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Business Ethics and Child Labour

   

Added on  2019-10-30

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Running head: BUSINESS ETHICS Business EthicsName of the Student:Name of the University:Author note:
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1BUSINESS ETHICSQuestion 1: The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines child labour as any form of workthat engages young children in a way that ends up depriving them of childhood, propereducational opportunities as well as proper physical growth and mental well-being. Seen in thislight, child labour is morally offensive, as at their tender age, the children are expected to be freeof responsibilities, should be provided with educational opportunities and must have a leisuretime necessary for his mental well-being (Simas et al. 2014). A child is not expected to carry theonus of sustaining his family, on his little shoulder. In order to prevent, physical harm andexploitation of a child, child labour has been banned in most of the places across the world.However, the question remains if child labour should be legalized or not. Bolivia is one of the very few countries where child labour from the age of 10 years andabove has been legalized. The very reason behind this exceptional law, is that the Boliviangovernment maintains that its country is extremely poor, and it is difficult for the impoverishedadult family members to sustain the entire family, unless the children come up for minimalsupport. Child labour is not essentially exploitative by nature, and in countries like Bolivia, achild can study, and still help his family members survive, by doing extra work, instead of justsitting back at home. The children in countries like Bolivia are not assigned works that involveminimal level of risks, and are rather found selling jellies, opening the doors of mini vans orcharging the clients. The government is ready to oppose and take action against a situation,where the child is compelled to work against his willingness, or engage in illegal acts such asprostitution. However, in case of Bolivia, a child works on his own, so that he can enjoyhealthier food on his plate, or his younger brother may continue his education. This form oflabour helps a child take care of their little siblings since a very young age, and thus they are able
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2BUSINESS ETHICSto play a positive role, by actively contributing to the overall well-being of the society (Fontanaand Grugel 2015). It should be remembered that the US Company Nestle has also been sued oncharges of child labour, as it hired children in the Ivory Cast for harvesting purpose (Clark 2015).However, Ivory Coast is an extremely poor country, where the children need to support theirfamily members, if they wish to ensure a healthy, normal life for themselves as well as for theirfamilies. Thus, child labour is not essentially an abhorrent concept, as it does help the childrenensure better life for their families, become responsible members of the family, and contribute tothe community they are living in. Question 2: While whistle-blowers have often been accused of being traitors, the disloyal employeesworking in an organization, and their actions of disclosing confidential information to the thirdparty is treated as a condemnable act, there are many who view them to be the civic heroes.Usually, the whistle-blowers are the heroes, whose loyalty and commitment towards their ethicalvalues and principles matter more than the security of jobs. There can be no point denying thatthe very moment an employee is hired by an organization, the employee is expected to owe hisfidelity towards the organization (Park et al. 2014). However, as an independent entity, eachhuman being has a higher duty to the public good, and hence if he detects some wrong-doingwithin the company, he should report it, even if that involves suing his own company. In order to illustrate the example, one can refer to the instance of Edward Snowden.Snowden, a former employee of National Security Agency of USA, disclosed how the Obama-led government has been using domestic surveillance apparatus to track the personal calls of theUS people. His leak of cyber espionage definitely confirms his disloyalty towards the
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