MGMT301: Ethical Issues in International Management: A Case Study

This report examines the ethical issues surrounding the living and working conditions of plantation workers in India, specifically those supplying tea to UK brands. The case study highlights the unethical practices of low wages, inadequate housing, poor sanitation, lack of electricity, and the prevalence of diseases among the workers. The report identifies management and the Indian government as key stakeholders responsible for these inhumane conditions, which include insufficient pay, lack of access to basic amenities, and the government's failure to enforce minimum wage laws and worker protections. The analysis references several academic journals and online sources to support the arguments and emphasizes the need for improved corporate social responsibility and government intervention to ensure fair treatment and living standards for the workers. The report concludes by underscoring the urgent need for ethical reforms within the tea industry to address worker exploitation.

INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT
AND ETHICS

The ethical issue associated with the present case is living conditions of workers on
plantations in India who are indulged into practices of supplying tem for UK’s best brands.
Further, they are not provided right treatment in the form of their housing conditions which are
totally unfavorable (Gupta, 2005). Individuals are forced to use tea brushes as toilets, no
electricity is present, sanitary conditions are poor etc. Further, due to presence of all such
conditions they are suffering from many diseases. Workers are sometimes forced to drink
rainwater piped from a stream. Further, they are paid very low wages of 115 rupees which is
generally low than minimum wage in the region (Deith and Rowlatt, 2015). Due to presence of
low wage condition workers are suffering from malnutrition and they are vulnerable to various
disease. So, this directly represents the ethical issues being faced by workers. They are not
delivered proper rights which generally human being has. They have to survive in areas where it
is difficult to sustain and this is one of the main reasons due to which individuals are suffering
from respiratory tract infections, diarrhea, serious infection such as TB etc. In short, presence of
unfavorable living conditions is leading to various types of diseases in workers (Kumar and
Basu, 2008).
Based on above discussion, it is highly evident that management is the stakeholder group
that been included in making the living of tea company worker like hell (Raman, 2010).
Management of varied companies in responsible for unethical and illegal act against workers.
Based on the article it is found that workers are not been offered with basic amenities like
drinking water and healthy place to live. Further, there are certain set of disease that ben
prevailing in workers such as malnutrition, diarrhoea and numerous other due to unhygienic
living condition. Beside this, management doesn’t allow outsiders to visits the place where
workers live which is giant law as well. Due to this act, situation of habitat of workers are not
been witnessed by outsiders and hence no development is taken (Gupta and Gupta, 2008).
In addition to it, government of India (both local and central) is another stakeholder
group that supporting the management and this leads to exploitation of workers to core. Since,
management of Tea Company is offering low wages than that of minimum wages set by
government (Atal, 2009). It is an offence and government should have taken legal action but
same is not been considered by any of the government. Hence, both management and
government of India are responsible for inhuman behaviour of tea companies over its workers.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Atal, Y., 2009. Sociology and Social Anthropology in India. Pearson Education India.
Gupta, D. A., 2005. Corporate Social Responsibility in India: Promoting Human Development
towards a Sacro‐Civic Society. Social Responsibility Journal. 1(3/4) .pp.213 – 224.
Kumar, M. and Basu, P., 2008. Perspectives of productivity growth in Indian food industry: a
data envelopment analysis. International Journal of Productivity and Performance
Management. 57(7) .pp.503 – 522.
Raman, R., 2010. Global Capital and Peripheral Labour: The History and Political Economy of
Plantation Workers in India. Routledge
Gupta, D. A. and Gupta, D. A., 2008. Corporate social responsibility in India: towards a sane
society? Social Responsibility Journal. 4(1/2) .pp.209 – 216.
Online
Deith, J. and Rowlatt, J., 2015. The bitter story behind the UK's national drink. [Online].
Accessed through < http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34173532>. [Accessed on
21st March 2016].