Case Study Analysis of Bala Sport: Human Rights, Globalisation, and Sourcing

This case study analysis focuses on Bala Sport, a Fairtrade Sports balls company, and discusses the importance of considering human rights, the impact of globalisation, and the advantages and disadvantages of sourcing from suppliers in Sialkot. The analysis includes relevant concepts from UN Declaration of Human Rights and Readings 49 to 61.

Case Study Analysis
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Contents
Introduction.........................................................................................................................................1
Part 1 Block 6.......................................................................................................................................2
Should a company like Bala Sport consider the human rights of the workers making footballs?
Explain how two rights from the UN Declaration of Human Rights are relevant to Bala Sport...2
Using one of the two human rights you identified in Question 1 and one ethical theory from
Readings 49 to 52, explain why the workers making footballs have that particular human right.
...............................................................................................................................................................3
Part 1 Block 7.......................................................................................................................................4
Using information from the case and concepts from Reading 56, how and to what extent do you
think globalisation is affecting Bala Sport?.......................................................................................4
Using information from the case and concepts from Readings 58 and 61, what do you think are
the advantages and disadvantages of Bala Sport sourcing its footballs from suppliers in Sialkot?
...............................................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion............................................................................................................................................6
References............................................................................................................................................7
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Introduction
When companies go overseas, they often involve different kinds of working conditions in
their units of business and operations. The company has a huge responsibility of keeping in
mind factors like safe and healthy working conditions, both domestically and internationally.
When the working conditions compromise the business context, not only do the company
prospects get affected but also the political, economic, socio-cultural, legal and
environmental settings get highly disturbed. The companies, in most of the cases, get away
with work related issues. They try to avoid the accountability for whatever that happens in the
places of work, such as supply chains factories. Global supply chains provide functions for
companies regularly with rules and regulations. In today’s context, many organisations are
trying to maintain corporate responsibility by initiating codes of conduct, proper working
conditions, ethics and principles and legalities of the country of the workplace. (Zajda, and
Ozdowski, 2017)
In developing world, multinational companies look for opportunities and needs for
manufacture. They are expected to maintain a balance between ethical sourcing and business
objectives. Corporate programmes are expected to focus on reducing the worker related
issues and tensions.
For this assignment, the case study of Bala Sport, a Fairtrade Sports balls company, will be
focused on. The products, the balls, carry UK’s ethical certification called the Fairtrade Mark.
The company is a co-ordinated agency that concentrates on creating a worldwide access and
utilisation of the Fair Trade sports balls. One of the most focal points of the company’s
agenda is to create awareness about the role of the balls in the life of workers in Sialkot,
Pakistan, where hand stitched balls are made. When the balls are sold, the company aims to
ensure that fair amount of wages is paid to the workers who stitch the balls, and benefit form
fair working conditions as well. (Baxi 2017) The revenues earned from the sales are partly
used for social, economic and environment related developmental initiatives. As part of
corporate social responsibility, the Fairtrade Premium is used for project funding for various
campaigns and services for the developing world, especially for the factory workers in
Sialkot.
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Part 1 Block 6
Should a company like Bala Sport consider the human rights of the workers making
footballs? Explain how two rights from the UN Declaration of Human Rights are
relevant to Bala Sport.
The United Nations Programme for Development (UNDP) recognises the basic human rights
as the essential component of development of economy, society and nations. The UN’s
Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights has established the importance of
companies like the Bala Sports considering and applying the chief elements of human rights
to the business context. All businesses play vital roles in promoting economic growth and
positive social and environmental progress. (Sullivan, and Robinson, 2017) Human rights have
lots of implications for organisations. People, whether workers or managers, whether staff
member or odd job person, are all in the need of basic rights like equality and dignity.
Indiscrimination on grounds of positions, work, gender, race, culture leads to serious damage
in terms of mental, physical, emotional and intellectual state. International human rights
legalities are relevant for business beyond the borders and in compliance with local ethics and
codes of conduct as well the international laws.
All enterprises are required to positively impact their workers and the working conditions.
Not only are the customers are to be satisfied buy also the happiness and the productivity of
the employees should be a top priority. In every culture, particular circumstances and socio-
economic factors influence the extent and the nature of the human rights that need to be
maintained in the relevant working environment. From the perspective of the Bala, several
guiding principles can be followed to apply the human rights essentials to the workplace.
Of these, two Rights are significant due to the findings of the study on the working conditions
of the factory workers. Firstly, everyone has the right to live with liberty, life and security.
Most of the workers are found to be working in conditions that are detrimental to health,
safety, security and wellbeing. Secondly, all are equal before the law. Local, national and
international laws all bind companies legally to respect the human rights principles and basic
codes of conduct, and not disrespect and discriminate against any worker on any ground.
(Malhotra, 2018)
Human rights have to be followed by all organisations like Bala. Respecting workers and
employees as humans, at all levels, is critically required in all settings.
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Using one of the two human rights you identified in Question 1 and one ethical theory
from Readings 49 to 52, explain why the workers making footballs have that particular
human right.
The United Nations has made it a mandatory human right to give everyone access to a
healthy, safe and secure workplace conditions. The right to occupational health is integral to
every work environment. Companies like Bala should maintain the basic decorum of keeping
the factory conditions worker friendly. Countries are obliged to pass and enforce laws on
workplace safety constantly. Companies should as well prioritise the basic human rights as
well. (Koenig, 2017)
The World Health Organisation has stated that attaining the highest standard of health is the
fundamental right of every worker. Health and safety as a human right creates legal
implications and obligations for companies to create policies and rules. These include
providing the workers facilities and conveniences of well ventilated and spacious workplaces
with the exit and entrance routes clear and accessible. All emergency supplies are kept ready
and so are equipment for handling contingencies and accidents like fire. Regular maintenance
of the workplace and its arrangements is also necessary. Safety gear is to be used during
critically dangerous operations. Companies need to assess and evaluate risks and keep
incidents documented and in records so that every progress can be tracked and every risk can
be tackled.
The workers at Bala are mostly working in situations where they are not properly safe and
secure. Manufacturing and producing balls can lead to factory based hazards. Most rooms
are not properly ventilated and lit up. (McCann, and McCloskey, 2015) This can create health
hazards like weak eyesight, breathing problems and several other issues. Bala now needs to
upgrade the working conditions and improve the work lives of their workers. Sustainable
development of the workers and their environment is extremely important for the effective
productivity and progressive growth of the economy. Not only workers at Bala but every staff
member, worker, employee of all organisations have the right to health and safety in all
circumstances. The right to health must be applied without any discrimination on any ground.
Companies are obligated to their workers to keep them safe and healthy while they work.
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Part 1 Block 7
Using information from the case and concepts from Reading 56, how and to what extent
do you think globalisation is affecting Bala Sport?
The international and national business sector has been greatly influenced by globalisation.
Bala Sport is basically a manufacturing company, and the concept of globalisation has
brought about three fold impact on all manufacturing companies, including Bala. (Potrafke,
2015) Firstly, free trade agreements are initiated. These create opportunities of equal and
openly accessible markets for the consumers of the relevant countries. The Bala’s trade and
commercial activities influence and affect both Pakistan and the United Kingdom. The
concept of free trade allows companies to set up base in other countries provided they comply
with the laws of the land. Bala gets benefits in form of cheap labour while the workers at the
Silakot factories get benefits in form of employment and incentives emerging from corporate
social responsibility campaigns. This is one of the positive effects of globalisation. (O'Byrne, ,
2014)
Secondly, international treaties have set up several pointers about the use of environmental
resources. Globalisation has influenced companies to understand and be aware about the
impact of manufacturing processes on the environment. Bala has to make sure that all its
equipment is up to date and ecologically viable. (Pedersen, and Kinley, 2016) Procedures to
recycle products and to responsibly dispose of materials have to be adopted. Globalisation
ensures that international companies comply with the environmental policies of the relevant
countries.
Thirdly, globalisation creates a positive impact when international companies responsibly
source their raw materials. Supply chains of multinational companies extend beyond borders
of countries. The manufacturers have to prioritise safe and certified supplying of materials.
To make sure about effects of globalisation. Bala can implement internal testing and
verification processes for raw materials. Such practices ensure the standard of keeping raw
materials updated to the required specifications. (Giuliani 2016.)
Globalisation, if properly maximised and utilised, has positive results in form of investments,
creation of jobs and skill sets, bringing of greater revenues and foreign currencies, cross
cultural diversity, global resourcefulness and awareness and international initiatives.
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Using information from the case and concepts from Readings 58 and 61, what do you
think are the advantages and disadvantages of Bala Sport sourcing its footballs from
suppliers in Sialkot?
Companies rely on suppliers and supply chains for sourcing in order to survive in the highly
competitive market. Companies like Bala need efficiency in management of complex issues
like minimisation of costs and getting effectiveness in sourcing solutions. Strategically and
financially, sourcing from suppliers have both disadvantages and advantages.
The following advantages from the perspectives of Bala Sports are listed below-
- Cheap manpower- outsourcing by international companies have an important
implication for becoming globalised. (Cronstedt, and Thompson, 2016 ) Companies can
seek profits on the basis of their overseas operations and labour intensive processes
which cost considerably less. The lower the cost of production the better the price of
products and services.
- Scalability- sourcing is a reasonable way to assemble teams of experts together to test
the required solutions of the project. Sourcing of local resources in form of
professionals and experts can be utilised regularly.
- Access to raw materials- companies utilise raw materials which are scarce in their
home countries. Raw material sourcing locally can reduce the supply risks of
companies. It can result in cheaper prices.
- Access to skill sets- recruiting local talent with the knowledge and information about
the sources, resources and raw materials goes a long way for companies. Using such
skill sets can create further job opportunities as well as better productivity for the
business operations. (Hervey, and McHale, 2015)
- Increase in constructive productivity- the workers often make up for the time zone
variations and differences, creating more productivity and constructive progress for
companies. Sourcing creates intervention in form of more workers working in shifts
overseas while business operations of other countries stop. The company keeps
running for twenty four hours in this manner.
The disadvantages from the perspective of Bala are as follows-
- Quality issues- sourcing international companies often compromise the quality of
their products and services by cutting down the cost of production with the aim of
gaining more profits. (Andriof, and McIntosh, 2017)
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- Loss of unique identity- often products and services become outdated and obsolete. In
other words, while they can be of some use to most countries, they are no longer
applicable to all the countries on a global scale.
- Job loss- at times global sourcing is criticised for often reducing jobs by moving most
of the business activities away to other locations.
Conclusion
The act of creating initiatives of application of human rights to the concept of globalisation is
fast evolving in today’s context. International scenario as well as national policies have made
it a top priority to bring about changes. (Ssenyonjo, 2017) It is significant if the positive
impact of globalisation creates more solid foundations for basic human rights. Human rights
should not be adversely affected by the globalised companies and their operations, objectives
and profits. No human right should be compromised in many manner, even in the name of
globalisation.
Globalisation has increased tough competition on a worldwide level. For gaining profits and
increasing maximum advantages, companies often forego basic human rights principle. This
should be avoided as much as possible. The right to enjoy globalisation is open to all workers
and employees as well. (Methven and Dhanarajan, 2016) Companies should not deprive their
workers the rights to dignity, esteem, basic utilities, health and safety and other basic rights.
Today all labour, economic, cultural, social and political rights have been passed and
enforced by governments so that companies legally comply and allow every individual to
enjoy basic rights and globalisation.
Developing countries and under developed countries provide cheap manpower and raw
materials and other resources to international companies. However this should not be taken
advantage of by the organisations. (Hajjar 2017) In the age of globalisation, the human rights
concept has involved constant struggles, debates and challenges. It is a difficult and long
lasting process and despite positive efforts and changes still needs to be better evolved.
References
Andriof, J. and McIntosh, M. eds., 2017. Perspectives on corporate citizenship. Routledge.
Baxi, U., 2017. Voices of suffering, fragmented universality, and the future of human rights. In Human
Rights (pp. 159-214). Routledge.
Cronstedt, C. and Thompson, R.C., 2016. A proposal for an international arbitration tribunal on
business and human rights. HARV. INT. LJ, 57, p.66.
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Giuliani, E., 2016. Human rights and corporate social responsibility in developing countries’ industrial
clusters. Journal of Business Ethics, 133(1), pp.39-54.
Hajjar Leib, L., 2017. Human Rights and the Environment: Philosophical, Theoretical and Legal
Perspectives. Brill.
Hervey, T.K. and McHale, J.V., 2015. European Union health law. Cambridge university press.
Koenig, M. ed., 2017. Democracy and human rights in multicultural societies. Routledge.
Malhotra, R., 2018. Economic policy and human rights: Is globalisation a meeting ground?.
In Economic Theory and Policy amidst Global Discontent (pp. 116-142). Routledge India.
McCann, G. and McCloskey, S., 2015. From the Local to the Global. University of Chicago Press.
Methven O'Brien, C. and Dhanarajan, S., 2016. The corporate responsibility to respect human rights:
a status review. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 29(4), pp.542-567.
O'Byrne, D., 2014. Human rights: an introduction. Routledge.
Pedersen, M.B. and Kinley, D. eds., 2016. Principled Engagement: Negotiating Human Rights in
Repressive States. Routledge.
Potrafke, N., 2015. The evidence on globalisation. The World Economy, 38(3), pp.509-552.
Ssenyonjo, M., 2017. The applicability of international human rights law to non-state actors: What
relevance to economic, social and cultural rights?. In Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (pp. 77-
112). Routledge.
Sullivan, R. and Robinson, M. eds., 2017. Business and human rights: dilemmas and solutions.
Routledge.
Zajda, J. and Ozdowski, S., 2017. Globalisation and research in human rights
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