On April 24th,2013, the collapse of an eight-story garment factory in Bangladesh reminded us to think about corporative responsibilities again. killing at least 400 people and injuring many more, this industrial accident is actually not a accidental event. So far, Bangladesh has become the second biggest cloth exporter which needs a great amount of clothing factories, however, the government only have rudimentary laws about nation building.
The reason that such numerous brands choose Bangladesh is obviously the cheap labor, however, it cannot be ignored that the limit investment has more possibilities to cause a worse working condition. It is the corporation’s responsibility, in my point of view, to ensure workers fundamental right, for instance, health and life. We have to acknowledged that the corporate managers themselves are person with basic social responsibilities, besides, they have extra needs to protect their employees.
However, some managers only show the CSR (corporate social responsibility) in some superficial forms like doing charity or advertising on the media because they do not think the costumers would not pay for their social responsibilities. Although Milton Friedman skepticism about the so called “corporate responsibility” is actually increase the cost and the risk of stakeholders( Corporate Ethics and Corporate Governance, by Zimmerli, Walther, Holzinger, Markus, Richter, Klaus) it is still necessary for all corporations to do that since it is also a way to improve company’s reputation in the society. Making consumers confident about the brand and the company ethic itself is not only a business strategy, but also a moral need. On the other hand, it is worth to spend extra money on the ethics because the consumers do not want to pay for a cloth concealing blood and tears. Also, the corporation may pay much more money if there is a safety accident of the producing factory.
Finding a balance between the corporate profit and the social responsibilities would be a essential problem for all managers and the corporate social responsibility should not always be a Utopian element.
http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21577067-gruesome-accident-should-make-all-bosses-think-harder-about-what-behaving-responsibly