Reference no: EM133212021

Case Study: Spinning for Responsible Cotton Sourcing

Most clothing brands and retailers have become accustomed to dealing with problems of child labour in their supply chains. Uzbekistan is the world's fourth largest cotton exporter, made extensive use of forced and child labour in harvesting its annual cotton crop. With the media and civil society organisations exposing how classrooms were emptied across the country every year to pick the harvest, major clothing brands has a major ethical problem on their hands. Efforts of many companies to boycott Uzbek cotton have gone some way in dealing with the issue, but significant problems remain in protesting those at risk of human rights violations and ensuring the integrity of their supply chains.

Due to underinvestment in technology, and unlike most other countries, some 90% of Uzbek cotton is harvested is so acute, and cost pressures from regional governors are so sever, that much of the harvesting has typically been carried out by children or young adults who are forced to work in the cotton fields.

Reports have suggested that during the harvesting season from September to November, schools have been closed and tens of thousands of children compulsorily transported to the fields to help with the harvest. During this time, child cotton workers could miss up to three months of school, usually toiling all day at strenuous manual work. The children would be poorly paid (around 40 cents a day), and have to pay their own food and transport, sometimes even leaving them with next to nothing for their work after deductions have been made.

This desultory picture of the Uzbek cotton industry was first exposed in detail in a comprehensive 2005 report from the Environmental Justice Foundation. Running to some 45 pages, the report, White Gold: The True Cost of Cotton, set the child labour allegations within the broader context of the authoritarian nature of the Uzbek regime and the complex cotton trading system. In addition the child labour and other human rights abuses, the report also detailed a swathe of environmental problems associated with the cotton industry in Uzbekistan. Concluding that 'cotton production in Uzbekistan occurs within a framework of systematic exploitation, human rights violations, and environmental destruction', the report argued that, 'clothing manufacturers and retailers have an obligation to look beyond the "sweatshops" and into the cotton fields...Corporate enterprises must make a critical assessment of their role in driving the problems...and demonstrate that their supply chain does not exacerbate the chronic situation within Uzbekistan.

Question 1

State and explain any FIVE negative issues from the case.

Question 2

Evaluate the case based on any FIVE ethical theories in which one of the theory must be Ethics of Rights and Justice.

Question 3

Assuming that you have been appointed as the Operations Manager by Uzbek companies and you have been tasked to improve the company reputation. Propose any FIVE ways that should be carried out to make the change.