Criminal Justice Authority Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Criminal Justice Authority - Essay Example Individuals ought to obey the law and ensure that they do not go against the rules set by the state. Criminal justice authority needs to conform to the provisions of the law before administering the law (Government of Alberta, 2011). Impunity in the practice of duties should be shunned for it causes mistrust amongst the citizens. There is a need to have a procedure of carrying out activities which offer protection to the citizens from the criminals. The civilian oversight committees play a very pertinent role of balancing the powers of the criminal justice authority (Terrill, 2009). Despite the fact that the criminals are evil doers, they need to be protected from the coercion of rough law enforcers. Discretionary authority can create opportunistic moments whereby coercion of criminals or suspects is upheld (Bruce, 2002). Introduction Criminal justice system practices act of upholding social control, mitigating and deterring crime. Criminal justice is used in sanctioning the individu als who go against the laws set by with rehabilitation efforts and criminal penalties. People accused of crime have protections against abuse of prosecution and investigatory powers. Law is a system of rules enforced through a number of societal institutions (Bruce, 2002). The law serves the purpose of maintaining order in the society by the provision of set of rules which govern the conduct. There is criminal and civil law used in the practice of law in society. Civil laws are the rules and regulations which control grievances and transactions between the citizens in a society while criminal law concerns dangerous actions to the society (Jernigan, 2007). In criminal law, prosecution is pursued by the state rather than individuals. Criminal law provides definitions for crime and possible prescriptions for sentences for the committing of the crime in question (Government of Alberta, 2011). Discretionary authority personnel Discretionary authority entails that there is open authority practice over the criminals. If this authority is not checked, it has its excesses because many people become victims of torture and harassing from the law enforcers. There is a need to have civilians who are non-aligned to forces as a check to the measures in the manner justice is delivered to the victims or criminals. It is not in orders to delivery justice by bending the law because it would spoil the image of the law (Bruce, 2002). The civilian oversight committee helps in affirming confidence to the police departments to the public. They are the check elements who represent the citizens in ensuring that the police follow the law in performing their duties (Terrill, 2009). Civilian oversight committee Civilian oversight committees play a great role in ensuring that the police are fully investigated in case they commit crime sin prevention of the same crime. The term oversight means an ongoing practice whereby each police is held accountable for his or her actions. The committee focuses on achieving accountability by division of power within the law enforcing organization for the purposes of close monitoring. This committee brings forth a democratic society which responds to the concerns of the majority (Government of Alberta, 2011). There is accountability between the oversight bodies and policing departments. The measures

Corporate & Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Corporate & Business Law - Essay Example The company laws also set standards required to be followed by the company and maintain their ethical behavior since ethical leadership is considered to be very essential for the appropriate operations of the company and its success (Miller & Jentz, 2009, pp.63-64). The present study focuses on how the law of England and Wales is made and how a company is incorporated with study on the evaluations of the incorporation of companies. The General Legal System in England and Wales (in the United Kingdom): England and Wales are two countries that form part of the United Kingdom. The primary laws prevalent in the nation include the legislative law, the common law, the European law, and the European Convention on Human Rights. The Parliament is in the primary charge of the legislative law. The legislature that is located in London has the responsibility and power to pass different laws in all the four countries that include England and Wales as well. The common law represents a common legal system prevalent in England and Wales. The European law is more superior to the UK law since UK is a part of the European Union. The human rights convention is responsible to look after the rights of individuals as dictated by the legal system (The Legal System of the United Kingdom, n.d.). ... Corporate and business laws have been found to be essential for any firm that tries to establish itself in the market or the industry. Moreover, when contractual issues are involved in a business, standardization proves to be essential (Mantysaari, 2009, p.11). The formation of the law in England and Wales: As it is already mentioned and learnt, the passing of laws in both the countries in the UK is the primary responsibility of the parliament that has the necessary and required power. In order to form the laws in England and Wales, at first the law needs to be proposed. The new law that is proposed is referred to as the bill that then needs to be accepted by the parliamentary houses. Once the parliament agrees to the bill and its purpose, the Queen needs to give her assent to the passing of the bill. Once that happens, the bill becomes ready to be treated as an Act by the parliament. The first reading of the law reflects a situation where the parliament learns that a new law is read y to be proposed. A second reading presents the discussion on the law by the members of the parliament. In the next step, a third reading is performed where debates and votes take place on the new proposed law. If majority of the votes are won, then the bill gets passed by the parliament and requires the assent of the Queen. If the Queen provides with her assent, then the bill becomes the Act and acts as the law for the nation, including the countries (Barrow, 2012). Considering the level of crimes and frauds occurring in businesses in the present state of globalization, laws associated with the business crimes have emerged to be significant to be formed and followed. Thus while national and international laws are

Categorical imperative Essay Example for Free

Categorical imperative Essay Immanuel Kant believed in utilitarianism, which is the moral philosophy that says we should act in such ways as to make the greatest number of people happy as possible. This is why he introduced the categorical imperative. As a moral law, it is a command that is unqualified and not dependent on any conditions or qualifications. In short, it tells us to act in such a way that we would want everyone else to act the same way. In the circumstance where I am considering stealing a book when no one is looking, how would I decide whether the act is immoral or not? By using Kant’s categorical imperative, I first have to generalize my action. I have to wonder what would happen if everyone in the world did what I was doing would it begin to contradict itself. If everyone in the world was to steal a book when no one is looking, then there would be no point in selling books in the first place since no one in the world is willing to make a purchase. The book tells us that for Kant, this result is enough to show that the intended action is immoral and irrational. On the other hand, if a certain scenario was to not contradict from generalization, you would then ask yourself if you are willing to live in a world where everyone did that particular act. For example, I see someone who is in dire need of help. The cost of helping this person is little to none, but I still find myself unwilling to help him. First, let’s generalize that situation. Imagine a world where everyone was unwilling to lend a hand when someone was in a situation of extreme need. That kind of world is actually imaginable, and it doesn’t contradict itself in anyway. However, when I ask the question, â€Å"Would I want to live in a world like that? † the answer will always be no. That would be a horrifying world to live in. I could be dying and in need for someone to call the ambulance and no one would stop and help. Therefore, through Kant’s way of reasoning and thinking, this action is also immoral. Utilitarianism focuses around making the majority happy. As a strong believer in utilitarianism, Kant introduced the imperative predicament which in short required an individual to act the way he or she would want everyone else in the world to act. Stealing a book is not something an individual would want everyone in the world to do. Which is why Kant would believe that it is immoral.

Supply Chain Human Rights in Clothing Retailers

Supply Chain Human Rights in Clothing Retailers EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The present report is about the Importance of upholding human standards of the workers both inside and outside their home countries in the large clothing retailers. Human rights still remain to be one of the most challenging issues all over the world because of international variations in politics, history, social and cultural differences. The implementation of human rights, however, does not go unexcused in any place of situation regardless of the circumstances. Upholding of human rights is very important and it is the fundamental right of every human being. This report specifically focused on the Clothing Retailers operating in the United Kingdom. These include: Nike, Gap, Levi Strauss and Marks and Spencer. The task of this report was to examine how these multinational firms uphold human rights in their operations all over the world. The report has found out that among other factors, globalisation also contributed to a great extent for international firms to violate human rights. In the 1980s, shaped by globalization, clothing retailers and brand manufacturers were forced to source their produce and manufactured goods from low-wage, economically less developed countries. These less developed countries were in most cases characterised by child labour, sexual harassment, and intolerable working conditions. Global awareness about inhuman conditions in working places drew together voices of numerous activists from all over the world to divert the trend. During the 1970s, various national and multinational organization, Non governmental organization and trade unions accused these clothing retailers companies for violating human rights. These multinational companies were specifically blamed for their failure to put into consideration the economic level of less developed countries in which they operated. This criticism led to establishment of voluntary labour codes by these companies in an effort to uphold their image. Most of these voluntary labour codes adopted principles in the International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions. Among other things, this report examines the historical aspect of clothing retailers and the challenges involved in upholding human rights in their supply chain production. The report further examines the role played by these clothing retailers in upholding human rights in their operations all over the world. CHAPTER ONE: 1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION 1.1. Introduction Human rights or sometimes referred to as natural rights are free and fundamental liberties entitled to an individual without the interference from any government or group of people for whatever reasons. A persons civil liberties are protected by the constitutions that define them and the organizations that exist to promote them. Under any circumstances the implementation of human rights does not go unexcused in any place or situation. Every individual regardless of his/her social economic status deserves to be treated with dignity. But due to rapid economic development, multinational companies are becoming more susceptible to violating human rights because of increasing international competition, undistributed wealth, and weak national laws (Krage, 2007). The World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization (2004) in one of its reports indicated that the global economy is changing in many ways. These massive changes affect multinational investment, capital markets, technology and business, more specifically impacting companies, consumers, workers and governments. The report further concludes that globalization has led to interdependence in economic relations that has created more opportunities for the advancement in business, investment, finance, organization of global production, and also more social and political interaction between organizations and individual around the world (World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, 2004). It is unfortunate that not all countries are developing with the same pace and outcomes. Some countries specifically the developing countries, cannot utilize these rapidly growing expansion to their advantages (Misol, 2006). For example, there are plenty of evidences that increasing g lobal competition puts workers human rights in jeopardy because company protection standards are lowered and an employees civil liberties are often denied (Christerson and Applelbaum, 1995; Hathcote and Nam, 1999). In the 1970s, considerable criticism was raised against multinational companies regarding their operations in less developed countries. Nongovernmental organizations, national and international trade unions and many host countries raised concern that these multinational companies carried out their activities without giving any considerable and attention to host countries where they subcontracting or outsourcing their clothing factories to the economic and social development of those countries. This endless criticism by a number of activists from all over parts of the world led to the establishment of voluntary labour codes of conduct by these multinational companies (White and Taft, 2004). This report therefore is a result of the search of literature review regarding the upholding of human rights standards by large clothing retailers in their day to day operations, both within their countries of origin and overseas. 1.2 Aims and Objectives The general aim of this report is to examine the trend of large clothing retailers in upholding human rights in their operations with particular emphasis to those operating in the United Kingdom. These multinational large clothing retailers in question are: Nike, Gap, Marks Spencer and Levi Straus. To realize the desired aim, the report focused on the following objectives: Â · To explore the historical background with regard to textile sector and their compliance to human rights. Â · To examine the rise of the ethical business and the effects of Voluntary Labour Standards (Codes of Conduct) in the textile industry. Â · To examine the role played by these multinational large clothing retailers in upholding human rights as well as challenges facing them. CHAPTER TWO: 2. LITERATURE REVIEW, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1.1 Human Rights, Ethics and Business Ethics defined Human rights, ethics and business ethics defined in differently ways by different authors and all the definitions in the essence of the same thing. According to Rory Sullivan, he define Human rights as a moral right that apply to all employees in all nations regardless and acknowledge and protects those rights in the sense that human right are said to be unchangeable. On the other hand, Boddy (2005) argues that human rights means the idea that people have fundamental rights and liberties, and affected, those rights include consent, privacy, conscience, free speech, fair treatment and to life and safe. Similarly, the United National Universal Declaration for Human Rights (UDHR) defines human rights as a way of the incorporated economic, social cultural rights, such as right to work, right for educations, respect for their culture and a decent standard of living (Rude Mares). Crane (2007) refers as the ethics as the study of morality and the application of reason to explain special rul es and principles that determine right and wrong for a given situation at given time, those rules and doctrine are called ethical theories. However Fritz et al, (1999), and Hunt et al (1989) define ethical company as the conduct of conduct which are positively related to employees organizational commitment. Boddy (2005) define ethics as code of right principles and values that guide the actions of people and groups through set standard of the behaviour which is acceptable, especially when an action or decision can harm others. Taylor (1975) define business ethics as the business environment and basis of right decision, principles, and set of laws of the ways of carrying out the businesses activities between different parties within the organization, such as employees, customers, suppliers and the shareholders in the determination of the what is right or wrong to all parties. White and Taft (2004) indicate that ethics have been divided into two main categories, namely: teleological and deontological. With teleological ethics the emphasis is on the consequences or results of actions. This approach to ethics takes no accoun t of whether actions are rights or wrong but rather depends on whether harm or good results from the action. On the other hand, the teleological theories, includes utilitarianism, egoism, and care. The essence of the approach maintain that acts do not have intrinsic value but should be evaluated on the basis of the actions they produce and their effects others. The utilitarianism approach is based on the early ideas from Jeremy Benthams belief in empiricism and that of John Stuart Mill in the 18th century (Rosenstad, 1997; Velasquez, 1998). Utilitarianism takes a societal perspective on costs and benefits of ethical choice, indicating that any action should be evaluated in terms of its consequences. The idea is to determine how much good or harm it causes and the effects it impart on all parties. Utilitarianism is thus meant to promote the welfare of all persons by minimizing harm and maximizing benefits. This approach gives much attention to achieving desirable effects to many people taking into consideration human rights. The recent United States health care policy is seen as one of the utilitarian-driven public policy decision, in which the change is geared to a system that provides fundamental health and illness services to everyone. With deontological approach to ethics, White and Taft (2004) explain that an action or a decision in itself has intrinsically good or bad (or right or wrong) and thus it cant be judged by the mere results. Rights, justice, fairness, truth-telling, and virtue ethics form the deontological approach of reasoning. For example, a moral person would based on what is rights to her or him in making an ethical decision, putting into consideration the moral principles, rules or regulations, regardless of the circumstances of results. 2.1.2 Sourcing in the Textile Industry Christerson and Appelbaum, (1995) pointed that during the nineties there was a massive shift in the manufacturing of clothing to low wage countries throughout the world. International companies sourced products internationally in order to achieve a cost advantage. Traditionally, the framework of competition in the textile/clothing sector is described by dividing operators into two different strategic groups in terms of production management models. Firstly, there is a group identifiable as clothing operators (either manufactures or retailers). This group is primarily concerned with designing, modelling, forecasting and contributing to the development of fashion trends. Firms in this category are busy working on marketing strategies of product designed and proposed long before the actual time of consumption. The second group includes firms that compete with one another on the basis of their ability to adjust to the fashion trends imposed by others. By doing this they ensure speed and reliability to their already secured markets. These firms compensate for the lack of product planning by virtue of a production management model whose main characteristics are rapidity and flexibility. The two groups, therefore, have different factors that lie behind their success. In the first group, priority in their operations is to make sure that they have good command and influence fashion trends associated with a strong brand image. In the second group, the emphasis is on effective marketing strategies (Hathcote and Nam, 1999). Stiff competition, shaped by globalization, clothing retailers and brand manufacturers were forced to sourced their produce and manufactured goods to low-wage, economically less developed countries (Crewe, 2004; Klein, 2000). Consequently the late 1980s and early 1990s saw traditional European and U.S. based garment and footwear companies start off shoring and outsourcing much of their production from developing countries (Jones, 2005). This trend was particularly visible in low-skilled industries, such as the garment, footwear, and toy industries (Christerson and Appelbaum, 1995; Hathcote and Nam, 1999). Under conditions of competition, individuals cannot comply with moral norms. This leads to higher costs which in turn leave them worse off than their competitors. Situations like this systematically lead to an erosion of compliance with moral norms. Via evolution, individuals behaving morally will be signed out. Karl Marx and Max Weber saw this problem clearly. Both pointed out that competitive market makes it impossible for single individuals to follow the calls of morality and self-interest at the same time. The structures of society have changed in modern times, but ethical concepts and categories have at least to a large extent not changed. Most conceptions of ethics still require us to be moderate, to share, to redistribute, to sacrifice. They call for altruism, for the priority of common good and the like. The pursuit of self interest, of individual advantages, is often still ultimately seen as something like and evil drive that needs to be tamed (Christoph, 2005). Globalization has therefore been one of the factors for previous human rights violations in many multinational companies (Misol, 2006). Ambitious to mass super profits, these multinational companies embarked on child labour exploitation, suppression of labour rights in their supply chains. This led to persistence public outcry that helped to amplify global awareness about the injustices and human rights violations done by multinational companies in their chain supply production. 2.1.3 The Rise of Ethical Business and Corporate Social Responsibility There is a wide spread attention and interest in self-regulation, corporate social responsibility that continually press many companies to adhere to human rights in their operations. Ethical business, involving corporate codes of conduct for worker welfare and environmental protection, it is a subject that has attracted significant interest from academicians, the media and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) for many years now (Hughes, 2005). (Crane et al 2007) indicate how the importance of business ethics it is, in attracting different massive amount attention for various people example the shouter of the consumers and pressure groups that appearing to have an increasing of the challenging the firms in the asking of the more ethical and reasonably ways of doing business. Ethical business has emerged since the early 1990s as a specific example of corporate social responsibility, most commonly involving the establishment of minimum labour standards for producers in supply chains (Hathcote and Nam, 1999). Blowfield (1999), however, highlights that the issue of ethical business is broadened to incorporate a wider range of standards, including those concerned with the environment. Furthermore corporate social responsibility stand in the implementation for set core values that includes avoiding human rights abuses, upholding the right for the workers to join or form labour unions, elimination of compulsory and child labour and avoiding workplace discrimination (Cavusgil, Knight and Riesenberger 2008) However people like the later Rev. Leon Sullivan had been much concerned about code of conduct of human rights in workplace and in 1999, he developed a set of guidelines for corporate social responsibility, he argue that for the companies operations around the world should support and follow the Global Sullivan of corporate social responsibility. The aim and objectives was to maintain economic, social, and political justice by companies where they are doing business, to support human rights and to encourage equal opportunity at all levels of employment in developed and developing countries (www.thesullivanfoundation.org). Concerns in the early 1990s over child labour, physical and verbal abuse and violations of core labour rights in the production of toys, soccer balls, rugs, and garments marked the beginning of a wave of anti-sweatshop protests and media campaigns (Varley, 1998). Some of the earliest campaigns focused on production in China for companies like Levi Strauss and others, where the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 and U.S.-China trade negotiations drew special attention to human rights abuses. Bonacich and Appelbaum (2000) mentioned other anti-sweatshop protests that brought remarkable attention regarding human rights violations were those that showed child labour in the production of soccer balls in Pakistan, rugs in India, and garments in Bangladesh and Honduras. One of the most dramatic early sweatshop scandals occurred in the U.S, in the Los Angeles, California suburb of EI Monte. It was there, in 1995, that government inspectors discovered Thai immigrants working as indentured serv ants in an apartment complex, sewing garments to be sold by major retailers, including Montgomery Ward, Target, and Sears (Su 1997). The next year, labour rights activists brought sweatshops further into the American media spotlight, by exposing child labour in a Honduran factory producing Kathie Lee Giffords line of clothing for Wal-Mart, as well as a New York City sweatshop also producing Kathie Lee Giffords brand (Bonacich and Appelbaum 2000). Further to this, the suppression of labour rights in Indonesia, El Salvador, and several shocking instances of physical abuse in other parts of the developing world raised concern. In the early 1990s activists first accused footwear companies like Nike, Wal-Mart, and the Gap of profiting from exploitation, child labour, and the suppression of labour rights in their supply chains. These companies, however, responded by denying the responsibility (Hughes, 2005). According to Cavusgil, Knight and Riesenberger (2008) activists also accused International business specifically in the case of the multinational companies for ignores human rights by exploited workers around the world mostly in labour standard; low wages factories in developing countries by create substandard working conditions, example for the sweatshops in Asia where they imported clothing and auto workers in Mexico. Jenkins et al (2002) argue that the rise of voluntary corporate code of conduct in the 1990s can be linked to some extent to the processes of globalization. They mention the specific drivers of voluntary ethical trading initiatives as being: a) the growth of global supply chains that extend beyond the reach of national governments; b) the rise in the power of corporate brands and reputation, which makes large companies vulnerable to negative publicity; c) an increase in public awareness of overseas production conditions via improvements in global communications; and d) the growing importance to the investment community of ethical performance on the part of public companies. Furthermore, there were various initiatives concerned with labour and environmental issues that were categorized as ethical business. These included: (1) Multistakeholder organizations such as the UK Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), the Dutch Fair Wear Foundation, and the Fair Labour Association and Worker Rights Consortium in the USA, which all set minimum labour standards for producers; (2) labelling initiatives such as the Kenya Flower Council, which cover industry-specific environmental and labour standards; (3) individual corporate initiatives for establishing minimum standards in supply chains (Blowfield, 1999). These early initiatives were among the significant steps in promoting ethical business. Blowfield (1999) and Jenkins et al, (2002) argue that these initiatives also developed within the context of the United Nations Global Compact such as international standards which aimed to promote corporate citizenship in the global economy. Despite the organizational differences between existing ethical trading initiatives, most companies used some kind of code of conduct as the key tool for establishing workplace standards. 2.1.4 Voluntary Labour Standards (Codes of Conduct) Pressures on multinational companies by anti-sweatshop groups, labour unions, shareholders, activists, and consumer groups played an important role for companies to adopt labour standards. Standards refer with corporate code standard mention International by ILO (International Labour Organization) to the extent to which is explicitly or implicitly can either be done through the inclusion of the basic provisions of international organizations in the corporate codes standards (Van Tulder Kolk, 2002). Similarly, there were also greater pressures from governmental campaigns all over the world. Where in European countries, some of the government such as France were be advocating for greater attention to human rights in the sphere of international business. Along with such efforts from various countries, the European Commission had been carried out a research in the international subcontracting companies about the social aspect of textile clothing and footwear firms. Aiming to the extent in which the researches discover that these multinational companies adhered to human rights in their operations (Kolk and van Tulder, 2002). In 1996, President Clinton Launched the White House Apparel Industry on Workplace Standard (AIP), he launched the AIP after seen the violation of human rights in the clothing industries by multinational companies, the aim was to established standards and to ensure apparel and footwear were not made under sweatshops working conditions (Meyer and De Wit (2004). Due to the human right violation in textiles sectors precisely in the sweatshops conditions, The Clinton Administration established campaign against sweatshops in the clothing Textiles worked under sweatshops conditions in USA, the campaign was called No-Sweat and was introduced for the purpose fighting against sweatshops in which resulted to establishment of the Trendsetter List of companies in the Textiles Clothing and Footwear Factories. The campaign was aiming for the Clothing Textiles Factories to respect human rights and labour legislation in the production and marketing activities of the clothing and footwear in general, to make sure that both the clothing companies and their subcontracting companies as are, they must significant put into consideration and respecting these rights. The lack of the about not respect the rights, a number of labour legislation and human rights had been identified by the Department of Labour in the Textiles Clothing and Footwear factories, in subcontracting in particular of apparel production, facing the multinational companies, that was exploitation with a number of cases involving in human rights particularly the immigrant workers in sweatshops established on the United States regional, took steps to clean up the sectors. However, United States boundary put up on the sweatshops issue, took up steps to clean the sector (Elliot and Freeman (2001). Specifically in the area of child labour and, for example, the United States Government took a number of steps to alleviate the problems. Between 1994 and 1996 because of the important of the issue, the Bureau of International Labour affairs managed to organize three public gatherings to have views on child labour. These public platforms brought together a number of activists and the public at large to discuss various issues related to child labour. Specifically, they focused on the worst conditions of child abuse in the less developed countries that they exported products to the United States. A number of resolutions were made but all geared to put to end the merciless violations of human rights and child labour (Elliot and Freeman (2001). The Association of the Clothing Manufacturers of the USA and the Amalgamated Clothing Textiles Workers Union in 1995 agreed to have a National Branch for Collective Agreement. The agreement among other things included: the need to establish minimum standards regarding number of working hours, wages, and working conditions. In addition, the agreement also focused on a number of issues ranging from non-intolerance forced work, child employee, liberty of association, to occupational safety and health (White and Taft, 2004; and Giwerth, 1982). This was a trend in many parts of the world. Several national and multinational organizations and trade unions endeavoured to draw attention to respect human rights. Pressures from activities increased the formation of human rights association and in 1998 established of the Fair Labour Associations (FLA) to the overseas compliance, the Workplace Code of Conduct. The goals of Fair Labour Association (FLA) were for the companies required to monitor t heir own factories and their subcontractors to make sure there is compliance of the Code of Conduct in the textile factories (Meyer and De Wit, 2004). Klein (1999) pointed out that many firms had invested heavily in branding and reputation capital and therefore any high profile scandals and political pressures could tarnish their reputation. In the face of such pressure, it was not surprising that firms adopted voluntary standards to try to deflect criticism, pre-empt regulation, and signal their social responsibility to consumers and investors. The important factor in adoption of voluntary labour codes was to uphold public image which the company wanted to project to its customers, employees, suppliers and shareholders. Thus the clothing retailers public image became important than anything else. These multinational companies worked hard to clear their images and had no option but to promote codes of conduct. The public image was particularly important because it determined the extent to which the companys products could be bought. Given the rapidly growing competition in the global markets and communication in technology, it was essential for a company to improve the working conditions in its operations and retain its good image to customers (Kolk and van 2002). The United Nation Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the General Assembly in 1948 (Schulz, 2001). The declaration proclaims on the issue of the slavery or servitude subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment put them into detention or exile and arbitrary arrest subjected. Moreover the declaration goes on to proclaim that everyone needs to live in liberty and everyone have a right to security, everyone have equal protection against any discrimination, and everyone have a the rights for work, everyone have free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work, and to protection against unemployment as a result of discrimination has entitled. The international Labour organization (ILO) was created in 1919 as a tripartite organization of government, business, and union representatives from 174 nations. Since then, it has adopted 177 lengthy labour conventions or standards. Seven of these are considered fundamental human rights, addressing issues such as forced labour, equal pay for men and women, discrimination in the workplace, and the minimum age for employment (White and Taft, 2004). Organizations such as Amnesty International have specified clearly workers right such as freedom of association, the right of collective bargaining and working conditions and soon. The organization is for Human Rights and as Watch Report on human rights well being all around the world and strives to ensure the protection and progression of them as well. Amnesty International is an organization whose vision was derived from the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was adopted by the General Assembly Resolution in 1948. It is adopted for the reasons monitoring the protection and standard of human rights as were established in thirty articles that later set the primary foundation to the policies and standard that carried out by NGOs and other agencies with the purpose to protect and promote fundamental rights (www.amnesty.org). The Social Accountability International (SAI), established in 1977, is an organization that for promotes human rights for workers around the world. Its SA8000 standards are obtained from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention. The standards are designed to make workplace more humane and also to offer more benefits for the companies and its employees. Employees that work under SA8000 standards they have profit from the enhanced opportunity of collective bargaining and to organize trade unions. Also, employees become more educated about their rights which in turn, commits to have assurance for a better work environment. The companies as whole, benefits from the SA8000 guidelines because it strengthens and put company values into action and enhances the company reputation (Krage, 2007). The International Labour Organization Declaration (ILO) on the Fundamental Principles at work were adopted in 1998 and was an expression of commitment by governments, employers and workers organizations to uphold basic human rights (Kolk et al 2001).The Declaration covers four areas; liberty of the trade union and the right to collective bargaining, elimination of forced and compulsory work, Abolition of child employee and elimination of discrimination of human rights. The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights were developed by governments of the U.S. UK, Norway, Netherlands and NGOs, who all were have the common interest in human rights and corporate social responsibility (voluntaryprinciple.org). There were six principles that all participants agents agreed on in order to promote and protect human rights in multinational companies. The six Voluntary Principle as stated on their website are as follows: acknowledge that security is a fundamental need; Understanding that governments have the primary responsibility to promote and protect human rights; Particularly those set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human rights; Emphasizing the importance of safeguarding the integrity of company personnel and property; Taking note of the effect of those companies, activities and decisions affect the local community; Understanding that useful, credible information is a major component of security and human rights. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is multi-stakeholder governed institution that provides global standards for the promotion of sustainable development. Judy Henderson, immediate past-Chair, Board of Directors says The GRI is a unique, multi-stakeholder organization founded on the conviction consistent, regular and comparable reporting, provides transparency and can be a powerful catalyst to improve performance (globalreporting.org). There are nearly 1000 organization in over 60 countries that have established their involvement with the GRI reporting framework. This reporting framework guides corporations and organizations on the reporting their sustainability performance to promote company progression and improvement in all area of business. The reporting guidelines contain principles, guidance, and standard disclosures that formulate a structure that cooperating organizations can voluntarily adopt (www.globalreporting.org). The UNs Global Compact is a purely voluntary guide to promoting responsible corporate citizenship. Its two main objectives are: to mainstream its ten (10) principles in business activities around the world and initiate actions to support United Nations goals (www.unglobalcompact.org) 2.1.5 Adoption of Voluntary Labour Standards (Codes of Conduct) by Multinational Companies and their Impact The rapid diffusion of labour standards (codes of conduct) stems from the response to external pressures (actual or threatened) from media, activists, government, and consumers (Shaw, 1999). In a like manner, (H Supply Chain Human Rights in Clothing Retailers Supply Chain Human Rights in Clothing Retailers EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The present report is about the Importance of upholding human standards of the workers both inside and outside their home countries in the large clothing retailers. Human rights still remain to be one of the most challenging issues all over the world because of international variations in politics, history, social and cultural differences. The implementation of human rights, however, does not go unexcused in any place of situation regardless of the circumstances. Upholding of human rights is very important and it is the fundamental right of every human being. This report specifically focused on the Clothing Retailers operating in the United Kingdom. These include: Nike, Gap, Levi Strauss and Marks and Spencer. The task of this report was to examine how these multinational firms uphold human rights in their operations all over the world. The report has found out that among other factors, globalisation also contributed to a great extent for international firms to violate human rights. In the 1980s, shaped by globalization, clothing retailers and brand manufacturers were forced to source their produce and manufactured goods from low-wage, economically less developed countries. These less developed countries were in most cases characterised by child labour, sexual harassment, and intolerable working conditions. Global awareness about inhuman conditions in working places drew together voices of numerous activists from all over the world to divert the trend. During the 1970s, various national and multinational organization, Non governmental organization and trade unions accused these clothing retailers companies for violating human rights. These multinational companies were specifically blamed for their failure to put into consideration the economic level of less developed countries in which they operated. This criticism led to establishment of voluntary labour codes by these companies in an effort to uphold their image. Most of these voluntary labour codes adopted principles in the International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions. Among other things, this report examines the historical aspect of clothing retailers and the challenges involved in upholding human rights in their supply chain production. The report further examines the role played by these clothing retailers in upholding human rights in their operations all over the world. CHAPTER ONE: 1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION 1.1. Introduction Human rights or sometimes referred to as natural rights are free and fundamental liberties entitled to an individual without the interference from any government or group of people for whatever reasons. A persons civil liberties are protected by the constitutions that define them and the organizations that exist to promote them. Under any circumstances the implementation of human rights does not go unexcused in any place or situation. Every individual regardless of his/her social economic status deserves to be treated with dignity. But due to rapid economic development, multinational companies are becoming more susceptible to violating human rights because of increasing international competition, undistributed wealth, and weak national laws (Krage, 2007). The World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization (2004) in one of its reports indicated that the global economy is changing in many ways. These massive changes affect multinational investment, capital markets, technology and business, more specifically impacting companies, consumers, workers and governments. The report further concludes that globalization has led to interdependence in economic relations that has created more opportunities for the advancement in business, investment, finance, organization of global production, and also more social and political interaction between organizations and individual around the world (World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, 2004). It is unfortunate that not all countries are developing with the same pace and outcomes. Some countries specifically the developing countries, cannot utilize these rapidly growing expansion to their advantages (Misol, 2006). For example, there are plenty of evidences that increasing g lobal competition puts workers human rights in jeopardy because company protection standards are lowered and an employees civil liberties are often denied (Christerson and Applelbaum, 1995; Hathcote and Nam, 1999). In the 1970s, considerable criticism was raised against multinational companies regarding their operations in less developed countries. Nongovernmental organizations, national and international trade unions and many host countries raised concern that these multinational companies carried out their activities without giving any considerable and attention to host countries where they subcontracting or outsourcing their clothing factories to the economic and social development of those countries. This endless criticism by a number of activists from all over parts of the world led to the establishment of voluntary labour codes of conduct by these multinational companies (White and Taft, 2004). This report therefore is a result of the search of literature review regarding the upholding of human rights standards by large clothing retailers in their day to day operations, both within their countries of origin and overseas. 1.2 Aims and Objectives The general aim of this report is to examine the trend of large clothing retailers in upholding human rights in their operations with particular emphasis to those operating in the United Kingdom. These multinational large clothing retailers in question are: Nike, Gap, Marks Spencer and Levi Straus. To realize the desired aim, the report focused on the following objectives: Â · To explore the historical background with regard to textile sector and their compliance to human rights. Â · To examine the rise of the ethical business and the effects of Voluntary Labour Standards (Codes of Conduct) in the textile industry. Â · To examine the role played by these multinational large clothing retailers in upholding human rights as well as challenges facing them. CHAPTER TWO: 2. LITERATURE REVIEW, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1.1 Human Rights, Ethics and Business Ethics defined Human rights, ethics and business ethics defined in differently ways by different authors and all the definitions in the essence of the same thing. According to Rory Sullivan, he define Human rights as a moral right that apply to all employees in all nations regardless and acknowledge and protects those rights in the sense that human right are said to be unchangeable. On the other hand, Boddy (2005) argues that human rights means the idea that people have fundamental rights and liberties, and affected, those rights include consent, privacy, conscience, free speech, fair treatment and to life and safe. Similarly, the United National Universal Declaration for Human Rights (UDHR) defines human rights as a way of the incorporated economic, social cultural rights, such as right to work, right for educations, respect for their culture and a decent standard of living (Rude Mares). Crane (2007) refers as the ethics as the study of morality and the application of reason to explain special rul es and principles that determine right and wrong for a given situation at given time, those rules and doctrine are called ethical theories. However Fritz et al, (1999), and Hunt et al (1989) define ethical company as the conduct of conduct which are positively related to employees organizational commitment. Boddy (2005) define ethics as code of right principles and values that guide the actions of people and groups through set standard of the behaviour which is acceptable, especially when an action or decision can harm others. Taylor (1975) define business ethics as the business environment and basis of right decision, principles, and set of laws of the ways of carrying out the businesses activities between different parties within the organization, such as employees, customers, suppliers and the shareholders in the determination of the what is right or wrong to all parties. White and Taft (2004) indicate that ethics have been divided into two main categories, namely: teleological and deontological. With teleological ethics the emphasis is on the consequences or results of actions. This approach to ethics takes no accoun t of whether actions are rights or wrong but rather depends on whether harm or good results from the action. On the other hand, the teleological theories, includes utilitarianism, egoism, and care. The essence of the approach maintain that acts do not have intrinsic value but should be evaluated on the basis of the actions they produce and their effects others. The utilitarianism approach is based on the early ideas from Jeremy Benthams belief in empiricism and that of John Stuart Mill in the 18th century (Rosenstad, 1997; Velasquez, 1998). Utilitarianism takes a societal perspective on costs and benefits of ethical choice, indicating that any action should be evaluated in terms of its consequences. The idea is to determine how much good or harm it causes and the effects it impart on all parties. Utilitarianism is thus meant to promote the welfare of all persons by minimizing harm and maximizing benefits. This approach gives much attention to achieving desirable effects to many people taking into consideration human rights. The recent United States health care policy is seen as one of the utilitarian-driven public policy decision, in which the change is geared to a system that provides fundamental health and illness services to everyone. With deontological approach to ethics, White and Taft (2004) explain that an action or a decision in itself has intrinsically good or bad (or right or wrong) and thus it cant be judged by the mere results. Rights, justice, fairness, truth-telling, and virtue ethics form the deontological approach of reasoning. For example, a moral person would based on what is rights to her or him in making an ethical decision, putting into consideration the moral principles, rules or regulations, regardless of the circumstances of results. 2.1.2 Sourcing in the Textile Industry Christerson and Appelbaum, (1995) pointed that during the nineties there was a massive shift in the manufacturing of clothing to low wage countries throughout the world. International companies sourced products internationally in order to achieve a cost advantage. Traditionally, the framework of competition in the textile/clothing sector is described by dividing operators into two different strategic groups in terms of production management models. Firstly, there is a group identifiable as clothing operators (either manufactures or retailers). This group is primarily concerned with designing, modelling, forecasting and contributing to the development of fashion trends. Firms in this category are busy working on marketing strategies of product designed and proposed long before the actual time of consumption. The second group includes firms that compete with one another on the basis of their ability to adjust to the fashion trends imposed by others. By doing this they ensure speed and reliability to their already secured markets. These firms compensate for the lack of product planning by virtue of a production management model whose main characteristics are rapidity and flexibility. The two groups, therefore, have different factors that lie behind their success. In the first group, priority in their operations is to make sure that they have good command and influence fashion trends associated with a strong brand image. In the second group, the emphasis is on effective marketing strategies (Hathcote and Nam, 1999). Stiff competition, shaped by globalization, clothing retailers and brand manufacturers were forced to sourced their produce and manufactured goods to low-wage, economically less developed countries (Crewe, 2004; Klein, 2000). Consequently the late 1980s and early 1990s saw traditional European and U.S. based garment and footwear companies start off shoring and outsourcing much of their production from developing countries (Jones, 2005). This trend was particularly visible in low-skilled industries, such as the garment, footwear, and toy industries (Christerson and Appelbaum, 1995; Hathcote and Nam, 1999). Under conditions of competition, individuals cannot comply with moral norms. This leads to higher costs which in turn leave them worse off than their competitors. Situations like this systematically lead to an erosion of compliance with moral norms. Via evolution, individuals behaving morally will be signed out. Karl Marx and Max Weber saw this problem clearly. Both pointed out that competitive market makes it impossible for single individuals to follow the calls of morality and self-interest at the same time. The structures of society have changed in modern times, but ethical concepts and categories have at least to a large extent not changed. Most conceptions of ethics still require us to be moderate, to share, to redistribute, to sacrifice. They call for altruism, for the priority of common good and the like. The pursuit of self interest, of individual advantages, is often still ultimately seen as something like and evil drive that needs to be tamed (Christoph, 2005). Globalization has therefore been one of the factors for previous human rights violations in many multinational companies (Misol, 2006). Ambitious to mass super profits, these multinational companies embarked on child labour exploitation, suppression of labour rights in their supply chains. This led to persistence public outcry that helped to amplify global awareness about the injustices and human rights violations done by multinational companies in their chain supply production. 2.1.3 The Rise of Ethical Business and Corporate Social Responsibility There is a wide spread attention and interest in self-regulation, corporate social responsibility that continually press many companies to adhere to human rights in their operations. Ethical business, involving corporate codes of conduct for worker welfare and environmental protection, it is a subject that has attracted significant interest from academicians, the media and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) for many years now (Hughes, 2005). (Crane et al 2007) indicate how the importance of business ethics it is, in attracting different massive amount attention for various people example the shouter of the consumers and pressure groups that appearing to have an increasing of the challenging the firms in the asking of the more ethical and reasonably ways of doing business. Ethical business has emerged since the early 1990s as a specific example of corporate social responsibility, most commonly involving the establishment of minimum labour standards for producers in supply chains (Hathcote and Nam, 1999). Blowfield (1999), however, highlights that the issue of ethical business is broadened to incorporate a wider range of standards, including those concerned with the environment. Furthermore corporate social responsibility stand in the implementation for set core values that includes avoiding human rights abuses, upholding the right for the workers to join or form labour unions, elimination of compulsory and child labour and avoiding workplace discrimination (Cavusgil, Knight and Riesenberger 2008) However people like the later Rev. Leon Sullivan had been much concerned about code of conduct of human rights in workplace and in 1999, he developed a set of guidelines for corporate social responsibility, he argue that for the companies operations around the world should support and follow the Global Sullivan of corporate social responsibility. The aim and objectives was to maintain economic, social, and political justice by companies where they are doing business, to support human rights and to encourage equal opportunity at all levels of employment in developed and developing countries (www.thesullivanfoundation.org). Concerns in the early 1990s over child labour, physical and verbal abuse and violations of core labour rights in the production of toys, soccer balls, rugs, and garments marked the beginning of a wave of anti-sweatshop protests and media campaigns (Varley, 1998). Some of the earliest campaigns focused on production in China for companies like Levi Strauss and others, where the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 and U.S.-China trade negotiations drew special attention to human rights abuses. Bonacich and Appelbaum (2000) mentioned other anti-sweatshop protests that brought remarkable attention regarding human rights violations were those that showed child labour in the production of soccer balls in Pakistan, rugs in India, and garments in Bangladesh and Honduras. One of the most dramatic early sweatshop scandals occurred in the U.S, in the Los Angeles, California suburb of EI Monte. It was there, in 1995, that government inspectors discovered Thai immigrants working as indentured serv ants in an apartment complex, sewing garments to be sold by major retailers, including Montgomery Ward, Target, and Sears (Su 1997). The next year, labour rights activists brought sweatshops further into the American media spotlight, by exposing child labour in a Honduran factory producing Kathie Lee Giffords line of clothing for Wal-Mart, as well as a New York City sweatshop also producing Kathie Lee Giffords brand (Bonacich and Appelbaum 2000). Further to this, the suppression of labour rights in Indonesia, El Salvador, and several shocking instances of physical abuse in other parts of the developing world raised concern. In the early 1990s activists first accused footwear companies like Nike, Wal-Mart, and the Gap of profiting from exploitation, child labour, and the suppression of labour rights in their supply chains. These companies, however, responded by denying the responsibility (Hughes, 2005). According to Cavusgil, Knight and Riesenberger (2008) activists also accused International business specifically in the case of the multinational companies for ignores human rights by exploited workers around the world mostly in labour standard; low wages factories in developing countries by create substandard working conditions, example for the sweatshops in Asia where they imported clothing and auto workers in Mexico. Jenkins et al (2002) argue that the rise of voluntary corporate code of conduct in the 1990s can be linked to some extent to the processes of globalization. They mention the specific drivers of voluntary ethical trading initiatives as being: a) the growth of global supply chains that extend beyond the reach of national governments; b) the rise in the power of corporate brands and reputation, which makes large companies vulnerable to negative publicity; c) an increase in public awareness of overseas production conditions via improvements in global communications; and d) the growing importance to the investment community of ethical performance on the part of public companies. Furthermore, there were various initiatives concerned with labour and environmental issues that were categorized as ethical business. These included: (1) Multistakeholder organizations such as the UK Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), the Dutch Fair Wear Foundation, and the Fair Labour Association and Worker Rights Consortium in the USA, which all set minimum labour standards for producers; (2) labelling initiatives such as the Kenya Flower Council, which cover industry-specific environmental and labour standards; (3) individual corporate initiatives for establishing minimum standards in supply chains (Blowfield, 1999). These early initiatives were among the significant steps in promoting ethical business. Blowfield (1999) and Jenkins et al, (2002) argue that these initiatives also developed within the context of the United Nations Global Compact such as international standards which aimed to promote corporate citizenship in the global economy. Despite the organizational differences between existing ethical trading initiatives, most companies used some kind of code of conduct as the key tool for establishing workplace standards. 2.1.4 Voluntary Labour Standards (Codes of Conduct) Pressures on multinational companies by anti-sweatshop groups, labour unions, shareholders, activists, and consumer groups played an important role for companies to adopt labour standards. Standards refer with corporate code standard mention International by ILO (International Labour Organization) to the extent to which is explicitly or implicitly can either be done through the inclusion of the basic provisions of international organizations in the corporate codes standards (Van Tulder Kolk, 2002). Similarly, there were also greater pressures from governmental campaigns all over the world. Where in European countries, some of the government such as France were be advocating for greater attention to human rights in the sphere of international business. Along with such efforts from various countries, the European Commission had been carried out a research in the international subcontracting companies about the social aspect of textile clothing and footwear firms. Aiming to the extent in which the researches discover that these multinational companies adhered to human rights in their operations (Kolk and van Tulder, 2002). In 1996, President Clinton Launched the White House Apparel Industry on Workplace Standard (AIP), he launched the AIP after seen the violation of human rights in the clothing industries by multinational companies, the aim was to established standards and to ensure apparel and footwear were not made under sweatshops working conditions (Meyer and De Wit (2004). Due to the human right violation in textiles sectors precisely in the sweatshops conditions, The Clinton Administration established campaign against sweatshops in the clothing Textiles worked under sweatshops conditions in USA, the campaign was called No-Sweat and was introduced for the purpose fighting against sweatshops in which resulted to establishment of the Trendsetter List of companies in the Textiles Clothing and Footwear Factories. The campaign was aiming for the Clothing Textiles Factories to respect human rights and labour legislation in the production and marketing activities of the clothing and footwear in general, to make sure that both the clothing companies and their subcontracting companies as are, they must significant put into consideration and respecting these rights. The lack of the about not respect the rights, a number of labour legislation and human rights had been identified by the Department of Labour in the Textiles Clothing and Footwear factories, in subcontracting in particular of apparel production, facing the multinational companies, that was exploitation with a number of cases involving in human rights particularly the immigrant workers in sweatshops established on the United States regional, took steps to clean up the sectors. However, United States boundary put up on the sweatshops issue, took up steps to clean the sector (Elliot and Freeman (2001). Specifically in the area of child labour and, for example, the United States Government took a number of steps to alleviate the problems. Between 1994 and 1996 because of the important of the issue, the Bureau of International Labour affairs managed to organize three public gatherings to have views on child labour. These public platforms brought together a number of activists and the public at large to discuss various issues related to child labour. Specifically, they focused on the worst conditions of child abuse in the less developed countries that they exported products to the United States. A number of resolutions were made but all geared to put to end the merciless violations of human rights and child labour (Elliot and Freeman (2001). The Association of the Clothing Manufacturers of the USA and the Amalgamated Clothing Textiles Workers Union in 1995 agreed to have a National Branch for Collective Agreement. The agreement among other things included: the need to establish minimum standards regarding number of working hours, wages, and working conditions. In addition, the agreement also focused on a number of issues ranging from non-intolerance forced work, child employee, liberty of association, to occupational safety and health (White and Taft, 2004; and Giwerth, 1982). This was a trend in many parts of the world. Several national and multinational organizations and trade unions endeavoured to draw attention to respect human rights. Pressures from activities increased the formation of human rights association and in 1998 established of the Fair Labour Associations (FLA) to the overseas compliance, the Workplace Code of Conduct. The goals of Fair Labour Association (FLA) were for the companies required to monitor t heir own factories and their subcontractors to make sure there is compliance of the Code of Conduct in the textile factories (Meyer and De Wit, 2004). Klein (1999) pointed out that many firms had invested heavily in branding and reputation capital and therefore any high profile scandals and political pressures could tarnish their reputation. In the face of such pressure, it was not surprising that firms adopted voluntary standards to try to deflect criticism, pre-empt regulation, and signal their social responsibility to consumers and investors. The important factor in adoption of voluntary labour codes was to uphold public image which the company wanted to project to its customers, employees, suppliers and shareholders. Thus the clothing retailers public image became important than anything else. These multinational companies worked hard to clear their images and had no option but to promote codes of conduct. The public image was particularly important because it determined the extent to which the companys products could be bought. Given the rapidly growing competition in the global markets and communication in technology, it was essential for a company to improve the working conditions in its operations and retain its good image to customers (Kolk and van 2002). The United Nation Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the General Assembly in 1948 (Schulz, 2001). The declaration proclaims on the issue of the slavery or servitude subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment put them into detention or exile and arbitrary arrest subjected. Moreover the declaration goes on to proclaim that everyone needs to live in liberty and everyone have a right to security, everyone have equal protection against any discrimination, and everyone have a the rights for work, everyone have free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work, and to protection against unemployment as a result of discrimination has entitled. The international Labour organization (ILO) was created in 1919 as a tripartite organization of government, business, and union representatives from 174 nations. Since then, it has adopted 177 lengthy labour conventions or standards. Seven of these are considered fundamental human rights, addressing issues such as forced labour, equal pay for men and women, discrimination in the workplace, and the minimum age for employment (White and Taft, 2004). Organizations such as Amnesty International have specified clearly workers right such as freedom of association, the right of collective bargaining and working conditions and soon. The organization is for Human Rights and as Watch Report on human rights well being all around the world and strives to ensure the protection and progression of them as well. Amnesty International is an organization whose vision was derived from the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was adopted by the General Assembly Resolution in 1948. It is adopted for the reasons monitoring the protection and standard of human rights as were established in thirty articles that later set the primary foundation to the policies and standard that carried out by NGOs and other agencies with the purpose to protect and promote fundamental rights (www.amnesty.org). The Social Accountability International (SAI), established in 1977, is an organization that for promotes human rights for workers around the world. Its SA8000 standards are obtained from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention. The standards are designed to make workplace more humane and also to offer more benefits for the companies and its employees. Employees that work under SA8000 standards they have profit from the enhanced opportunity of collective bargaining and to organize trade unions. Also, employees become more educated about their rights which in turn, commits to have assurance for a better work environment. The companies as whole, benefits from the SA8000 guidelines because it strengthens and put company values into action and enhances the company reputation (Krage, 2007). The International Labour Organization Declaration (ILO) on the Fundamental Principles at work were adopted in 1998 and was an expression of commitment by governments, employers and workers organizations to uphold basic human rights (Kolk et al 2001).The Declaration covers four areas; liberty of the trade union and the right to collective bargaining, elimination of forced and compulsory work, Abolition of child employee and elimination of discrimination of human rights. The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights were developed by governments of the U.S. UK, Norway, Netherlands and NGOs, who all were have the common interest in human rights and corporate social responsibility (voluntaryprinciple.org). There were six principles that all participants agents agreed on in order to promote and protect human rights in multinational companies. The six Voluntary Principle as stated on their website are as follows: acknowledge that security is a fundamental need; Understanding that governments have the primary responsibility to promote and protect human rights; Particularly those set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human rights; Emphasizing the importance of safeguarding the integrity of company personnel and property; Taking note of the effect of those companies, activities and decisions affect the local community; Understanding that useful, credible information is a major component of security and human rights. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is multi-stakeholder governed institution that provides global standards for the promotion of sustainable development. Judy Henderson, immediate past-Chair, Board of Directors says The GRI is a unique, multi-stakeholder organization founded on the conviction consistent, regular and comparable reporting, provides transparency and can be a powerful catalyst to improve performance (globalreporting.org). There are nearly 1000 organization in over 60 countries that have established their involvement with the GRI reporting framework. This reporting framework guides corporations and organizations on the reporting their sustainability performance to promote company progression and improvement in all area of business. The reporting guidelines contain principles, guidance, and standard disclosures that formulate a structure that cooperating organizations can voluntarily adopt (www.globalreporting.org). The UNs Global Compact is a purely voluntary guide to promoting responsible corporate citizenship. Its two main objectives are: to mainstream its ten (10) principles in business activities around the world and initiate actions to support United Nations goals (www.unglobalcompact.org) 2.1.5 Adoption of Voluntary Labour Standards (Codes of Conduct) by Multinational Companies and their Impact The rapid diffusion of labour standards (codes of conduct) stems from the response to external pressures (actual or threatened) from media, activists, government, and consumers (Shaw, 1999). In a like manner, (H

determinism Essay -- essays research papers fc

Free Will Imagine if you found yourself in a state of bondage where every action desire and feeling was planned on an inexorable agenda that you could not help but comply with. Although this seems like a dark and fantastical world, if the idea of determinism is fully accepted than it may not be as distant as you might think. The idea of Free Will is one of the most timeless and dubitable philosophical questions and is imposable to disregard. The idea of Free Will has three prevailing schools of thought, consisting of Determinism, (The belief that every action is determined and therefore, not free.), Liberalism (the belief that our actions are not causally determined and therefore, free.)and lastly, Compatibilism (The belief that Determinism is Compatibilism with Free Will.). Each outlook has its points as well as dissentions, but of all the angles, the one I must believe in is Compatibilism and this is why. Although Compatibilism is what I choose to believe, the other arguments are based on pr incipals that cannot be ignored. The first view that I am going to deal with is that of the Determinist, namely the â€Å"Hard† one. Determinism is the belief that every action is the result of a previous action, and was therefore determined to occur. If all actions are determined by previous actions than no actions can be made freely. Like the cosmological argument, determinism rests on the logical fact that no uncaused event can occur. What separates a DeterministËÅ" from a compatibilist is the belief that any action that occurs could not of happened in any other way. If this were the case then it would be theoretically possible to predict the future simply by observing the past and present. Because nobody can successfully and consistently predict the future, some people believe that this is an argument against determinism. The determinist easily dismisses this argument with the response that humans don’t have the power to see let alone interpret the myriad of event s that lead to an action. Another common argument is the idea that if you were told what the future had in store for you, you could therefore consciously alter this out come. This argument is smashed with the fact that if you were told the future and you altered it, the future you were told was not the future because what actually occurred was different than what was predicted. Although, the strongest argument... ...cause you ran out of gas, the reason you ran out of gas is because you were driving your car, the reason that you were driving your car was because you had to drive to work, the reason that you had to go to work was because you needed to feed and shelter yourself. As you can see, even the most mundane task of going to the gas station can be linked back to basic human survival. Now imagine that you are at the gas station and you realize that your oil is very low. As a result you go inside and find two brands of oil, neither of which you have seen before. Both brands cost the same, have the same ingredients, have the same general appearance, (ex. color, shape and texture) and are both equally accessible. Even though it was causally determined that you are in the gas station making this decision, the decision it’s self is under no constraint and can go one way as easily as the other and is there fore a free, as well as causally determined decision. Even though the writing of this paper was causally constrained and did not answer a single question, I hope that it helped you as much as it helped my self get a grasp on the most enduring question of all. bibliography: sparknotes

Due Diligence when You Buy Websites :: Sell Websites Buy Websites

Due Diligence when You Buy Websites Reprinted with permission of VotanWeb.com Due Diligence is the period when you will be able to access the company's books and records to verify that all of the information that you have been told thus far is true and accurate. Most often, people unwisely believe that Due diligence is simply the time to verify the financial position of the company. While this is true to some extent, a proper and effective Due Diligence goes way past the financials. Sure, you want to be certain that what you have been told is true but realistically even if the numbers are exactly as they were presented to you, then what? All you would have is a confirmation of the past but absolutely no inclination of what the future may hold for the company or the industry. The Right Approach To Due Diligence Is this the time to look for things that are wrong with the business? Is this the time to strictly verify numbers? Is this the time to disprove what you have been told by the seller? While each of these approaches is somewhat valid none are absolute. Sure, you will want to employ a part of each of these strategies but an effective Due Diligence is when you can really "check things out". Without question, your approach is to use this period to determine whether or not the future looks bright for the business and the industry. To do so, you must investigate far more than the financial aspect. Sure, the various financial statements will give you a picture of the past and perhaps a glimpse of the future but the past is over and done with. You must thoroughly review the company's sales, marketing, employees, contracts, customers, competition, systems, suppliers, and legal and corporate issues. You want to complete the Due diligence period knowing exactly what you are getting into, what ne eds to be fixed, what the costs are to fix them and if you are the right person to be at the helm to put the plans in place to make a great future for the business. In other words, learn everything before you buy! How Long Do You REALLY Need Every seller and every broker working for the seller will try to negotiate the shortest Due Diligence period possible. I have heard situations where this was limited to a week or so.

A Comparative View of Education System of USA, China, and India

According to William Shakespeare, â€Å"The world is stage and we are actors in it. † The outcome determines our performance and by those who direct us. Similarly, the education of our children depends on the directive of parent, teachers, and the government. The common view taken by most scholars in America considers America the most powerful country in the world and has the most practiced free enterprise system. The is of the assumption of many that the education of their children is challenging because of the imbalances with teachers not possessing full qualification of the subject matter as expressed by James Compton (2M Minutes Video).Teachers in India and China middle and high schools must have at least a Bachelor’s Degree and attend teachers’ training if they are to teach in schools (Ibid). Consequently, these students could not assimilate sequentially the teachings by those teachers who sometimes leave the students fending for themselves. In order to reac h educational goals teachers must willing to teach and students the willingness to learn. This proves the inadequacy of proficient and effective teaching mechanisms when compared with other industrialized nations.The children of India and China when compared with the American children have a rigorous curriculum that maintains a higher standard of learning at an earlier age. The stringent measures by India and China are to lifting their country out of the economic crisis whereby the country can become economically viable and technologically competitive in contrast with their American counterparts. China China’s Compulsory Education Law, of 1986 stipulates each child has nine years of formal education.Their educational system is to be of three categories, which are basic education, higher education, and adult education. The academic year is of two semesters. With the emerging of a new era toward economic development to compete globally the Chinese government has implemented a p olicy of invigorating the educational system through science, technology, and education since 1949 (Education in China). www. travelchinaguide. com/intr/education. The educational reform emphasizes the need of modernization.Through uninterrupted efforts for the pass five  decades the Chinese nation has made favorable inroads into the education system. India In 1854 the British implemented the current system of education in India that still in existence today. The current education system divides into preprimary, primary, middle, secondary, and higher levels. Article 42 of the Indian Constitution, an amendment added in 1976, transferred responsibility from state to central government. Article 43 set the goal for â€Å"free† and compulsory education of all children to the age 14.In 1986 the implementation of National Policy on Education initiated a series of programs for improving the education system ensuring its children have a comparable education irrespective of caste, cr eed, location, or sex. http://countrystudies. us/india/37. htm. America The American education system started in 1840 by education reformers Horace Mann and Henry Barnard and was known as the â€Å"Common School Period. † To date this system divides into four categories, which are elementary, middle, high, and post-secondary that encompasses college or university, vocational education, graduate education, and adult education.Traditionally the American school year begins at the end of August in some states or the day after Labor Day in September. Schools in America, China, and India follow a similar criterion of each other with one difference is that in America and India there are private schools that operate for profit. In India one- third of the schools’ population attend private schools for profit. The realization is that the parents of these children are looking at these private institutions to provide a higher level of teaching than that of public schools.Added to the expectation of the parents of the Indian children who place their children within these institutions, they are working toward their career goals of becoming ranking professionals of society. â€Å"China did not allow private schools until the late 1980’s. † Kathy Chu, USA Today, February 1, 2011, unlike China and India, the public schools of America have an abundance of facilities in their schools for example, libraries, swimming pools, gymnasiums, and football fields.Despite possessing all these facilities available, students have yet to decide on their own what their ultimate goal will be on leaving high school. Students of China and India are attuned from kindergarten to middle school in having a view of their career goals when they for leave high school. Once they enter high school there are no options for the children of India and China because of the discipline and parents expectation of what they should be. In China the government finances the education syst em. The concept of teaching in China is to focus on group rather than individuals.Weaker students are ably assisted and the opportunity of catching up with the proficient students rather than lagging behind the entire class. Acquiring a comprehensive understanding of the subject the class can then moves forward in unison. It is of the opinion of educators that every student can achieve in every subject, although some students will need to work harder than others to achieve the same results. Chinese schools do not segregate high achieving students from lower achieving students through tracking levels, like in the United States.This is of the belief that all students can succeed if they put in the effort. Teachers and parents are willing to help by volunteering extra time to assist students overcome weaknesses in certain subject areas, even if it means working outside of school and on the weekends. However, in America, education focuses on the individual, and maintaining students†™ self-esteem is critical. If a student in America is lagging in math class, the tendency is to attribute the student’s failure to him or her simply not good at mathematics.Students in these situations will often move into a lower- level mathematics class where they can practice more mathematics in becoming proficient. Within China and India mathematics, science, and other general studies are compulsory from preliminary to high school where electives becomes for each student. In America 40% of the students do not take science subjects beyond general biology in high schools. Fifty-five percent of students have done two years of algebra and one year of geometry only.Seventy  percent of parents are of the opinion that their children are on the right course concerning their academic development. Apart from these developments the American students score higher in self-confidence than their international counterparts. Whereas American students have the same amount of allocated time as Chinese students, the amount of engaged time spent in school is dramatically less than their Chinese counterparts. In India, students spend one and a half more time in class rooms than American children.The American education system has gone through changes in the last four decades says Robert Reich, former US Secretary of Labor,† Though the parent has an education it is not what it used to be, it places much more emphasis on entering the job market. â€Å" Because Chinese teachers and parents expect that all students be able to succeed in all subjects, students themselves tend to believe that they can succeed as well. This is a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy, as when adults believe in a child’s ability to do well, the child in turn is likely to believe in himself as well, and therefore work to succeed.Because Indian and Chinese teachers and parents expect more from their students, students succeed more. The United States education system is phenomenal when c ompared to the Indian and Chinese education, including the United States Institutions of higher learning. Testing done in India and China is notoriously focused on standardized testing, in American it is quite the opposite. The Indian and Chinese must pass these tests that will determine which college they may go to. Unlike the American college application, the student applies to enter, Scholastic Aptitude Test score is the only requirement.Students from all over the world come to receive a high quality education in American universities. Thomas L. Friedman in book, â€Å"The World is Flat,† emphasizes a complete and collaborative work what is happening in the world today and the impact of technological changes. Indian and Chinese educators have taken notice of the lack of innovation even though their children are highly proficient in mathematics and science than American students; they lack innovation, and ingenuity. There need to be a balance between these constrains and al lowing free will by implementing new thinking.Americans must be outstanding in their performances if they are to compete with their counterparts in a global economy. Americans losing touch to perform on the level of the Indian and Chinese students in mathematics and science with invariable take twice the amount of time if Americans are to catch up. Nelson Mandela in conversation with his autobiographer Richard Stengel explaining the African concept of ‘Ubuntu’ said, â€Å"The profound sense that we are humans only through the humanity of others and if we are to accomplish anything in this world it is in equal measure due to the works and accomplishment of others.†Looking at education system of America, India, and China the lessons learned from each other’s experiences with the pooling of ideas can increase each understanding of the effects on economics, politics, environment, and culture. It is not of superiority but the exchanging of ideas that each will benefit the other in creating homogeneous institutions of learning towards global development. The development of education system in each country can be uplifting with the technological development that goes hand- in- hand with capital accumulation and progressive economies.