Is Wal-Mart only looking out for itself?
by kimdomil
The collapse of the eight-story Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh, where over a thousand people were killed and many more injured, is a very good example of why good safety practices should be met especially within a compact workplace. The tragedy encouraged retailers to improve the safety of garment factories and break ties with manufacturers unable to live up to the standards.
In accordance Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, released a blacklist of more than 200 factories that displayed serious safety and labor problems or unauthorized subcontracting. But it appears that two of the prohibited Bangladeshi factories, Mars Apparels and Simco Dresses, have continued to send large shipments to Walmart. Ahmed, a director of Mars Apparels, claims that he has passed all his audits, which uses the World wide Responsible Accredited Production program, since 2008 and “never had any problems with Walmart or heard about its list of banned factories.” All of the shipments were cleared through customs several times without question, so why is Ahmed’s company “red failed”?
R. Edward Freeman says that any business must create value for all stakeholders, including suppliers. Walmart, rather than promoting safety within the workplace of Bangladesh suppliers, is shifting blame to partners through their approach of blacklisting and is damaging the factories’ reputations such as Mars Apparels. If Walmart is “working on an alternative plan,” they should start by reevaluating their list of “unauthorized” partners because they are acting solely upon self-interest instead of good ethics and accountability.
Sources:
Grabell, Michael. “Walmart Accepted Clothing from Banned Bangladesh Factories” Propublica., 12 June 2013. Web. 11 Sept. 2013.
“What Is Stakeholder Theory? – R. Edward Freeman.” YouTube. YouTube, 01 Oct. 2009. Web. 11 Sept. 2013.
Photo Source: 1322876800561_ORIGINAL.jpg
Notes:
WEEK 2 : Business Ethics