Shared Writing: Ethics and the Global Supply Chain

You are the CEO of a major US apparel company that contracts work to garment manufacturers abroad. Employees of one contractor report $20-$hour workdays, pay below the minimum wage, overcrowded living conditions, physically abusive supervisors, and confiscation of workers' passports so they cannot quit. Local officials say labor laws are adhered to and enforced, though abuses appear widespread. You send inspectors to the offending factory abroad, but they uncover no labor violations. A labor$-$advocacy group claims that supervisors coached workers to lie to your inspectors about conditions and threatened workers with time in makeshift jails without food if they talked.

Should you implement a monitoring system to learn the truth about what is happening?

Do you help the factory improve conditions, withdraw your business from the country, or simply do nothing?

How might your actions affect your global corporate reputation, brand image, and brand value?

How might your actions affect relations with the factory owner ahd your ability to do business in the country?