Child Labor Issue - Research Paper Example

? Child Labor Child Labor Business management involves a combination of approaches that the management of an organization should usein order to enhance the productivity of a business organization, which is essential in ensuring that a business organization makes maximum profits. In the contemporary business society, globalization has taken center stage with firms expanding their business operations to various parts of the world. In effect, a firm that effectively manages its operations in a manner that is effective and efficient manages to maintain a competitive edge over its competitors, which ensures that the firm achieves success in its operations. One such area that a business organization should adequately address involves the issue of ethics in business. In line with this, the definition of business ethics vary based on the conception of the topic under discussion. One topic of discussion in business ethics involves the issue of child labor, which is crucial as business organizations seek to achieve a global perspective in conducting business. In effect, it is important to understand the issue of child labor, as an important topic in business ethics, and highlight approaches that business organizations take in order to deal with this issue. To begin with, it is crucial to understand the concept of child labor. There are varying international principles provided by labor organizations, such as ILO, which provide different definitions of intolerable and tolerable forms and definitions of child labor. For tolerable work, the ILO Convention No. 138 (1973) identifies work that does not make children fail to attend school with the work being light and harmless to the growth and development of the child as tolerable work (ILO, n.d.). Consequently, the convention stipulates the right age for this work being 13 years although the age can go down to 12 years depending on various circumstances such as the economic situation of the child and their family, which is crucial since such work can be crucial for the growth and the development of the child in question (UNICEF, 1997). On the other hand, intolerable work is abusive and dangerous with the work being exploitive on children. In this case, the ILO Convention No. 182 (1999) identifies child labor as any form of slavery or practices that are similar to slavery with actions related to the sale of children, debt bondage using children, serfdom, and the involvement of children in armed conflicts (ILO, n.d.). Importantly, this definition covers the use of children in issues related to child prostitution, using children in illegal activities, and in other areas that might harm the growth and development of children in regard to their moral values, health, and their safety. At this juncture, it is crucial to point out this convention, and other international codes and standards such as the UN convention on the rights of children, define a child as any individual below the age of 18 years (UNICEF, 1997). Nonetheless, it is important to point out that perceptions about child labor may vary depending on the culture although business organizations should use the definitions provided by ILO and other international organizations such as the UN. According to data from the International Labor Organization, one in every seven children is in some form of child labor. This puts the figure at 218 million children involved in child labor, which is a decrease from the 240 million children involved in labor in 2002 (ILO, 2006). Nonetheless, it is crucial to point out that this is not ethical practice in business since children are supposed to enjoy their childhood and not working under harmful conditions. In line with this, these children work in various sectors of the global economy with these sectors located in various parts of the world. However, a majority of these children work in the agricultural sector, which is a result of the non-regulation of this sector in terms of regulating the human resource capital working in the sector (Kolk & Tulder, 2002). In the agricultural sector, it is common for workers to be exposed to harmful and dangerous chemicals and farm equipment with statistics suggesting that 7 out of 10 children involved in child labor work in the agricultural sector (ILO, 2006). In effect, the threat to the growth, development, and safety of the children posed by the working conditions in the farms is unethical business practice since these organizations go for the cheap labor provided by the children with disregard to the children’s health. The data provided by the ILO point to a case in which every country in the world engages in child labor. The developed nations are not spared in the issue of child labor. In this regard, statistics suggest that 2.5 million children engaging in child labor lived in developed nations, in 2002, with 25 million other children involved in child labor working and living in economies that were transitional the same year (ILO, 2006). One sad fact is that the world loses a number of children involved in child labor every year due to their exposure to harmful working conditions. Important though, business organizations are realizing the unethical practice of child labor and are increasingly implementing measures that prohibit child labor practices in their business operations across the world. In addition, business organizations are implementing measures to ensure that their partners practices business ethically without incidents of child labor. One measure that business organizations are taking, in order to ensure that they eliminated this unethical practice, regards implementation of a code that governs the operations of the business, and its partners. In line with this, it is important to point out that the codes that business organizations implement in order to ensure ethics in the issue of child labor focuses on three aspects of specificity, monitoring, and the implications of sanctions that the organization will implement (Kolk & Tulder, 2002). Under the issue of specificity, business organizations highlight the pertinent issues that the code of practice involves. In this regard, the organization will address the issue of the age of its workers, and provides the minimum age with the role that each employee plays. In addition, an organization defines the applicability of the standard and whether the standard is universal, in instances whereby the business organization has a global perspective in terms of business operations. On the other hand, specificity involves a discussion regarding the target audience of the code that may include business partners, governments, or specific firms. Finally, the code defines the references within which the business organization developed the code (Kolk & Tulder, 2002). Other than the issue of specificity in the code, business organizations focus on the aspects of monitoring and the sanctions resulting from the failure to follow this code. In line with the monitoring aspect, business organizations identify the process within which they monitor their compliance, and that of their partners, to the code that they implement in order to eliminate the issue of child labor. Moreover, the organization identifies the people responsible for overseeing the implementation of this code (Kolk & Tulder, 2002). Finally, the code stipulates the sanctions that the business organization takes against itself, or its partners, who go against this code of ethics (Kolk & Tulder, 2002). Based on the foregoing, it is evident that the issue of child labor is unethical practice in business. In this regard, child labor exposes children to harmful incidents that pose a threat to their growth and safety. Despite the various definitions and guidelines provided by international organizations such as the ILO and the UN, organizations still practice child labor due to the cheap labor opportunities that children provide. Indeed, this practice is not limited to developing nations, but the practice is evident in other global economies such as the developed countries. Nonetheless, business organizations are taking action and implementing policies that ensure that they do not practice this unethical practice in business. References International Labor Organization (ILO). (2006). Facts on Child Labor. Retrieved from http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_067558.pdf International Labor Organization (ILO). (n.d.). ILO Conventions and Recommendations on child labor. Retrieved from http://www.ilo.org/ipec/facts/ILOconventionsonchildlabour/lang--en/ Kolk, A., & Tulder, R. (2002). Child Labor and Multinational Conduct: A Comparison of International Business and Stakeholder Codes. Journal of Business Ethics, 36(3), pp. 291-301. UNICEF. (1973). The State of the World's Children. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Read More