...world have a choice of either becoming a solution to the problems bedeviling the world or join in and add to these problems. Global warming, corrupt practices, involvement of child labor in the supply chain are some of the problems occasioned by the growth and expansion of multinational corporations. It is incumbent upon these businesses to ensure that they operate ethically and by so doing avoid these dilemmas. Businesses are also expected to actively participate in upholding human rights. The Global Compact proposes presents the framework and guiding principles that can help these MNC’s navigate past these dilemmas as they enter new growth environments. This paper will report on the issues raised on the Bloomberg Interview and the Four Corners Program on Apple. The Global Compact (GC) is a proposal from the United Nations, which asks companies, MNCs included, to embrace and inculcate universal principles in their company operations and partner with the UN to ensure that human rights violations are not perpetuated in the business world (Rasche, et al., 2012). The UN GC has grown to become a crucial platform through which the UN gets to engage and interact constructively with the numerous enlightened global businesses. The GC’s primary goal is to encourage businesses to engage in businesses as forces of good and not evil. Multinational corporations are impacted by the GC which expects them to conduct their businesses is ethical manners. The Global Compact is alive...
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...Companies (MNC's) have toward human rights ZHOU QING Herzing University The responsibility Multi-National Companies (MNC's) have toward human rights The development of the world economy as a major driving force of globalization multinational companies, in particular, play an active role in the development of the economic development of the host country has been widely recognized by the international community, the role of multinational corporations on the economy to improve the enjoyment of human rights conditions has become the consensus of the people. However, the negative impact of the activities of transnational corporations or work for human rights has often been overlooked. In the 1950s and 1970s, the United Fruit Company and the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, involved in the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Guatemala and Chile scandal was revealed, causing the international community, especially the developing countries concerned about the activities of transnational corporations, and led to the development of countries expand movement multinationals nationalization. In addition, multinational companies are still developing countries, a large scale in grab natural resources, and corrosion of the activities of the government of the nation-state. In order to chase profits in global multinational companies also often in partnership with repressive governments engaged in large-scale violations of human rights activists, or the implementation...
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...speech and human rights violation in China and Google’s dilemma. Companies deal with ethical conflicts with China daily. Google Inc.’s struggled with ethical implications for doing business with China. The paper addresses the ethical problems that companies like Google, Inc. encountered that caused their decision to withdraw from China. The paper will show how Vietnam covered up corruption, freedom of speech, transparency, and supply chain ethical issues. Big companies continue to draw criticism for accommodating governments and compromise their ethical or moral standards. Companies have an enormous opportunity in China to make a bigger profit by doing business in China. The organization cannot assume that Chinese do business the same way Americans do. To do business in China a company has to follow government directives. Chinese want to do business with people they trust. Terms on contracts will not mean the same thing to them as they do to Americans. Chinese businesses do not feel they are bound to contracts. In America a company competes with 100’s of business but in China, you are competing with globally. Google Inc’s announce in Beijing their decision to withdraw from China after ethical implications of hacking into the privacy of Google’s users. Google had to limit the excess of information on the search engine in China. China does not hold to the same freedom of speech American do. Free speech advocates criticized Cisco Systems, inc. for selling equipment to China that blocks...
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...Nicole Ferguson Professor Delli Santi English 112 22 February 2015 “A Stand for Women’s Rights Around the Globe” Women’s rights are no longer a major topic within the United States, but many countries still refuse to acknowledge the rights of women. On September 5, 1995, Hillary Clinton addressed the distinguished delegates and guests of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women with a heartfelt speech requesting the silence of women in many countries to be heard. The words and tone of Clinton’s speech reached out to the audience to take a stand against the violation of women’s rights. Hillary Clinton is known by many as a true women’s activist. The quest for women’s rights came long before Clinton’s political career. Clinton had dreamed of becoming an astronaut in her early years, but those dreams were crushed after gaining the knowledge that women were not accepted into the NASA program (Hillary). Clinton obtained her degree from Yale Law School in 1969, and immediately pursued a career in politics. Hillary assisted Bill Clinton in managing his campaign for a congressional seat in 1974, and they later married in 1975 (Hillary). Clinton was awarded numerous awards, including Young Mother of the Year and Woman of the Year, during her husband’s time as governor in Arkansas. These awards and the role she played in her husbands’ career had left Clinton with a high reputation in Arkansas. She was known as “one of the state’s most powerful political figures and a...
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...Human Rights should ensure that an individual is guaranteed certain rights and freedoms. Among the most important are civil and political rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and the order to provide safety and equality to every individual. A major development towards Human Rights took place by the United Rights took place by the United Nations in 1948. A thirty page outline was adapted to declare a Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Injustices and violations occur everywhere but not as severe in Western civilizations. Third World Countries like India and in Asian cultures such as China believe in abiding by much stricter rules and regulations. The Problems and violations occurred early on in both of the regions, but still exist and effect many people's lives. In India the untouchables evolved from the caste system developed by an early Aryan custom. Such activities as talking and looking at other classes, drinking out of certain wells or even visiting some temples were forbidden. It now exists in rural parts of India including Bihar and in Southern Tamil Nadu, shunning about 160 million people in rank. The deaths and torture which have occurred in Tibet as a result of the Chinese invasion is staggering too. It started in 1949 and up to date has killed over 1.2 million Tibetans. After the mass invasion, Tibet represented a prison camp or labor camp for most people. Society, government, and religion are examples of reasons that started racism and bias opinions against...
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...Profit Vs. Freedom of Speech: a Cross-Cultural Perspective It is no secret that in a business profit is the bottom line. It is the reason someone starts a company, the reason employees crawl out of bed each morning, and the reason why sometimes ethical values are bent or broken. On the small scale, such as a local grocery, ethics of the owners and employees can be easily maintained because the area they are operating in shares the same values. This, however, is not the case with global businesses. Instead of a local community for profits large businesses rely on the global market, thus exposing and challenging their original ethics for the sake of continued profits. This cross-cultural perspective will examine a recent example of this challenge when the company Google began to expand into the Chinese and other Asian markets. Google is a multi-billion dollar company that was started in the garage of two Stanford students in 1997 (Google, 2012). The initial goal was to produce an internet search engine that would be able to find and provide access to an immeasurable amount of information. Since its inception, Google published several values that were believed to be the essence of the company. Among them were that all focus should be on the user of the product and that any ad revenue should not come at the users cost, examples include pop-up advertising and manipulated searches (Google, 2012). Google also started with a relaxed approach to business, believing that employees worked...
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...Ulises Rosas-Rivera Professor Adrianna Barkey English 101 3 February 2015 Human Traditions: A Violation of the Human Rights Human rights describe equal rights and freedom for everybody by the fact of being human and without distinction of any kind of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other options. However, many people have always suffered from the lack of them throughout history. Both foot binding and female circumcision are good examples of violation of the human rights. In the essays “Footbinding” by John King Fairbank and “Female Circumcision: Rite of Passage or Violation of Rights” by Frances A. Althaus, the authors described each tradition as a violation of human rights. In today’s life there still many violations against human rights. Women and children are the ones who suffered the most. In a world where male-dominated society still exist, and discrimination, both men and women nearly have no rights for their better lives because of lower education. Female Circumcision or Genital Mutilation (what it must be called), it has been practiced in most of the countries in Africa. The practice of this “tradition,” according to Frances A. Althaus, “is one element of a rite of passage preparing young girls for womanhood and marriage” (Althaus 242). This practice is a complete form of gender discrimination. To all of the societies in Africa, Genital Mutilation is an integral part in social context. Actually, it gives complete authority and control of the...
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...China, Multinational Corporations, and Internet Privacy Issues: An Incoherent Landscape Lysette Kent China, Multinational Corporations, and Internet Privacy Issues, Lysette Kent 49 Abstract In the mid 2000s, staff at the Chinese division of Yahoo! sent information on one of its users, Shi Tao, to the Chinese government. The journalist had been critical of the Chinese government, and, based on the information sent to the government, Shi Tao was sentenced to ten years in prison. In 2010, e-mail accounts housed by Google were hacked. Many of these accounts belonged to human rights activists. Issues like these pose a conundrum for the United States and international entities that are looking to prevent human rights abuses, including violations of privacy, in countries such as China. This paper will evaluate current and proposed efforts to curb such actions by the Chinese government. I propose the following three-pronged approach to deal with these actions: 1) a vigorous naming, blaming, and shaming campaign; 2) the adoption of a uniform policy by the United States government for addressing the Chinese government on these issues; and 3) the development of coherent, enforceable, and specific codes of conduct by trade associations and business groups that discuss issues of censorship and privacy regarding the internet, their customers, and foreign governments. 50 The Public Purpose Statement of the Problem In the mid-2000s, staff at the Chinese branch of Yahoo! sent...
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...Levi Strauss & Co. and China From: Case Studies in Business Ethics 5th ed. Al Gini (pp. 294-298) The market that is the people's Republic of China consists of more than 1 billion consumers and offers low production costs, but its human rights violations have long been condemned by international bodies. In 1993 Levi Strauss & Co. (LS & Co.) faced one of its more difficult decisions in a long corporate history. Would it continue to conduct business in this enormously promising market or honor its relatively high ethical standards and withdraw? Levi Strauss: History and Ethical Stance Founded in the United States in 1873, LS&Co. enjoyed consistent domestic growth for generations and began overseas operations during the 1940s. The company became the world's largest clothing manufacturer in 1977 and achieved $2 billion in sales by the end of the decade. Having offered stock to the public during the 1970s to raise needed capital, management decided fourteen years later to reprivatize in a $2 billion leveraged buyout, the largest such transaction to date. Management's reasons included its heightened ability to "focus attention on long-tem interests (and)… to ensure that the company continues to respect and implement its important values and traditions." By 1993, LS&Co. Produced merchandise in 24 countries and sold in 60. LS&Co. has been a leader among U.S.-based corporations in recognizing the importance of business ethics and community relationships. Two...
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...Did you know that the boy to girl ratio in China is skewed? (source 3) In China boys are more favorable than girls due to they can do more and carry the family name. This is from the one child policy in China. In china you can only have one child under this policy with a few exceptions depending on your race and your location. One child policy is a violation of human rights because it defies multiple guaranteed rights from the UN Declaration of Human rights, including Articles 1, 3, and 5. They are violated because you should be able to pursue your happiness and if that means having more than one child then so be it. Before the one child policy in 1955 Officials in China tried to launch a campaign to promote birth control (source 5). Unfortunately...
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...DOING BUSINESS IN CHINA: The Human Rights Challenge CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION China: World Economic and Manufacturing Centre Why Are Human Rights so Important for International Business? Chinese Legislation: Gap Between Theory and Practice p. 3 p. 4 p. 6 II. SPECIFIC ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Freedom of Association, the Right to Form and Join Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining 2. Working Conditions 3. Discrimination 4. Forced Labour 5. Forced Evictions 6. The Rights of Children 7. The Right to Freedom of Expression and Information p. 8 p. 12 p. 16 p. 20 p. 23 p. 26 p. 29 p. 32 p. 33 p. 34 p. 37 III. GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS TO COMPANIES IV. CONCLUSION V. LEGAL STANDARDS AND SOURCES VI. CONTACT ADDRESSES 2 I. INTRODUCTION China: World Economic and Manufacturing Centre Over the years China has become one of the largest economies in the world and the manufacturing centre of the world. Since the seventies, China has sought joint venture partners and encouraged technology transfer through foreign investment. Chinese firms are successfully manufacturing products on behalf of numerous foreign companies. The Chinese government provides massive contracts to foreign firms in order to build up the infrastructure required for its industrialization. Many companies establish distribution networks in China in order to benefit from the large home-market and increasing purchasing power of Chinese consumers. Last but not least, in 2008 China organized the first...
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...The events of the “Rape of Nanking” The raping of nanking is the most unknown event in history. The rape of nanking was an example of gendercide against men & women . It’s mainly known for the mistreatment done to the women. They were brutally injured ,traumatized or killed. Defenseless men were made POWs, murdered or used for bayonet practice. They were also burned and buried alive. The raping of nanking violates human rights because no one is subjected to torture or cruel inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment. This event violated article 5. (Source 8) Japan & China had several feuds prior to this incident. Japan and China went to war in 1884 to gain control of China’s trading ports. Between 1899 and 1907 a city called the Hague in netherlands agreed to to prohibit the mistreatment of POWs and civilians. By the 1930s Japan thought it was their destiny to conquer China. Refugees tried to escape crossing the Yangtze river. Due to no transportation they were trapped on the east bank, many tried to swim across. Japanese soldiers arrived firing several shots. A Japanese soldier reported he had seen an estimate of 50,000 bodies adults & children. (Source 2)...
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...answer according to marks - topic-centric focus on exams - can argue from two different angles, but WRITE FROM THE POSITION/PERSPECTIVE REQUIRED - OPEN BOOK - bigger topics on diplomatic immunity, human rights situations, sanctions, mixed situations --> CREATIVE ANSWERS Modern Foreign Relations Law and Diplomacy SAMPLE EXAM Question 1 20 points Mr. and Mrs. Egleen Wasterdeen, the ambassador of Westland in Eastland and his wife, hire Happy Face, Inc. to cater their daughter’s wedding reception. Emily, their daughter, is getting married to the older son of ambassador Turgis Maturgis of Northland, Macklem. The costs are estimated at approximately CHF 150,000, and ambassador Wasterdeen signs the estimate, with the handwritten addendum: “If it is a little more, that’s fine.” Some 250 guests attend the reception at a lovely resort by a lake in Eastland’s lake district, 80% of them members of the diplomatic corps. Ambassador Wasterdeen uses the opportunity for a lot of talks with his colleagues, including preliminary negotiations on a trade agreement with Northland. After the event, Happy Face, Inc. presents ambassador Wasterdeed with a bill totaling CHF 189,000. The cover letter states that “consumption of alcoholic beverages has exceeded estimates, and several expensive pieces of china have been damaged.” Ambassador Wasterdeen calls Happy Face, Inc. and says: “I am paying you CHF 150,000 as agreed. If you want more, sue me.” This is exactly what Happy Face, Inc. does. The suit for...
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...The Information Office of China’s State Council, launched its own criticism of the U.S. as “the world judge of human rights” (“China Hits Back”), and denounced the apparent distor-tions of the PRC’s human rights record. For example, the report condemned the United States for the following: Firearms-related crimes threatening the well-being of Americans; elections that do not fully reflect the real will of its citizens. Using for example, the 2012 presidential race, which had a voter turnout of only 57.5 percent; finally, criticizing the income gap of the United States as the greatest in the developed world (“China Hits Back”). Japanese Comfort Women Although further back in history, Ambassador Cong also criticized the government of Ja-pan for...
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...Kaamashri Latcha Every year, the United States studies and presents reports on hu- man rights practices in more than 190 countries around the world. In the 2010 Human Rights report, China was chastised by the U.S. for its poor human rights record. The Chinese government has been accused of imprisoning citizens for practicing their religious faith and op- pressing freedom of expression and information. The one child per family policy has been attacked continuously by the U.S. and they have also con- demned the arrest, detention and disappearance of Chinese citizens. This latest human rights report issued by the U.S. has highlighted many human rights transgressions in China. Yet the U.S. criticism on China’s human rights has been contradicted by China. As the fastest developing economy in the world, China is intent on defending its position where human rights are concerned. The two countries have had dialogues on human rights issues, the latest being held on April 27-28, 2011 in Beijing. The discourse came after prolonged foot- dragging on the part of both nations; talks were suspended for a few years. Both countries have not been able to publicly accept their human rights errors, but each has been focusing on violations committed by the other. Against the backdrop of military buildup by both countries, the con- troversy over whether the U.S. is morally justified in criticizing China’s hu- man rights can have far reaching and devastating effects for the entire world. The two “powers”...
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