Supply Chain Management Ethical Dilemma

Supply Chain Management Ethical Dilemma

Our company is a buyer for a discount retail chain selling an economy-priced clothing line endorsed by a famous movie star. The clothing is sourced from a low-wage region of Asia in a manufacturing facility that employs children. The owner of the factory where the clothes are made recognizes that some of the female employees may be children, but he is unable to fire them because the majority of people in the nation use fake documents, and the employees depend on the employment to support their families. The owner of the manufacturing facility also informs the buyer that school is not an option in the region because education is only prioritized for boys. Shutting down the facility would prevent child labour but force the female workforce to turn to begging, living on the streets, and prostitution because they will not have a source of income to meet their basic needs. The ethical dilemma is whether the buyer should stop purchasing from the manufacturing facility because it promotes child labour or continue doing business with the manufacturer to secure the female workforce’s livelihood. Do you need help with your assignment ? Contact us at eminencepapers.com.

What I Would Say to My Company, the Movie Star, the Media, and the Protestors Picketing the Stores

I would approach the ethical dilemma using utilitarianism ethics. According to Irwin (2020), utilitarianism ethics promotes actions that foster pleasure or happiness and opposes actions that cause harm or unhappiness. The utilitarianism principle consists of three principles (Timmermann, 2014). One of the principles states that happiness or pleasure is the only thing that offers intrinsic value. Intrinsic value indicates the worth that someone places on someone. For example, a person may place more value on their family over their job. The second principle states that actions are right if they promote happiness and wrong if they bring unhappiness. For example, an action that allows someone to make money may be considered right, and one that results in losses may be considered wrong. The third principle states that everybody’s happiness counts equally. Utilitarianism ethics can help address the ethical dilemma by providing justifications for the manufacturing facility’s actions based on the happiness or pleasure and satisfaction that the workers get from the facility.

I would encourage my company not to stop doing business with the manufacturing facility by convincing them that child labour in the manufacturing facility is the only way the children can be helped to meet their basic needs because they are the sole providers for their families and without their income, their families would not survive. I would also convince the company not to shut down their business with the manufacturing facility by stating that the children’s participation as workers in the facility is voluntary because they are working at the facility to earn an income and are not being forced by the owner of the facility to work there. I would persuade the movie star not to stop doing business with our company over the manufacturing facility by defending the facility’s conduct with the justification that children are earning a respectable income and working in a pleasant environment.  I would advise the movie star to visit the manufacturing facility and see the children’s working conditions. I would also recommend areas that should be considered to improve the children’s working conditions.

I would also address the media by issuing a statement stating that the issue of child labour arises when children are deprived of their dignity, potential, and childhood because of the work they are required to do. I would also inform the media that children in manufacturing facilities in Asia are not deprived of their dignity because they work in conducive conditions. I would also state that working at the manufacturing facility promotes the children’s intellectual development, thus justifying the manufacturing facility’s actions. For example, the children may be required to make critical decisions about what should be done to produce the quality of pieces required and meet production targets, which is essential in intellectual development. I would also inform the media that even though working at the manufacturing facility denies the children an opportunity to go to school, education is only prioritized for boys, forcing girls to look for alternative things to focus on. Therefore, working at the manufacturing facility is the best option for the girls because they can earn an income and create a decent life for themselves and their families. I would also inform the media that the children working at the manufacturing facility are free to decide whether they want to work there, thus making their decision to work at the facility voluntary for the benefit of the families that depend on them.

I would approach the demonstrators blocking access to our stores by highlighting the flexible work schedules and tasks performed at the production facility. I would inform the protesters that the manufacturing facility’s working conditions are safe and the monetary compensation is good. I would also explain the need for the job by explaining to the protesters the living conditions in the children’s community. For example, I would explain to the protestors that the children come from a poor background and working in the facility is the only way they can meet their needs and help their families meet basic needs. I would then focus on the psycho-social benefits of allowing children to work at a young age. For example, I would explain to the protestors that children enjoy accomplishing something, such as earning money, and such accomplishments boost their self-esteem. Therefore, it would be appropriate to offer children from poor backgrounds an income to help them earn money to improve their lives and develop self-esteem. I would also inform the protestors that the manufacturing facility has taken measures to protect the children, such as creating proper working conditions.

The Best Option

The best option is to ensure that the facility provides a safe and conducive working environment for the children because shutting down and trying elsewhere would push the facility out of business, leading to unemployment and extreme poverty for the workers. For example, our company can create a code of conduct specifying how partners such as the manufacturing facility should treat their employees to ensure that the children working at the facility are protected from abuse and poor working conditions. The code of conduct may outline the safety standards that the manufacturing facility should meet and the minimum wage that the workers should receive to prevent exploitation. Our company could also randomly visit the manufacturing facility to ensure it adheres to the code of conduct. It would also be good to talk to some of the children working at the facility to get their opinions about the workplace and their recommendations on areas for improvement to protect their welfare. For example, the workers may be asked to recommend working hours and wage improvements. Our company should also create an agreement with the manufacturing facility and movie star stating that the manufacturing facility is liable for any harm exposed to the children working there. The agreement should include the consequences for breach of agreement, such as monetary fines, legal action, and contract termination.

How the Ethical Dilemma can be addressed from a Christian Worldview

Worldviews include values and beliefs that inform people’s actions and thoughts. According to Valk (2012), worldviews recognize secular viewpoints with structural and functional similarities to conventional religions. They impact all aspects of life and determine, guide, and shape what is considered meaningful or wrong. According to Mawson (2018), ethics from a Christian perspective focuses on biblical teachings. For example, biblical teachings state that Christians should love their neighbours as they love themselves, thus encouraging Christians to show affection towards others by helping those in need. Biblical teachings also prohibit greed, which is the leading cause of child labour. For example, child labour arises because the rich want to continue getting richer by exploiting the poor who do not have a source of income. Child labour is prohibited in the Christian worldview because it is against human dignity and includes exploiting the vulnerable and poor in society (Sun, 2021). The Christian worldview also considers human lives sacred, and human dignity is the foundation of a Christian society. Therefore, the ethical dilemma can be addressed from a Christian worldview by shutting down the manufacturing facility based on the argument that it reduces the children’s human dignity and is a product of greed because the owner is taking advantage of the poverty in the region.

The Christian worldview may also address the ethical dilemma based on another perspective. For example, it may encourage not shutting down the facility because it contributes to children’s growth. The Christian worldview may encourage giving children simple tasks under favourable conditions while ensuring that the tasks do not interfere with the child’s physical and emotional health (UNICEF & The Coptic Orthodox Church, 2016). Individuals using the Christian worldview to support child labour may argue that some biblical passages give examples of children who worked to help their families. For example, Jesus worked at his father’s carpentry when he was a small boy, although he was not being compensated. Prophet Samuel also served at the temple when he was a small boy. The biblical teachings indicate that working at a young age promotes a child’s development and enables them to integrate into society. Therefore, in the current ethical dilemma, the Christian worldview may suggest that allowing the children to work at the manufacturing facility to help their families is justifiable as long as the work does not interfere with their mental, psychological, emotional, and physical development.

Conclusion

Child labour is a major issue, especially in developing countries. The utilitarianism approach can be used to justify child labour. For example, in the scenario where a manufacturing facility employs poor children to help them support their families, the utilitarianism approach may be applied to support the argument that the facility’s actions create happiness for the children and their families, thus making child labour in such a case ethical. Child labour in the manufacturing facility may also be justifiable because the children are working there voluntarily and are being paid. The Christian worldview offers two viewpoints on child labour. One viewpoint considers child labour bad because it takes away the children’s human dignity and is a product of greed, which is prohibited in the bible. The second viewpoint considers child labour a vital part of a child’s development and social integration process.

References

Irwin, T. (2020). Utilitarianism. Ethics Through History, 232–255. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199603701.003.0020

Mawson, M. (2018). Guest editorial: Luther and Christian ethics. Studies in Christian Ethics, 31(4), 391–392. https://doi.org/10.1177/0953946818792164

Sun, D. (2021). Christian thought on Child labour: Daily sun |. daily sun. https://www.daily-sun.com/printversion/details/550197/Christian-thought-on-child-labour

Timmermann, J. (2014). Kantian ethics and utilitarianism. The Cambridge Companion to Utilitarianism, 239–257. https://doi.org/10.1017/cco9781139096737.013

UNICEF, & The Coptic Orthodox Church. (2016, February 1). The Christian perspective on protecting children from violence and harmful practices. UNICEF. https://www.nolostgeneration.org/reports/christian-perspective-protecting-children-violence-and-harmful-practices

Valk, J. (2012). Christianity through a worldview lens. Journal of Adult Theological Education, 9(2), 158–174. https://doi.org/10.1179/

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For this assignment, you will discuss how Christian principles can be applied to an operations management dilemma:

First, begin by selecting one of the ethical dilemmas below from the text:

Managing Quality (Chapter 6)
Process Strategy (Chapter 7)
Layout Strategy (Chapter 9)
Supply Chain Management (Chapter 11)
Inventory Management (Chapter 12)
In a minimum of 1,500 words, discuss the following:

Briefly summarize the issue. Note that only a small portion of your paper’s content should be devoted to summarizing the issue.

Supply Chain Management Ethical Dilemma

Respond to the question(s) shown within your selected ethical dilemma (i.e., within the gold box). Please do not respond to the end-of-chapter Discussion Questions.
How can your selected dilemma be addressed from a Christian worldview? In other words, what guidance from a biblical perspective could be applied to understand and possibly resolve the dilemma? The following GCU website may be helpful: https://www.gcu.edu/about-gcu/christian-identity-and-heritage.php.
In addition to addressing questions for item 3 above, you may also optionally frame the issue using ethical theories (utilitarianism, Kantian ethics, distributive justice, virtue ethics, and covenantal ethics). Note, however, that the questions in item 3 must still be addressed.
Your paper should have at least six external references (in additional to any biblical citations) to help frame the issue. Cite your references within the body of your paper. No Wikipedia references are allowed.
Submit your file in a Microsoft Word document. Ensure that your last name is in your file name.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.