Griffith University IBA311: Problem Solving Report on CSR for TGJ

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) within the context of toxic gadget junkyards (TGJ) in Hong Kong. It examines the negative impacts of these junkyards, which illegally process electronic waste, on employees, the environment, and society. The report applies the stakeholder theory to illustrate how TGJs fail to meet their CSR obligations, particularly concerning employee safety, environmental protection, and ethical business practices. It highlights the exploitation of workers exposed to dangerous toxins, the environmental pollution caused by improper waste disposal, and the resulting damage to the junkyards' reputation and financial performance. Furthermore, the report discusses the illegal import of e-waste from countries like the USA and the lack of proper documentation and training for employees. The conclusion emphasizes the need for TGJs to prioritize CSR, protect stakeholder rights, and adhere to legal and ethical standards. Recommendations include identifying stakeholder rights, documenting employees, banning illegal waste supply, and understanding legal responsibilities. This report provides a comprehensive overview of the issues and offers practical strategies for improving CSR practices within the TGJ business model, aiming for sustainable development and ethical operations.

Running head: PROBLEM SOLVING REPORT
Problem Solving Report
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors note

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Executive Summary
The purpose of this report is to understand the various aspects of CSR in the case of toxic
gadget junkyards of Hong Kong. The case study has been collected from a report published
about the illegal ways these toxic gadget junkyards are operating. The stakeholder theory and
CSR has been discussed regarding the TGJ business. Employees or the workers of these
junkyard are the main pray of the system. The report states how CSR is neglected in this
business and how that is affecting the employee safety and environment. Recommendation
for a successful CSR planning is given at the end of this report.

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary.......................................................................................................1
Introduction....................................................................................................................3
Discussion......................................................................................................................3
CSR and Stakeholder Theory.....................................................................................3
CSR as a high level view of Business........................................................................4
Conclusion......................................................................................................................7
Recommendation............................................................................................................7
References....................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
Technological advancements have increased the use of electronic gadget and as well
as the amount of e-waste. The electronic applications and gadgets that each country is
dumping every year makes huge amount of waste. Numbers says that electronic waste are
becoming the fastest growing source of wastages all over the world. If one thinks what is
happening to this massive amount of waste after people dump their electronic gadgets, one
may find some alarming facts. The developed countries has the maximum number of gadget
wastage. Some of these are dumped into the ocean and some are transferred to the junkyards
for cleaning and recycling purposes. Most of the waste junkyards are situated in the
developing Asian countries. Management of these junkyards in legal and processed way is
necessary so that the toxic components could be avoided while recycling. The real scenario is
not the same though as the business of junkyards are being done in illegal way. This report
evaluates these illegal aspects of toxic gadget junkyard or TGJ and its CSR process. The CSR
strategies will reduce the problems that are caused through these junkyards and drive the
business into a clean and environment friendly atmosphere.
Discussion
CSR and Stakeholder Theory
The latter half of 20th century has witnessed the emergence of corporate social
responsibility or CSR as an integral part of business world. This field of CSR has evolved
and grown in a significant way (Wang et al. 2016). Organisations are giving importance to
their CSR aspects to attract the investors. A number of theories are present in CSR context,
among which the stakeholder theory is well known. The CSR is the business process through
which a company integrates their social and environmental responsibilities to their business
operations. Through the practice of CSR the companies or business ventures could be

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conscious about the type of impact they are casting upon all societal aspects. These could be
social economic or environmental impact. Organisations take the help of their CSR policies
to enhance positive influence on the society and environment (Frynas and Yamahaki 2016).
Stakeholders of a company are the group of people who are directly affected with the
actions of that company. Generally, stakeholders consist of the employees, owners,
government, customers, communities and suppliers (Miles 2017). The stakeholder theory of
CSR states that, stakeholders are the one who get directly influenced by the acts of company.
Therefore. It is the responsibility of the organisation to work in a way that does not violate
the rights and ethical issues of the stakeholder.
Employees are the important stakeholders as they work within the organisational
structure. The stakeholder theory talks about the moral and values in managing organisation.
While the CSR is the approach that mainly the societal and environmental things into its
consideration. There lies the basic difference of these two concepts (Martínez, Fernández and
Fernández 2016). The stakeholder theory is the umbrella term which includes CSR in it.
Companies like TGJ are posing huge threat to the environment as well as to the stakeholders.
To solve the problems, TGJ could consider the stakeholder theory. This way, the business
could address the issues related to community and the employees.
CSR as a high level view of Business
The case study of TGJ shows a violation of the rights of its stakeholders, environment
and ethical issues. Toxic gadgets are illegally brought to the junkyards of Hong Kong.
Dumped electronics may include several lethal toxics. The employee who work in this places
faces risks in the dangerous workplace. Employees in this junkyard business are exposed to
the toxic substances like lead and mercury as they break open the electronics (Huffingtonpost
2016).

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According to Carroll’s CSR pyramid of four responsibilities, the first thing that
should come in a business model is its profit. Junkyards are the places for recycling and
cleaning the e-wastages. The business owners have the responsibility to ensure economic
profits to its shareholders. This junkyard business has been covered negatively by the media.
This has affected the shareholders and suppliers. Being attached with a business that have
negative feedback has caused loss in investment returns (van Niekerk and Getz 2019).
Customers of TGJ will boycott the products and will shift to buy environment friendly
gadgets. Applying an ethical and legal means in the junkyard business could actually raise the
profit bars for a sustainable period.
Carroll’s theory states that it is the responsibility of the organisations to obey the
regulations and laws for sustainable advantages. Government could impose violation charges
against these business and incur penalties against criminal charges. The local suppliers of
USA who are supplying these e-waste would be investigated by USA government. The
junkyards are facing problems after the negative news review as the government is now
aware of the illegal business ways. Implementing an effective CSR program, supporting the
laws and regulations could revive the reputation of these toxic junkyards.
The junkyards are exposing their employees to extreme dangerous work conditions.
The larger scale business owners are simply shipping these e-wastes in the name of ‘recycle’.
This violates the ethical aspect of the Carroll’s model. As explained in this theory the
business enterprises has the responsibility to work ethically and morally. Applying the ethical
means in the junkyards could include providing safe and healthy work place to the
employees, train them properly before let them work in these toxic conditions
(Huffingtonpost 2016). TGJ owners should not only think of their huge profits while

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exporting these toxic materials. An ethical and moral way in junkyard business would help in
sustainable development.
Gadget junkyards are mean to clean and recycle the environment from the toxic
junkyards. But in these cases they are actually polluting the environment more and putting
the life and safety of the employees and community at stake. Community and society are a
major part of any business structure to have long term growth (Jones, Harrison and Felps
2018). According to this theory, the business holder have the responsibility to take care of the
rights and welfare of the community they are surrounded with. TGJ is ignoring the health
issues of the individual as they are ignoring the safety of their employees. These toxic
junkyards are not isolated from the local living areas and are intoxicating the environment.
Applying a CSR plan to serve the philanthropic side of this business would attract more
investors to give it an economic boost as well.
The report of an NGO based in USA, BAN or Basel Action Network, states that the
import of e-waste itself is illegal if the waste is not send without the permission of the
importing country. Huge portion of wastes are shipped to the countries like China without
any legal documents in the name of recycling. Massive plies of computer wastes could be
seen in the Honk Kong junkyard business areas (Huffingtonpost 2016).. The workers are not
even documented properly. The recyclers are getting rid of the e-waste and its adverse
effects. The harmful toxic elements are not only infecting the workers, but these are also
polluting the air and water bodies (Shaukat, Qiu and Trojanowski 2016). Therefore, ethical
responsibilities of these toxic junkyard business need to be addressed and practiced.
Conclusion
TGJ business and its illegal sides were hidden from the sight of government and
public for a long time. The report asserting the real condition of this business shocked people

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and they became aware of the consequences. The junkyards has the principal purpose to clean
the environment and e-wastes. The report shows that actual scenario is different as these
junkyards are being operated in illegal manner. Huge amount of e-wastes are being imported
from USA to the third world country. Recycling process needs to be executed with proper
policies and safety measures. The toxic gadget junkyards are violating all these aspects. Like
all other working active industry, the TGJ need to focus on their employee and environment
safety. Social responsibility should not be neglected for long. TGJ has realised the
importance of CSR as their shareholders also face problems with falling shares. All the
stakeholders are rights must be taken care of for the greater good of the business and society.
Issues in this context are marked out in the discussion and recommendations of CSR process
could be made from it.
Recommendation
1. Identifying Stakeholders Rights in CSR
Companies sin the business of e-waste junkyards need to be more alert than any
other waste business. The above discussion shows that the exploitation of e-waste
immensely infects the environment, society and people. The TGJ would identify
the safety and rights of the stakeholders. The employees are the stakeholders that
have the maximum share of interest in this context. They came to the direct
exposure of the toxic chemicals in the gadget junkyards. Health and precaution
issues are to be given utmost priority. The companies in these business need to
prepare their policies of the recycling and dumping of e-wastes. This is the
responsibility of TGJ management to secure the human rights of the employees.
2. Documenting Each and Every Employees
The release of negative press coverage and investigations by BAN has bared many
shocking information about this industry. The TGJ has only thought about their

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personal profit gaining aspects till now. For this they have employed many
workers whom they have not documented properly. These workers get poorly paid
but are comprising their health and well-being in a major level.
TGJ has to work on legal documentation of all the employees so that unwanted
trespassing could be prevented. It is seen that the workers who are not
documented are not trained. They are unaware of the toxic nature of these
operations. They even process the wastes in a way that affects the environment.
Therefore, proper documentation of the employees will help the companies to set
their employee policies and at the same time the CSR ethics will be maintained.
3. Ban in Illegal Waste Supply
The news coverage states that most of the e-waste are imported form the USA in
illegal way. The workers in the junkyards lay open the waste computer and other
electronics parts to find valuable parts. They sold them to the markets and gain
money. The process is harmful for the person as well as for environment as
discussed above. Therefore, the illegal shipping of these wasted need to be
banned. When the supplies are done in legal way the nature of wastes are changed
and they are not that harmful as the illegal one. TGJ and government of USA has
to work responsibly in this issue. The huge supply of these waste gadgets are
becoming the medium of increasing environmental as well as community health
threats.
4. Understanding Legal responsibilities
If the processing of the waste is done in right procedure, there would be no
negative consequences. Both the companies and the employees need to be alerted
of the rules and regulation of this business. The TGJ business owners could
arrange campaigns and events to communicate these legal messages. Governments

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has to work forcefully to implement the policies that assess the legal
responsibilities of the firms. The CSR aspects are now integral to the work
process. Global warming and pollution are the standard issues in developing
countries. Developed countries like USA should not avoid the legal contexts of
recycling their LED and electronics junks. There need to be some hard legal
consequences and they need to be in action effectively in both the countries.
5. Proper Training of the Employees
The issues of waste management bear serious consequences. It is seen that most of
time the ignorance of the employees to manage the wastes properly is the reason
for the CSR problems. The TGJ could arrange some training session for the
employee to specifically inform them about the consequences of mishandling the
objects. They would work in more responsible way towards the CSR if they
identify the problems with the present approaches. The training of handling the
toxic matters carefully would be beneficial for both the health of the workers and
the environment.

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References
Frynas, J.G. and Yamahaki, C., 2016. Corporate social responsibility: Review and roadmap
of theoretical perspectives. Business Ethics: A European Review, 25(3), pp.258-285.
Huffingtonpost, 2016, Inside Hong Kong's Toxic Gadget Junkyards, available at:
https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/hong-kong-e-waste-
junkyards_n_576d6b88e4b017b379f5d115
Jones, T.M., Harrison, J.S. and Felps, W., 2018. How applying instrumental stakeholder
theory can provide sustainable competitive advantage. Academy of Management Review,
43(3), pp.371-391.
Martínez, J.B., Fernández, M.L. and Fernández, P.M.R., 2016. Corporate social
responsibility: Evolution through institutional and stakeholder perspectives. European
Journal of Management and Business Economics, 25(1), pp.8-14.
Miles, S., 2017. Stakeholder theory classification: A theoretical and empirical evaluation of
definitions. Journal of Business Ethics, 142(3), pp.437-459.
Shaukat, A., Qiu, Y. and Trojanowski, G., 2016. Board attributes, corporate social
responsibility strategy, and corporate environmental and social performance. Journal of
Business Ethics, 135(3), pp.569-585.
van Niekerk, M. and Getz, D., 2019. Applying Stakeholder Theory to the Management
Functions.
Wang, H., Tong, L., Takeuchi, R. and George, G., 2016. Corporate social responsibility: An
overview and new research directions: Thematic issue on corporate social responsibility.