Introduction
The banana plant is considered to be the largest herb in the world and it belongs to a family of plants called lily plants. The plant matures in a period of nine months and after that it’s able to produce fruits all year round. The fruit was introduced on large scale first in northern America in the 19th century and currently the crop has spread all over the world and over 87 million tons are harvested each year form Asia, South America and Africa. As a result of the large production, there are some multinational companies from North America that are spreading the cultivation of the plant in many nations on commercial basis. Significant achievements have been observed in Latin America where Latin nations produce about 64 percent of the world’s export comes from Columbia, Ecuador and Costa Rica alone. On the whole, there are no external additives that are needed to successfully breed a banana plant. Nonetheless, there are competitive chemical usages that have come to be greatly involved. The multinational companies involved are required to produce cash crops on large-scale in a single cultural system to be competent on the world market. In the effort to be competitive, human rights have come to be violated and the environment degraded by activities of the firms (Letnes, 33). This paper examines the situation and advancement in corporate responsibility.
Corporate Responsibility Statements
Currently, the banana industry is experiencing a radical revolution and the companies that deal in these products are required to observe their responsibilities are loyal and responsible corporate entities (Addo, 142). Basically this is what has formed the basis of the corporate statements issued by Chiquita, Dole and Del Monte companies. The corporate statements issued by these companies covered the main principles of corporate governance which is based on best practice that is recognized across all the stakeholders in the industry as well as the international human rights watch (Richter, 67). The components that make the statements include;
- The workers and their working conditions (this also covers contractors besides the usual employees) (Richter, 67)
- the market environment –this component covers ‘duty to the clients and suppliers’ as well as collaborators (Addo, 142)
- the environment – this covers issues that relate to conservation and sustainability of the natural environment despite using land for farming (Addo, 142)
- society – this is the duty to the community in which the companies thrives
Under the provision of workers and the working environment, the companies pledge to respect and sustain the internationally recognized set of rules that grant workers their inalienable rights. They also state that these rules shall be the guidelines of their operations according to the way they are provided for by the UN declaration about the right of workers and the international labor standards (Letnes, 33). The firms also pledge to adhere to the domestic legal framework of the countries that they operate in. Important factor to note is the diversity and inclusion strategies which appreciates the value of every individual. A second aspect to observe is the safety, health and general wellbeing of workers (Letnes, 33). This means that the employee interest will be addressed with keen interest.
Duty to the clients and suppliers is very important and the companies pledge that they would create a mutual trust between the company and the client. This has applied similarly to the suppliers. Suppliers will be very high respect and deals with in suppliers will be addressed with respect, value for diversity and fairness (Richter, 67). The conduct of this business is to act as the law demands on professional grounds.
There is a problem of creating a greener environment that faces many nations that are entirely reliant on the carbon gases among other hydrocarbon producing fuels. Nonetheless, Dole, Del Monte and Chiquita in their statement, pledged to ensure that they operate within the levels of are appropriate for sustainability (Addo, 142). This means that the chemicals that are used will be observed by experts and limits observed so that they do not pollute the environment (Letnes, 33). All the legislation that governs the environment will be observed to the later and that no material that degrade the environment will be released into the environment.
On society aspect, the companies stated that they foster a reciprocated association with the communities where they carry out their deals. This aspect also indicated that the companies will be actively involved in the various activities that are beneficial to the community (Letnes, 33).
The History and Purpose the CRS
Cooperative social responsibility has grown to become a very sensitive matter on grounds that it deals with very sensitive responsibilities. There are some people who feel that the whole concept is irrelevant, some view it as a very good policy but not appropriate for businesses and there are those who actually view the idea as a very strong strategy for the success of business (Letnes, 33). As the squabble continues as to why corporate responsibility should be part of management, a very interesting concept about CRS has cropped up. The origin and historical concept of the strategy has its roots back to the ancient era. However the recent description of what corporate responsibility is has increased its scope so much that it incorporates several elements including legal, ethical, societal, economical and discretionary responsibilities (Letnes, 33). These categories are a reflection of the history of the business strategies as they put more emphasis on the legalities and the economic aspect and then they develop to address the moral and discretion elements. The components cannot be addressed separately as cannot be mutually separate when they are applied by managers to deal with the various types of obligations that are often a point of contention (Charbonneau & Clipsham, 139).
Corporate responsibility ideology has in recent developments increased its scope once more to address the issues of all stakeholders ranging from the consumers, workers, to employers and government. Economic elements entail doing what the new trend of global market or capital economy requires. The legal aspect guides businesses to comply with what the global stakeholders requires especially the governments and other international laws (Addo, 142). Ethical aspect entails acting in a manner that is ‘expected’ from a firm by the society or the moral conscience. There is also an aspect of philanthropic responsibility that is essentially what companies do as it is ‘desired’ of them by the society and other stakeholders. The corporate statements of Dole, De Monte and Chiquita have also been forced to incorporate all these categories (Gonzalez-Perez & McDonald, 13). The format was forced to adjust following a lot of reaction from the people and the governments. There were a lot of cases about labor rights and the general co-existence of the firms with the people in Latin America. The productions of millions of tons of the banana were characterized by poor pay, below standard working conditions and lack of adherence to the law (Hernandez & Witter, 116). This was instigated by the poor management of the nations in the South American continent. Nations like Ecuador have not had proper labor laws that would safeguard human rights. Furthermore the governments do not strongly enforce these laws and hence the multinationals tend to capitalize on these loopholes violate them (Letnes, 33).
The Corporate Problems
Child Labor: The human rights body that investigates and control abuse of these rights has found out that child employment in Latin American banana plantations has become so rampant that the people there are used to working with children until they no longer view it as a social concern (Arias, 89). The workers therefore suffer painful conditions of abuse of their rights without any means of defending themselves as unions have no influence to do so (Hernandez & Witter, 116). The human rights watch has often surveyed the nations and released reports that can be used to positively alter the situation about the conditions. This is usually not taken seriously as the firms involved; Dole, Del Monte and Chiquita often dismiss those claims. However the report has revealed that despite these firms having made very strong corporate responsibility statements, they still acted in contradiction to what they had stated in their corporate proclamation (Striffler & Moberg, 78).
Chemical Impact: Dole, Del Monte and Chiquita regard themselves as very good citizens according to what they states in their corporate responsibility statements. The adherence to environmental requirements seem not to be a big problems fro them to agree with it (Henriques et al, 91). However, the real actions on the ground seem to be very contrary to what these firms proclaim.
The use of chemicals as pesticides, herbicides and insecticides in the production of bananas has had a very big impact on the environment. In most of the instances, the pesticides and herbicides are applied 40 to 50 times each year. When the rains come, these wastes are carried to the water bodies and absorbed in the ground (Perillo, 69). There are some chemicals that have been found to be carcinogenic and hence very dangerous. In the study of the Valle De Estrela, there was evidence of chemicals that were used by Dole in the rivers and water wells. Chlorothalonil was in higher percentage and it’s a very dangerous chemical (Gonzalez-Perez & McDonald, 13).
The US Consumerism on Human Rights Violation
The corporate statements imply that that said companies are involved in doing legitimate and ethically sensitive business. For this reason customers usually get that feeling of satisfaction that they are dealing with a company that is responsible. In the current world, the customers are very critical to the survival of companies and that is why when they boycott buying from a company that violates human rights, then, there is a very high likelihood that the firm will have to reform. This is exercising what is called customer power (Letnes, 33). Customers have a very strong influence and with such power it’s very feasible to impact the desired change.
Consumers in the US are taking action against the child labor in the Latin America. For this reason, the consumers are creating a market for products that are child-labor free. This can also be used to ensure that the corporations that are dealing in banana industry guarantee that their process of production does not use children the process. Consumers are going to bring about a very critical transparency in this supply chain of all things they purchase and a result curtails the international supply cheaply produced goods (Letnes, 33).
Many nations usually engage in businesses, buying products from large corporation without actually analyzing where the products came from or under which conditions were the products produced. Basically no one could really engage in business knowing that the companies supplying the bananas do not pay their workers especially when the workers are small children living in abject poverty (Arias, 89). Nonetheless, the bad news usually comes as a surprise to a lot of the loyal clients who trusted the multi-national corporation with the business. Dole, Del Monte and Chiquita have been victimized for practicing unfair work conditions which have even included forced labor. Many other nations which constitute the market for these corporations continue to buy their products and thus inadvertently furthering the insalubrious employment practices (Evans, 98). Larger markets like America need to be made aware of the firms that have been using unfair labor conditions so as to be able to take necessary steps and try to bring about reforms like boycotting to buy their products (Evans, 98). The producers need to apply better and safer work practices and also fairly reimburse the workers for their effort.
The unfair labor practice in South America takes different forms but all in all any coercion used to keep the workers producing is considered to be unfair labor practice (Chang, 78). The common malpractices that Dole, Chiquita and other firms in Latin America have been indicted for include child labor, meager wages, and abuse or forced labor (Pier, 213). Child labor is not only an unfair practice against the children but it is also considered to be a serious human rights infringement crime even by the international community (Hernandez & Witter, 116). Even after the world watch on human rights addressed the issue, Del Monte, Chiquita and Dole still disclaimed the allegations and insisted that they had nothing but respect for their employees and that they were doing everything they could afford to ensure that their employees were satisfied (Chang, 78). Furthermore they stated that the supplies were essentially privately owned and they had no control over and that the matters of labor conditions were hence eventually the prerogative of the administrators of the various plantations (Gonzalez-Perez & Mcdonald, 4).
It is no doubt that Dole and other banana firms are very important in the economy of the South Americans. These firms however, seem to have greatly capitalized on the lower minimum pay and lax labor standards (Evans, 98). The companies do not own most of the plantations directly though they have some permanent suppliers (Chang, 78). This has allowed the companies to have strong indirect force to control them especially through quality – control buying from their suppliers. This means that the companies have tactfully evaded dealing with the muddled societal or political implications that usually result from owning plantations in South America (Josling & Taylor, 211).
The American Consumerism
For quite sometime now the United States and the European nations have made the largest market fro the bananas found that are cultivated in Latin America. For this reason these nations have formed some corporations and organizations that impact on the production of bananas in Latin America (Harari, 57). The themes that are usually addressed include fair trade and human rights. These organizations in the US are very important vehicles that these larger consumers use to lobby for better production conditions in the producing companies. Many organizations have been formed in the United States to work in solidarity so that their impact can be felt in the producing nations (Henriques et al, 91). Major companies in banana production like the Chiquita, Dole and Del Monte will definitely respond to their demands if consumer organizations work in solidarity. Also very critical to the fight are the human rights groups and the environment activities.
Basically customer unions can easily gain recognition by the banana cultivating corporations. Child labor is the major problem that is recognized as a serious infringement of human rights. Since trade unions have not had a chance to fight for human rights in South America, consumers in North America are considered the next best alternative to fight for the rights of the workers (Henriques et al, 91). The effort is very influential since it involves families, organizations and the whole world community in combating the violation of inalienable human rights (Harari, 57). The foundation of the arguments is that children need to be taken to school and not to be employed on the farms with meager wages and that there is need to hold up better standards. This is very important in building the history and developing the international economy.
The North American consumers are going to impact a very significant change that will be able to protect the rights of the children. Basically when the working conditions improve, then the parents will be able to get better pay of which they will be able to afford better life and fend for their children. In this way the children will less likely get to be employed in the farms as additional source of income (Harari, 57). Furthermore when the fight for human rights is coming from external stakeholders and especially customers, workers unions in Latin American will be empowered to fights for their rights. It’s believed that in this way, Del Monte, Dole and Chiquita will have to respond to the needs of the workers since the fights will be considered as a major affirmative action by the industries stakeholders (Kasteele, 56). The American consumers are working with the international confederation that deals with core work standards that include prohibiting child labor that are strongly supported by the world trade organization (Pier, 213).
CRS Impacts Global Fiduciary Responsibility
Every company is required to exercise its fiduciary responsibility. This means that the interests of other people should be put first. Basically Dole, Del Monte and Chiquita should be at the forefront to act according to their corporate responsibility declarations. Being open in their dealing and exposing possible risk to the stakeholders involved especially the consumers and their workers (Caharbonneau & Clipsham, 139. The fiduciary duty has a number of faces (Henriques et als, 91). Subjectively, the company must take its initiatives with good faith that what they are doing is in the best interests of the company and other players. Objectively, these companies are required to act with appropriate reason, they should not fatter their discretion and should not allow in anyway their personal interests to interfere with the way they are discharging their duties. Fiduciary duty requires the companies to fully disclose any conflict of interest and then acquire the total approval of the stakeholders to proceed. The company shall be liable for any damages as a result of failing to honor the fiduciary duty (Henriques et als, 91).
As part of the duty, Del Monte, Chiquita and Dole will have to use their financial power to ensure that farmers or suppliers do not employ children on the farms. They will also educate the people on the potential risk that banana farming presents to them including dangers of exposure to the toxic chemicals used in farming (Caharbonneau & Clipsham, 139). These firms will also have for ensure that they are protective of the environment and try as much as possible to control the amount of chemicals to be used. Fair pay and working conditions should be ensured so that workers are not exploited. All these will greatly depend on the effort of the companies to educate and exercise transparency with their suppliers, workers and customers.
Conclusion
It’s usually considered that the arm of law can catch up with people no matter how far they go or try to get away from the crimes. However recently it’s emerging that the arm of ethics and moral obligation is longer. Consumer power is being hailed as one of the critical tools that are able to transform the behavior of companies. The boycott mechanism is growing to become a very strong political power to use in protesting. Its been observed that when clients deliberately avoided products from del Monte, Chiquita and Dole in protest against child labor, the outcry was quickly responded to by involved companies. Dole suffered such action when customers boycotted their supply terming them as abusive of child labor. Following the action, Dole was forced to issue a statement to disclaim the accusations. it also put more emphasis on stoppage of child labor. When customer use such pressure groups are very useful in bringing unethical behavior to an end. In response to what has been elicited by the consumer power, it’s been observed that the ethical corporation is in the verge to increase. Industries are now stringently observing the codes that prohibit child employment. Chiquita, Del Monte and Dole have a very big role in society as people besides their goals to make profits. This includes acting in a morally correct manner. Children are a very integral part of the society and any nation depends on them for the survival of tomorrow. It is ethical and every individual has the moral obligation to ensure survival of future generations by providing the young ones a better chance in life to be sustainable like right to school.
Works Cited
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Consumer power
In response to consumer pressure, a whole sector of ethical corporations has arisen in recent years. Some companies have made principled withdrawals from countries where they could otherwise manufacture profitably – this was the course taken by Levi Strauss did in China. Levi Strauss has adopted a strong “good guy” image, because of its refusal to use subcontractors that exploit workers in developing countries. Protest from outraged consumers may force companies manufacturing in India or Thailand to sack the underage children they were previously employing. Codes prohibiting child labor have been introduced, especially among apparel manufacturers, merchandisers and retailers.