Puma for Dongguan Surpassing Co.Ltd - myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about thePuma for Dongguan Surpassing Co.Ltd. Answer: Introduction; statement of the problem and objectives PUMA is a German-based multinational company dealing with athletic wear and casual footwear. Puma was founded in 1948 by Rudolf Dassler (Palepu et al., 2007). In the last thirty years, the production of sports shoes has experienced tremendous changes in many aspects in America and Europe. One of the major aspects was the increase in the production cost (Passerini, 2014). For this reason, many companies ought to find ways to reduce the production cost. In this regard, companies relocated their factories to other countries in Asia such as China where both cheap labor and cheap raw materials are available. PUMA, in its wisdom, began to subcontract small companies such as Dongguan Surpassing Shoe Co. Ltd. An investigation which was conducted by China Labor Watch (CLW) revealed a devastating report on PUMAs conduct at Dongguan Surpassing Shoe Co. Ltd. The company employs six thousand workers on a normal season work period and ten thousand workers during a high season. This report came after PUMA was found to have the same problems at its other supplier in Taiway Sports, Inc. It was disappointing to note that PUMA took corrective measures at Taiway Sports, Inc. and forgot its other suppliers. Some of the destructive findings at Dongguan Surpassing Shoe Co. Ltd included excessive overtime where workers were forced to work over twelve hours all days of the week, poor pay of sixty-four cents per hour, excessive fines for refusal to work overtime, poor dormitory condition, unhygienic food, and poor disposal mechanisms where glue and paint are released into the sewer. This problem is a reflection of the whole face of PUMAs suppliers general condition. It is important that PUMA focuses its priority on ethical functionalities. The objectives of this paper are to: Establish reasons for devastating ethical conduct at PUMA. Provide ways where work and living conditions of workers can be improved. Determine the legal working hours in China as per international standards. Provide ways that PUMA can engage in corporate social responsibility to redeem its image. Develop a sufficient program that can be able to help in balancing workers schedule. Literature review As per (D'heur, 2015), in the societal aspect, the topic of value creation has been a topic of discussion whenever a company is faced with a scandal such as poor working conditions. It is extremely intriguing that the reaction of a company in such as scandal is the immediate utterances of the companys side of conducts. This is devoid of solving the underlying problems. Regardless of most companies interest in sustainability, there are usually slow to act on issues claiming that most issues are beyond their corporate control. In his bid to have responsibility across supply chain PUMAs CEO Jochen Zeitz, introduced that concept of product, environment, supply chain, and the society (Jain, 2004). This is where the company assumes the responsibility for the collection of raw materials up to when the goods reach the consumer. Recently, the sports ware company PUMA has developed sustainability platform dubbed as PUMA vision. This is in the view that the company will improve at overall operational processes both externally and internally by taking into account the social, economic and environmental conditions. According to (Willard and Hitchcock, 2015), as much as such sustainability measures have cost PUMA to dig deep in into their accounts, its customer base has increased rapidly. PUMA made a resolution, that in the coming years, half of its international collection will be produced reflecting the international sustainability standards. This implies that most of PUMAs product will be produced using sustainable materials such as recycled polyesters and also in ensuring that its suppliers use sustainable products as well (OECD, 2001). This commitment was largely welcomed since it will put more companies under pressure to do the same. Kuhn, (2011) puts it clear that, before the arrival of sports shoes companies arrive in Asian countries such as China, the shoe industry was state-owned companies which produced for the local market. After China opened up its market in 1984, there was an influx of shoemaking industry in Taiwan and Hong Kong. For this reason, China is currently the world largest shoe producer, thus shoe making multinational companies seek partnership in China for subcontracting (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, 2005). The fact that there are many multinationals in China for shoemaking, poor conditions for work are imminent because, multinationals such as PUMA, dictate the pay rates and work conditions which are accepted or a subcontractor lose a contract. Methodology Almost all factories in China are located in southern China, where most workers are from the rural areas who come to urban areas to look for money. This implies that most workers are composed of young men and women aged seventeen to thirty years. These people have a low level of education hence are unaware of their rights as workers. The paper will put interviews as one of the methods of collecting data to get correct information. Also, the fact that the level of education of the workers who will be the main respondents is low, one on one interaction will be important. The interview will be conducted between June and July when working low season so as to find more respondents. Questions to be asked in the interview will include, the working hours, safety and health issues and their knowledge of trade unions. To get the gist of the real issues as pointed out by China Labor Watch (CLW), observation will be used. One of the areas to be observed will be the dormitories to establish the living conditions. Also, the food at the canteen will also be observed in order to establish the hygiene of the food. Since the element of mistrust must be present, questionnaires will be used, with assistance. This is because as much as their jobs are hard, they do not want to lose them. The same questions asked on interviews will be applied in the questionnaire so as to collect more data. Conclusion According to PUMAs core values, workers are supposed to be treated with dignity and value. However, this is not reflected with the Chinese workers. Being such a big multinational company, PUMA should ensure that it makes necessary that rights of workers are respected. Shoe companies should accept their social responsibility and ensure that the social status and the environmental ethical standards are upheld. In addition, the labor authorities in China should be responsible for the welfare of Chinese workers. Timeline ITEM ACTIVITY Week 1 Concept paper writing Week 2 Proposal writing Week 3 Data collection Week 4 First draft of the paper Week 5 Final draft of the paper Week 6 submission References Beal, B. (2013).Corporate Social Responsibility: Definition, Core Issues, and Recent Developments. SAGE Publications, p.2. Chinalaborwatch.org. (2017).Pumas Failure in CSR: Suppliers Critical Conditions. [online] Available at: https://www.chinalaborwatch.org/report/21 [Accessed 7 Oct. 2017]. D'heur, M. (2015).Sustainable Value Chain Management: Delivering Sustainability Through the Core Business. Springer, p.95. Jain, R. (2004). Corruption-free Sustainable Development: Challenges and Strategies for Good Governance. Mittal Publications, p.257. Kuhn, R. (2011).How China's Leaders Think: The Inside Story of China's Past, Current and Future Leaders. John Wiley Sons. Palepu, K., Bernard, V., Healy, P. and Peek, E. (2007).Business Analysis and Valuation: Text and Cases. Cengage Learning EMEA, p.318. Passerini, K. (2014).Information technology for small business. [Place of publication not identified]: Springer, p.98. Sustainable Development Critical Issues: Critical Issues. (2001). OECD Publishing, p.120. TNCs and the removal of textiles and clothing quotas. (2005). New York: United Nations, p.11. Willard, M. and Hitchcock, D. (2015).The Business Guide to Sustainability: Practical Strategies and Tools for Organizations. Routledge, p.236.a