A recent Panorama programme that aired on the BBC on Monday 23rd September 2013 brought to light (again) the ever-present issues of cheap labour in low-income countries (LIC's). The programme focused on Dhaka, Bangladesh where the recent tragedy occurred at the Tazreen Fashion Factory killing at least 117 people but seriously injuring more than 200. But why and how did this occur?
Firstly we should address the issue of cheap labour, not solely in the Tazreen Fashion Factory, but globally across LIC's. In Dhaka, workers are paid the equivalent of £1-2 a day, not acceptable in the present day by most peoples standards. Further to this; the conditions the workers work in are often poor and below safety standards, and the fact that the workers are forced to work over time - with some workers starting at 7.30am and finishing at 2.30am, an 18-hour shift. They then have to start work again at 7.30am, giving them very little time for sleeping, eating or spending time with their families. Possibly the worst factor, and the main factor contributing to the Tazreen Factory Fire and many more factory fires is the fact that the number of fire escapes are limited in the factories and the doors to the factories are regularly locked to stop the labourers from stealing the goods, this not only results in an over-heating, stuffy room for the workers, but leaves all those inside vulnerable to fire risk. It is not uncommon for fires to break out within these factories, so the locking of the gates just further increases the chances of the workers being burnt alive.
But do the large Western Transnational Corporations (TNC's) know about this labour? Well, they all, for obvious reasons, claim they have no knowledge of such conditions and labour. And many don't believe them, but they may well be telling the truth. It is commonly believed that these factories keep two log books for the hours which workers work, one of the books shows normal working hours (7.30am-4.30pm) and this is the book shown to the large TNC's. However, they also keep their own log, showing how much time the workers are actually working.
But should the TNC's be held responsible if they are mislead? This question divides opinion amongst many, but, I believe that the TNC's should be encouraged to 'do more digging' around their suppliers legitimacy, one firm that is well-known in the UK for it's excellent fair trade status is British high-street staple Marks & Spencer. Their suppliers go through rigorous checks before M&S choose to do business with them, thus resulting in very high working standards for the workers.
One further point should be made - these TNC's provide the workers with a wage, many of these workers may otherwise not receive any income at all, so some is better than none. It should also be noted that many TNC's work legitimately, and in a fair manner resulting in high quality factories.
In conclusion, I believe that a global collaboration amongst buyers, suppliers, governments, charities and the media is required to form an effective attack on this type of labour. It will require enforcement and funding but a collaboration from across the globe should help to tackle the issue significantly. The only question is...How long will this global collaboration take to form?
Sources; Panorama - dying for a bargain. Reporter; Richard Bilton. Aired; Mon 23 Sept. 8.30pm
Wednesday, 25 September 2013
Saturday, 7 September 2013
The Standardisation of Boxes
In the ever-changing modernised world, everyone is looking to gain an advantage over fellow competitors when it comes to business. In this blog, I will examine how the standardisation of large shipping containers has given those businesses an advantage over rivals, and why rival company's will now follow suit.
The recent acceleration of Globalization has allowed for many people to purchase foreign goods, for instance, the Chinese have become very fond of Scotch Whiskey, obviously, only made in Scotland. So in order for the Chinese to purchase this product, it needs to be transported all the way to Asia, from Europe. But how has the standardisation of shipping containers allowed this to occur so efficiently and quickly? Well, the simple answer is; the containers are standardised. If all the containers are standardised it means the ship, or the train, or the crane that lifts the boxes, can all be standardised, therefore there is little need to have different ships for different containers as all ships and all containers are standardised for the specific requirements, thus reducing costs of companies, and therefore either increasing profits for those companies that have reduced their costs, or reducing the price for consumers, if the business passes on the reduction in cost to the consumer.
But what does this mean to the consumer? Well, as aforementioned, the company may well reduce the price of the good to the consumer and therefore creating savings for the consumer. It also means that the goods are more efficiently transported as no time is wasted on ensuring the correct crane is in the docks at the right time for the correct containers etc. So consumers gain the benefit of having Scotch Whiskey in China all the time, with little chance of supply issues.
So why will rival companies follow suit? In my opinion, this is fairly obvious, it will make them more attractive to those who want their goods exported as it will be more efficient and will also be more economically viable as costs should be reduced through the standardisation.
So, the standardisation of container shipping boxes has resulted in many benefits for the consumer and businesses around the globe and has helped to accelerate Gloablization as those large companies look to exploit all areas of the globe to turn over more and more revenue each year.
The recent acceleration of Globalization has allowed for many people to purchase foreign goods, for instance, the Chinese have become very fond of Scotch Whiskey, obviously, only made in Scotland. So in order for the Chinese to purchase this product, it needs to be transported all the way to Asia, from Europe. But how has the standardisation of shipping containers allowed this to occur so efficiently and quickly? Well, the simple answer is; the containers are standardised. If all the containers are standardised it means the ship, or the train, or the crane that lifts the boxes, can all be standardised, therefore there is little need to have different ships for different containers as all ships and all containers are standardised for the specific requirements, thus reducing costs of companies, and therefore either increasing profits for those companies that have reduced their costs, or reducing the price for consumers, if the business passes on the reduction in cost to the consumer.
But what does this mean to the consumer? Well, as aforementioned, the company may well reduce the price of the good to the consumer and therefore creating savings for the consumer. It also means that the goods are more efficiently transported as no time is wasted on ensuring the correct crane is in the docks at the right time for the correct containers etc. So consumers gain the benefit of having Scotch Whiskey in China all the time, with little chance of supply issues.
So why will rival companies follow suit? In my opinion, this is fairly obvious, it will make them more attractive to those who want their goods exported as it will be more efficient and will also be more economically viable as costs should be reduced through the standardisation.
So, the standardisation of container shipping boxes has resulted in many benefits for the consumer and businesses around the globe and has helped to accelerate Gloablization as those large companies look to exploit all areas of the globe to turn over more and more revenue each year.
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