MPHR 817-102-Fall19 Ethics Poll

Ethics Poll Part 1

YOU:

You work for a large US-based MNC that makes and sells clothing.
You’ve just taken a new job as Head of HR for your company’s wholly owned subsidiary, the Bangladeshi Garment Operations (BGO) company.
This is your first expatriate assignment, and you are excited and want to perform well.

FACILITY TOUR:

After you’ve arrived, settled in, and gotten over your jet lag, you ask the leadership for a thorough tour of the facility.
You are pleased to learn that it is very clean, safe, and operated according to US standards for safety and occupational health.
You know from glancing at the HRIS summary reports that the employees are mostly women.
As you tour the factory, you are concerned that some of the girls working on the factory floor seem underage.

FACT FINDING:

After the tour, you head back to your office to do some fact-finding.
You find that the factory employs about a dozen girls ages 12-13.
You know that your parent company has a strict company-wide policy against child labor, and, since the BGO is a wholly-owned subsidiary, parent company policies apply.
You’re also aware that other companies have had major PR disasters over child labor, and you’re concerned that you may be facing that here.

QUESTION A: WHAT DO YOU DO? And WHY?

(Choose ONE answer. If more than one answer applies, choose the answer with the reason that’s most important to you.)

Nothing. You’re new here, it’s your first expat assignment, and you don’t want to rock the boat.

Nothing. You are not totally sure about the Bangladeshi cultural implications, so rather than offending anyone, you choose to let the issue stay as it is.

Fire them. The company policy against child labor is clear, and you cannot allow it to happen under your watch.

Fire them. Making children work when they should be in school is just wrong.

Other

Please Specify:

Ethics Poll Part 2

YOU’VE MADE A DECISION AND TAKE ACTION:

You’ve decided that the underage girls need to be let go. Not only is it company policy, but you personally are against child labor.
You seek out the supervisors to tell them the girls must be fired and why.
You’re surprised when they get upset with you and push back hard on your decision.

SUPERVISORS EXPLAIN:

All of the underage girls are orphans.
Before being hired by your company, they were in the child sex trade. Put bluntly, they sold their bodies on the street to survive.
If you fire them, they’ll have to go back to that life, because there is no possibility for any other work for them. If they don’t go back to the child sex trade, they will starve.

QUESTION B: NOW WHAT DO YOU DO?

Nothing--let them continue working.

Fire them.

Other

Please Specify:

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