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Disaster in Bangladesh : the collapse of the Rana Plaza building
The nature of csr in a business
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Case Study: Rubble of Rana Plaza
I chose rubble of the collapsed Rana Plaza building because it is considered to be the deadliest garment-factory accident in history, as well as the deadliest accidental structural failure in modern human history. More than 1100 number of lives which were lost due to poor management of the company brought my attention to do this case study.
Contemporary management issue in relation to this article
Issue: Diminishing Corporate Social Responsibility across global supply chains and sweatshops.
Background and context of the company
The eight-storey high building, Rana Plaza, is located near Dhaka, which is the capital city of Bangladesh. This building was owned by Sohel Rana, allegedly a leading member of the local Jubo League, the youth wing of the ruling Awami League political party. It housed a number of separate garment factories employing around 5,000 people, several shops, and a bank. The factories manufactured apparels for brands including Benetton, Bonmarché, the Children's Place,El Corte Inglés, Joe Fresh, Mango, Matalan, Primark, and Walmart.
Key issues for the company
As a result of poor building constructions and running heavy equipped machineries, despite not being designed for industrial use contributed to the collapse of this eight-storey building, two floors of which were added illegally. Besides that, employees of the garment factories were forced to work by the owners even after discovering cracks on the exterior walls of the building. The employees were clearly under poor working conditions.
Relevant Management Theories and the key issues relating to them:
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): “Socially responsible practices related to employees, customers, sup...
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...er grounds with good quality construction materials. Besides that, employees must be given training on how to escape in adverse situation and normal working hours should be ensured. Any extra working hours (overtime) must be with the consent of the employee. This step matches the CSR theory (Kumar, et al. 2004).
Key challenges that the company faces are shortage of employees and hesitation or withdrawal of foreign apparel companies to operate in their factories. The issue may be resolved by an increase in wages for garment-factory employees with proper working conditions and proper supervision of the stability of the building as well as the employees' safety. I recommend those practices are ensured in the factory and the government imposes harsh punishment towards factory owners and building constructors if they do not fulfill the building criteria.
...being held accountable, the city officials themselves were also held accountable because of improper safety regulations. Showing that the city itself should be at fault for not enforcing safety regulations for such things as fire escapes, that were not in working order. These unprecedented circumstances just lay down the blueprint for what is now the correct way to set regulations for industrial factory conditions.
...afety should have inspected the building prior to issuing permits for further renovation, especially knowing this structure was going to be housing 124 residents. It seems that lack of knowledge from prior owners and lack of responsibility of city officials are responsible for this collapse and sadly, the loss of 9 brave men in the line of duty. The Boston Fire Department could have worked closer with the owner/ construction crew at the Hotel Vendome, and the deficiencies would have been found, and they would have known the instability they were walking into on June 17. At that point, firefighting operations would have more than likely been defensive. The firefighters did not conduct pre-incident planning which would have let them know they were going to face the construction barriers while attempting to lay hose, maneuver hose, and get the hose to a water source.
Factory workers worked twelve to fifteen hours a day in hazardous condition. There were no protective rules for women and children and no insurances for job-related accidents or industrial illness. The workers were obliged to trade at company store
It is the worker’s condition that he truly focuses on. Many of the problems that people faced during this time include: tenement housing, poor working conditions, child labor, monopolies of business, social and political inequality, and most importantly people putting profits over lives. It is around the same time that a terrible fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. The unsafe working conditions made the employees escape nearly impossible.
The documentary strived to show us how factories were corrupt that they couldn’t provide good working conditions for the workers until we lost people. This documentary is about the tragic fire that took place on March 25, 1911 in the Triangle factory. We can clearly see through this documentary that these people didn’t matter to the factory owners because their needs were not met. The documentary shows that the year before the fire took place the workers led a strike asking for better working conditions, but obviously their voices were not heard. After the fire took place this is when factories started improving working conditions. It is sad to learn that it took 146 lives of innocent people in order for factory owners to be convinced that they need to improve the poor working
The documentary, Made in Bangladesh, made by CBC, addresses the collapse of the Rana Plaza in Bangladesh and the increase in awareness that came from the outside. The documentary addresses the lack of care that was put into safety for the workers by both the factory owners and the contracting retail companies, focusing on the years leading up to the Rana Plaza catastrophe, where clothing made for Canadian consumers of Joe Fresh apparel was being made. The documentary discusses the circumstances around the working conditions of the Bangladesh garment industry. CBC, as a Canadian producer and broadcaster, focuses on the production of clothes sent to Canada from the factories in Bangladesh. They use facts and research alongside personal stories of workers and survivors to put interest the viewers from both a pathos and logos approach.
A human being is a precious specimen; capable of committing inimitable advances, or even fatal tragedies. Unfortunately, we are not always succumbing to the criteria set upon us. We tend to negate the standards and produce something mutilated. A perfect example of this action is the appalling calamity that took place in the Brown Building in Manhattan, New York City. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire was a ghastly event caused by carelessness and sloppiness in the work place; leading up to one of the most salient reforms in American history; the Labor Reform Movement.
...ontinues to drive global capitalism, as capitalist continue to expand and accumulate more capital. However, the cost cuts to the clothes we wear come at a high price for garment workers of Bangladesh. The exploitation the vulnerable workers from a country plagued with structural problems and the unsatisfied global expansion of capitalists’, results in the catastrophes like Rana Plaza. The globalization of the capitalist system was written about by Marx and Engels. The flaws in the capitalist systems that would bring its eventual downfall seem to be true at post Rana Plaza. The resentment of those who profit from their suffering; the government, the factory owners and the western retail chains, have brought on riots and demands of compensation. However, until the system is overturned as a whole, the dire work conditions of the Bangladesh garment worker will remain.
Not only is the pay and work hours bad, the jobs are dangerous too. One man lost two of his fingers in a machine and after being taken to the hospital, his boss furious for having to pay for the bill, is expected to go back to work in excruciating pain to pay off the medical bill (Lee-Potter 2007). In a Chinese sweatshop in Italy a fire broke out and killed 7 people. Because of all the dust and fabric on the floor, the fire spread quickly trapping workers inside due to iron bars on windows to keep them in (Aloisi 2013). The reason for those 7 workers to still be at the factory is that they were sleeping in “cardboard cubicles” (Aloisi 2013). Most workers cannot afford to have homes outside of the factories and sleep where they work. When factories are shut down, its inhabitants are
The school provides a safe environment for students to accomplish academic, social and emotional development. The leadership of a building will include effective decision making, human resource management, mission or purpose, understanding of change, relationship buildi...
Firstly I will provided a brief timeline of events beginning with the first WTC collapsing all the way to the built output of the new WTC. I will examine the political effects on the building followed by social and the economic. In conclusion I will state how and how much all these issues have affected the built output.
For example, in 2012 a Bangladesh factory producing garments for American and European companies caught fire killing 117 factory workers (Cooper, 2014). Additionally, in 2013 another factory in Bangladesh collapsed killing 1,100 workers, which was caused by foundational issues from the upper floors being built without a permit (Cooper, 2014). These incidents ignited outrage over both unsafe and unfair working conditions as well as the exploitation from MNCs, who had extremely profitable contracts with these factories. Consequently, due to public outcry the formation of enhanced government regulations, oversight, business initiatives, and public efforts have surfaced (Cooper, 2014). Although these issues have not been completely resolved, the question over the extent of which MNCs are responsible for adequate workplace safety remains a controversial topic. However, strategic efforts from these companies indicate the importance and necessity of remaining proactive in a globalized economy. These efforts consist of the formation of minimum workforce standards, compliance regulations, financial support, and long-term contractual
Johns Hopkins University. (2009, March). In disaster-prone areas, construction needs a new approach. Retrieved from http://phys.org/news157051992.html
It then goes on to say who the factory was owned by and who the majority of the workers were. It also states the poor quality the building was in. After that, the source tells of the previous history that the owners had with fires in their factories and how the past fires had happened. Next, it reveals that the International Ladies Garment Workers Union held a strike due to the pay and hours and how the owners of the factory reacted to the strike. Following all of this, it describes how the girls tried to get out of the fire after it had happened and the number of girls that had died due to different causes. It then states how the owners got away without any charges and how the reform party came to
Burj khalifa is known to be the world’s tallest building in the world. The development and the construction of the Burj Khalifa project began in the year 2004 and the external part was completed in the year 2009. The building is generally made up of concrete because it is a strong and lasting material that can withstand all types of weather conditions. The building is established in city of Dubai and was opened in the year 2010 and renowned as Downtown Dubai. The project was purposely developed by the government so that they could expand their investment and diversify its efforts on oil producing economy. The government of Dubai decided to formulate this project so that it would make Dubai recognized by the world. The project developed