Compliance with International Labor Laws: The of Wilmar International - Case Study Example

Compliance with International Labor Laws: The Case of Wilmar International Compliance with International Labor Laws: The Case ofWilmar International Introduction The Wilmar International Company is one of the most top rated organizations with respect to corporate social responsibility. The company is renowned for supporting children education in developing nations where it majorly operates. The company on the other hand, is working significantly in terms of saving the planet. Additionally, it is investing top dollars in enhancing yield of farms from where it obtains crops and vegetables that are in turn used for manufacturing of edible products (Schachte, Goldman and Gordon 1968). The featured company is looking to become an ever-living example and instance of green management. But, few of the scholars are of the view that companies like Wilmar are working with a motive of profitability and Corporate Social Responsibility is just another tool to fulfill the traditional goals of maximizing the profits and shareholders’ return (Cetindamar and Husoy 2007). Still, the company is doing something for the society and it is better than major number of organizations in the world. The food industry of the world has shifted away from traditional means and opted to produce crops with artificial ways (Jeffery and French 1998). The idea was taken like a hot cake at first. But, with the passage of time, researchers found side-effects of obesity food and nowadays people are returning towards using naturally produced food items (Hill and Peters 1998) and that change in consumers’ taste is giving an invincible opportunity of growth to Wilmar International. The basic and fundamental purpose of writing this paper is to evaluate the company’s ability to fulfill various important and valued international labor laws. This paper will however, discuss application of collective bargaining, human rights, elimination of forced and child labor, nondiscriminatory employment policy, fighting and managing environmental concerns and use of environmental friendly technologies. Some Blames on Wilmar International The company is also believed to create economic inequalities in the developing nations. But, according to the recent study organization that are operating in natural resources domain are far more socially responsible than those that are providing services in other areas. The scholars argue that the company is apparently supporting the green management and environment because it is closely dependent on quality of natural environment. Furthermore, the company is focusing on employees benefits and welfare (Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Sustainability Reports | CSRHub n.d.). It is least bothered with surrounding population’s deteriorating economic condition. Yet, the company is not responsible for the whole community but, it is liable for the welfare of its own workforce (Wilmar International | Asias Leading Agribusiness Group n.d.). The local governments are significantly responsible for caring for the public at large. In order to attain the abovementioned goal, the governmental bodies are recommended to impose heavy environmental and societal taxation on the companies so that public relief can be provided at a vast scale. Why Customers like Wilmar International? It is imperative to note that the company’s products are highly differentiated in the market and due to this reason; the company is able to charge a premium on the quality. The consumers are getting increasingly fed up from unhealthy chunk food all around the world (Prentice and Jebb 2003). The consumer’s paradigm is changing and so does the landscape of the whole industry (Adams, Grummer-Strawn and Chavez 2003). Apparently, the era of technological food production is coming to an end and people are reverting towards traditional means of feeding (Barbara 2004). The company should also be praised for its ability to hold its roots when others changed in order to incorporate so-called beneficial technology a few years back. But, now Wilmar is going to be a champion because it managed to produce high quality natural products and currently no one is in position to match the company’s ability to generate state of the art food items with such effectiveness and efficiency. The selected Principles of Global Compact that are followed by Wilmar International are as follows: - Right to Collective Bargaining Firstly, the company has provided the employees with the right of collective bargaining. Moreover, annual salary raises are decided with a joint consensus and labor union has been noted to hold peaceful strikes and protests that are settled across the table every time. Proclaimed Human Rights and Elimination of Forced Labor Secondly, the company is dedicated to provide emergency leaves to the employees on humanitarian reasons. The females are entitled to have maternity leave in case of pregnancy. The disabled employees are given special equipment to work with and they also receive special compensation at the end of each year. The company also dedicates its efforts to eliminate forced labor and needy children are not taken as employees but, they are encouraged to study whereas, the company bears all of their educational expenses. Promotion of Environmental Responsibility Additionally, as mentioned above the company is diverting notable percentage of energies and finances in order to save the planet and its ability to enhance productivity of the lands remained unmatched (Wilmar International and its Financiers Commitments and Contradictions 2013). The company is always known and commended for using eco-friendly technologies and its tendency to deploy old fashioned ways in the era of the 21st century is both impressive and marvelous. The Wilmar International is one of the very few food organizations that are attached towards using natural processes for producing high quality products without using intensive technological interventions. Moreover, the company has lately proved that the supporters of technology oriented food industry are standing on a wrong footing because natural way of growing crops is still the best one (Epstein, et al. 2001) and therefore, the notion of over-application of technology in agriculture has been proven wrong by the featured company. The Wilmar International is a developing and learning organization. It is mainly concerned with major organizational goals that are sustainability, growth, profitability and service to the society (Ahuja and Katila 2001). The food producer is therefore, using the literature and practices of organizational development to a fuller extent and these tools are serving the company sufficiently well for the past few decades. All of the organizational economic indicators are positive and stably growing as well. Recommendations Finally, we have decided to report employee related expenditures in our financial reports so that people can see the organization’s commitment towards the society. Moreover, we have also decided to record and develop a transcript for each and every union-management meeting in order to promote our legitimacy of collective bargaining provision. These transcripts will be attached with annual fiscal reports of the company and the company from now onwards, will report its environmental costs in its annual reports and will also take possible measures to minimize them effectively. Conclusion This paper analyzed and reviewed ability of Wilmar International to incorporate modern labor and environmental laws. The detailed analysis revealed that the company is not only environmentally concerned. But, it is also using non-discrimination employment policy and it is also giving the right of collective bargaining to the employees. Additionally, female employees receive maternal leave in case of pregnancy. Other than that, the company is also blamed for causing economic inequalities in the economies where it operates. The supporters of the company argue that the company is only responsible for the welfare of its employees and the governments are recommended to apply increased taxation for serving the whole community (Auty 1998). The company is appreciated regarding its actions towards supporting the notion of natural foods in times when fast food was ruling the world. But, now people are ultimately coming back to nature so that they can meet their nourishment needs. The Wilmar’s efforts are finally paying off and the organization is thriving once again. References Adams, E, Grummer-Strawn, L and Chavez, G "Food Insecurity Is Associated with Increased Risk of Obesity in California Women." The Journal of Nutrition 133, 4, (2003):.1070-1074. Ahuja, A, and Katila, R "Technological Acquisitions and The Innovation Performance of Acquiring Firms: A Longitudinal Study." Strategic Management Journal 22, 1, (2001): 197-220. Auty, R. "Natural Resource Endowment, The State and Development Strategy." Journal of International Development Vol 9, 4 (1998): 651–663. Barbara, J. "Jackson Pollocks Industrial Expressionism." Art Journal Vol 63,4, (2004): pp.68-79. Cetindamar, D, and Husoy, K. "Corporate Social Responsibility Practices and Environmentally Resposible Behavior: The Case of The United Nations Global Compact ." Journal of Business Ethics Vol 76, 1, (2007): 163-176. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Sustainability Reports | CSRHub. Retrieved from http://www.csrhub.com/CSR_and_sustainability_information/Wilmar-International-Ltd/ (accessed August 2013, 29). Epstein, L, C Gordy, H Raynor, M Beddome, C Kilanowski, and Rocco Paluch. "Increasing Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Decreasing Fat and Sugar Intake in Families at Risk for Childhood Obesity." Obesity Research 9,3, (2001): 171–178. Hill, J, and Peters, J. "Environmental Contributions to the Obesity Epidemic." Science 29,1, (1998):1371-1374. Jeffery, R, and French, S "Epidemic obesity in the United States: are fast foods and television viewing contributing?" American Journal of Public Health 88, 2, (1998): 277-280. Prentice, A, and Jebb, S "Fast foods, energy density and obesity: a possible mechanistic link." Obesity Reviews 4, 4, 2003: 187-194. Schachte, S, Goldman, R and Gordon, A "Effects of fear, food deprivation, and obesity on eating." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 10, 2, 1968: 91-97. Wilmar International | Asias Leading Agribusiness Group. Retrieved from http://www.wilmar-international.com (accessed August 2013, 29). Wilmar International and its Financiers Commitments and Contradictions . Factsheet , London: Friends of the Earth International, 2013. Read More