Hershey Shrugs Moral Responsibility in Supply Chain Management by Failing to Eradicate the Use of Child Labor
Due to the failure of Hershey’s voluntary efforts to stop child labor from being used within its supply chain, the U.S. government should enforce existing federal law against the importation of products made with forced labor.
Trafficked Labor and Poor Working Conditions
Hershey sources most of its cocoa from West Africa – a region plagued by extreme poverty – and known for extensive use of trafficked child labor. Though the countries of Ghana and the Ivory Coast provide 70 percent of the world’s cocoa supply, horrible work conditions persist in the agriculture sector (Isern 117).
Starting in the late 1990’s, reports of slave labor …show more content…
This is made clear when viewed from the ethical perspective of Immanuel Kant. Kant viewed morality through categorical imperatives, or commands that must be followed. For Kant, these rules are derived in reason and exist objectively and each person is bound by them.
The first formulation of the categorical imperative is the universalizability principle, which states, “Act only in accordance with that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it become a universal law.” Kant has found a way to evaluate moral action through reason alone sometimes known as the “universalization test.” If the subject moral activity were to be applied to everyone, would an absurd or incoherent outcome occur? If yes, the action is immoral. Placing Hershey’s use of trafficked labor into the maxim and universalizing that behavior would create a world where no child would be free from forced labor because using child labor would become universal law. Many more, if not all businesses would utilize children for cheap labor, robbing children of their childhoods and their ability to obtain an education. There is clearly something incoherent about this outcome and this incoherence under the universality test is what deems the action immoral. For Kant, rational beings cannot will incoherent actions. Hershey’s behavior fails the universalization …show more content…
Kathryn Manza, an associate at Foley Hoag LLP argues that there is reason to doubt the extent to which the code is enforced (397). Currently suppliers only have to acknowledge the code, and state their intent to comply. So far Hershey has not released any details about how the code is administered. In 2006, disappointment with the progress of Hershey’s voluntary efforts led a group of shareholders to demand that management disclose information about Hershey’s cocoa suppliers. The board refused to comply. Finally, in 2012, Hershey promised that all its suppliers would conform to international labor standards by 2020. The significant delays and apparent lack of concern has damaged the brand image and even prompted Whole Foods to cease sales of Scharffen Berger, a luxury brand for Hershey (Manza
Due to the failure of Hershey’s voluntary efforts to stop child labor from being used within its supply chain, the U.S. government should enforce existing federal law against the importation of products made with forced labor.
Trafficked Labor and Poor Working Conditions
Hershey sources most of its cocoa from West Africa – a region plagued by extreme poverty – and known for extensive use of trafficked child labor. Though the countries of Ghana and the Ivory Coast provide 70 percent of the world’s cocoa supply, horrible work conditions persist in the agriculture sector (Isern 117).
Starting in the late 1990’s, reports of slave labor …show more content…
This is made clear when viewed from the ethical perspective of Immanuel Kant. Kant viewed morality through categorical imperatives, or commands that must be followed. For Kant, these rules are derived in reason and exist objectively and each person is bound by them.
The first formulation of the categorical imperative is the universalizability principle, which states, “Act only in accordance with that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it become a universal law.” Kant has found a way to evaluate moral action through reason alone sometimes known as the “universalization test.” If the subject moral activity were to be applied to everyone, would an absurd or incoherent outcome occur? If yes, the action is immoral. Placing Hershey’s use of trafficked labor into the maxim and universalizing that behavior would create a world where no child would be free from forced labor because using child labor would become universal law. Many more, if not all businesses would utilize children for cheap labor, robbing children of their childhoods and their ability to obtain an education. There is clearly something incoherent about this outcome and this incoherence under the universality test is what deems the action immoral. For Kant, rational beings cannot will incoherent actions. Hershey’s behavior fails the universalization …show more content…
Kathryn Manza, an associate at Foley Hoag LLP argues that there is reason to doubt the extent to which the code is enforced (397). Currently suppliers only have to acknowledge the code, and state their intent to comply. So far Hershey has not released any details about how the code is administered. In 2006, disappointment with the progress of Hershey’s voluntary efforts led a group of shareholders to demand that management disclose information about Hershey’s cocoa suppliers. The board refused to comply. Finally, in 2012, Hershey promised that all its suppliers would conform to international labor standards by 2020. The significant delays and apparent lack of concern has damaged the brand image and even prompted Whole Foods to cease sales of Scharffen Berger, a luxury brand for Hershey (Manza