An article that made its debut on Yahoo news talks about an

An article that made its debut on Yahoo news talks about an unethical business practice that happened under Nestle\'s watch. Nestle who is a popular brand among dog and cat food buyers, came under fire in response to how the fish used in their cat food was caught. A class action lawsuit has been filed against Nestle claiming their food \"Fancy Feast\" contains fish caught using slave labor. \"Men and boys, often trafficked from Thailand\'s poorer neighbors Myanmar and Cambodia, are sold to fishing boat captains who need crews aboard their ship, the complaint said. It spoke of shifts of up to 20 hours a day with little or no pay, and beatings or even death if the work is deemed unsatisfactory.\" Essentially Nestle has supported slave labor by purchasing the fish from these suppliers. Slavery is a completely unethical practice that is Illegal in the U.S. The slaves are forced to work long hours under gruesome conditions with no pay. No one should have to suffer that fate.

Question:
Do you agree or disagree to this? State your fact/reasons to support your answer.

For more information- http://news.yahoo.com/nestle-accused-using-slave-caught-fish-cat-food-071124137.html

Solution

The above mentioned statement is correct. Nestle cannot simply excuse itself from the fact that it is not the company\'s responsibility to ensure that ethical practices are employed by its suppliers/vendors. As a responsibility towards the society, a company is required to abide by certain rules and regulations. Additionally, it is required to lay down specific policies as to procurement, sales, finance, etc. It is the moral responsibility of the management of the company to ensure that any violation of social norms and practices is not encouraged at the cost of society at large.

In the given case, Nestle has bought fish from suppliers who are engaged in the unethical practice of employing workers trafficked from other countries and treating them like slaves. The company could have easily checked the employment processes used by these suppliers and should have obtained information on the workers employed. If the company knew about the employment of slave labor and it still continued to buy fish from these suppliers, it has acted unethically.

Not only this, by hiding this fact from the general public (customers)as it could have impacted its sales and market reputation, it has committed another violation. The management of the company is responsible to act in the best interests of the society. By maintaining strict procurement policies involving thorough check of suppliers and restricting procurement from any supplier acting in violation of labor policies, the company could have demonstrated its social and moral committment towards the welfare of all of the sections of the society.