You are the CEO of a company based in Abu Dhabi that imports fresh dates from South Africa to be processed at a site each in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Oman, and Kuwait. The imports are essential to provide sufficient product outside the harvest period in the Middle East. It is a complicated process that involves separating the bulk shipments that arrive at the port of Mina Zayed into consignments for each of the processing plants before they can be transported by bulk containers. The decision has been made to process the dates in South Africa, close the processing plants in the Middle East, and ship the dates ready-packed directly to the market. You intend to establish a joint venture with a South African processer.
1. Do you think that your two companies can establish a common CSR policy that will guide a joint venture before operations commence?
2. What ethical issues might arise in taking the decision to launch a joint venture?
3. How would your key target markets in the Middle East react to your decision to move processing from the Middle East to South Africa?