Overview
The article “Dongguan shoe factory workers strike over social security benefits” was published on the Global Times on April 15th, 2014 by Wang Yiqiong and Bai Tiantian. The article primarily focuses on employees from South China's largest shoe company located in Dongguan protesting over an improved contract and social security benefits on April 5th. 2,000 to 3,000 of the employees working at the Yue Yuen factory marched from the factory to the town government building while 1,000 to 2,000 protested in front of the factory gate. This factory produces shoes for Adidas and Nike, and though there are has been no violence so far, the employees are unhappy. In addition to not providing social security or housing fund contributions, their contracts are also different from the common contracts which are used by the Guangdong Province. Overall, this is not the first time that the factory has had faced a strike.
The article “Dongguan shoe factory workers strike over social security benefits” was published on the Global Times on April 15th, 2014 by Wang Yiqiong and Bai Tiantian. The article primarily focuses on employees from South China's largest shoe company located in Dongguan protesting over an improved contract and social security benefits on April 5th. 2,000 to 3,000 of the employees working at the Yue Yuen factory marched from the factory to the town government building while 1,000 to 2,000 protested in front of the factory gate. This factory produces shoes for Adidas and Nike, and though there are has been no violence so far, the employees are unhappy. In addition to not providing social security or housing fund contributions, their contracts are also different from the common contracts which are used by the Guangdong Province. Overall, this is not the first time that the factory has had faced a strike.
Business Strand
The Yue Yuen factory is a distributor and manufacturer of well-known sneaker brands such as Nike and Adidas and as a result, is undoubtedly an international company. Nevertheless, since the Yue Yen factory has not been providing with the employee benefits that they deserve, it is directly related to the working in international markets strand in international business. This is due to the fact that the strike which is occurring suggests that the factory is facing employee issues and they need to work quickly in order to overcome this. This comes to show that with international business, it is important that the companies provide their employees with benefits that they deserve is order to restrict themselves from having a negative image.
The Yue Yuen factory is a distributor and manufacturer of well-known sneaker brands such as Nike and Adidas and as a result, is undoubtedly an international company. Nevertheless, since the Yue Yen factory has not been providing with the employee benefits that they deserve, it is directly related to the working in international markets strand in international business. This is due to the fact that the strike which is occurring suggests that the factory is facing employee issues and they need to work quickly in order to overcome this. This comes to show that with international business, it is important that the companies provide their employees with benefits that they deserve is order to restrict themselves from having a negative image.
Opinion
In my opinion, I believe that this strike can lead to a potential disaster for companies such as Nike and Adidas. Nike is already known to contribute to child labour and have also gotten a lot of bad publicity about it. Now that Nike is trying to reduce the amount of child labour that they have, offering low wages to places in China is not a good sign. Though the manufacturing of Nike takes place in a different part of the world, the product is still offered to many different countries and since the strike is symbol for inequality, it is not long until customers begin to notice that Nike is once again being unethical. In addition, it also leads to bad publicity for other shoe company’s like Adidas. This bad publicity will not only lead to reduced sales but, people will also be less likely to sponsor these companies or invest in their shares. I believe that having the right working conditions is important in international business, even if the business has foreign operations.
In my opinion, I believe that this strike can lead to a potential disaster for companies such as Nike and Adidas. Nike is already known to contribute to child labour and have also gotten a lot of bad publicity about it. Now that Nike is trying to reduce the amount of child labour that they have, offering low wages to places in China is not a good sign. Though the manufacturing of Nike takes place in a different part of the world, the product is still offered to many different countries and since the strike is symbol for inequality, it is not long until customers begin to notice that Nike is once again being unethical. In addition, it also leads to bad publicity for other shoe company’s like Adidas. This bad publicity will not only lead to reduced sales but, people will also be less likely to sponsor these companies or invest in their shares. I believe that having the right working conditions is important in international business, even if the business has foreign operations.
Yiqiong , Wang , and Bai Tiantian. "Dongguan shoe factory workers strike over social security benefits - CHINA - Globaltimes.cn." Dongguan shoe factory workers strike over social security benefits - CHINA - Globaltimes.cn. Global Times , 15 Apr. 2014. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. <http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/854787.shtml#.U02fvfldVIs>