure that human rights are respected and protected (Kell 2005, 70). KFC is also among other top companies that are signatories to the UN Global Compact Principles. This shows the commitment that KFC has towards upholding the ten principles and in this case, towards the protection, respect and support of human rights. Another practice at KFC that shows their support and respect for human rights is the fact that the company seeks to fulfill its business growth agenda and commercial opportunities through giving access to new markets, new suppliers and most importantly, new consumers (Rasche 2010, 56). Some of the recommendations that can be given to the company in regard to respecting human rights include having management practices and human rights principles in place. This calls for the company to have a comprehensive and practical human rights policy. Once the company has such a policy in place, it should have other processes that seek to clarify and implement these policies. The advantage of having such measures in place is that they will act as guides to the upholding and protection of internationally recognized human rights principles. The disadvantage of such a practice is that it requires the involvement of all the workers within the company. It may therefore consume a lot of time, energy and resources (Jenkins 2000, 94). A positive lesson learnt from such a practice is that policies may guide the efforts of a business towards achieving the goals that it wants to achieve. One negative lesson also learnt from such a practice is that policies are useless if they are not clarified and implemented. The implications that this practice may have on key stakeholders is that it may be used against them when they do not implement it (Anderson 1998, 79). Another recommendation in regard to respecting human rights by KFC and other companies from the same industry would be to make contributions that support projects that foster human rights. Such programs may include sponsoring the training of workers in the rule of law and democracy and enhancing local economic development programs that empower the workers. KFC can also protect and respect human rights by ensuring that it does not violate the rights of its workers to demonstrate peacefully in case they are disgruntled (Avery 2000, 98). Other recommendations of practices that can support and respect human rights include encouraging employee engagement, learning and training, commitment to integrity through shared beliefs, addressing employees’ needs and ensuring health, wellness and diversity among employees (Arnold 1998, 44). In regard to the eighth principle that requires accompany to undertake initiatives that will promote greater environmental responsibility, KFC has been accused severally of violating this principle. In response to this, KFC now has an environmental policy that requires all its stakeholders to remain keen on improving the company’s performance while ensuring that environmental impact is at its least. Having such a policy is advantageous in the sense that it outlines the responsibility of every stakeholder in protecting the environment. This policy may have several legal implications to stakeholders that fail to uphold it. It is advisable that KFC takes responsible care over the environment. This can be achieved by ensuring that they have goals that are targeted at fulfilling this mandate. The company should also ensure biodiversity in addressing issues related to climate changes. The company should have a carbon footprint that will address all issues related to carbon emissions. This means that it should be able to account for any omissions if any (Fox 2004, 34). There should also be a strategic plan that addresses how the company intends to deal with environmental issues such as promoting and ensuring environmental sustainability. The strategic plan can go a long way in providing courses of action that may be taken by the company to ensure that the environment is protected and preserved (Hillary 2000, 20). KFC should also have environmental services that are aimed at contributing to the protection of the environment. There should be internal programs that will ensure the workers and all other stakeholders are involved and committed to the protection of the environment (Sundar 2000, 103). Some of the major challenges that come with these recommendations include that they are expensive to clarify and implement. They may also be affected by the attitudes that workers and other stake holders have towards them. If these attitudes are negative, these recommendations are less likely to be successful. Some positive lessons learnt from having such practices are that the commitment of the company towards the protection of the environment can be seen by the rest of the world (Hopkins 1998, 70). In conclusion, the UN Global Compacts are the world’s largest corporate citizenship and sustainability initiative. They address several issues such as environmental, human rights, labor standards and anti-corruption among others. KFC is a signatory to the UN Global Compacts and it strives to uphold and respect all the ten principles. Even though there have been issues arising from these principles, the company does everything possible to uphold and respect them (Mohan 2001, 110). References Addo, M. K, ed. 1999. Human Rights Standards and the Responsibility of Transnational Corporations. The Hague: Kluwer Law International. Anderson, R. 1998. Mid-Course Correction: Toward a Sustainable Enterprise. Atlanta: Peregrinzilla Press. Arnold, M. and Day, R. 1998. The Next Bottom Line: Making Sustainable Development Tangible. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute. Avery, C. 2000. Business and Human Rights in a Time of Change. London: Amnesty International. Fox, T. 2004. “Corporate Social Responsibility and Development.” Journal of the Society for International Development 47 (3): 29–36. Hillary, R, ed. 2000. Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and the Environment: Business Imperatives. Sheffield: Greenleaf Publishing. Hopkins, M. 1998. The Planetary Bargain: Corporate Social Responsibility Comes of Age. Macmillan: London. Jenkins, R. 2000. Industry and Environment in Latin America. London: Routledge. Kell, G. 2005. “The Global Compact: Selected Experiences and Reflection.” Journal of Business Ethics 59: 69–79. Mohan, A. 2001. “Corporate Citizenship: Perspectives from India.” Journal of Corporate Citizenship 2: 107–117. Piasecki, B. 1995. Corporate Environmental Strategy: The Avalanche of Change since Bhopal. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Rasche, Andreas, and Kell Georg eds. 2010. The United Nations Global Compact: Achievement, Trends and Challenges. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press. Sundar, P. 2000. Beyond Business: From Merchant Charity to Corporate Citizenship. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill. Read More