Connecting People
Legitimacy
In the video A Decent Factory Nokia is trying to achieve
legitimacy by sending a team to do an audit of their suppliers. They do so in order to try to get a better picture of the working conditions of their suppliers in
order to get a better grip on how they do things by setting minimum
requirements that they have to fulfil. By regular visits for new audits they slowly can work towards the desired situation.
The supplier tries to be a legitimate operation by complying
to the rules set by the Chinese government, however in some areas they apply
creative administration skills. For instance in terms of minimum wage they do
not pay the minimum wage, but by letting their employers work overtime structurally
they do reach the minimum wage. On top of this all employers live on the
complex and because of this have to pay 1/3 rd of their total wage, which
puts them well below the minimum wage level.
Diffusing criteria
The way in which Nokia tries to diffuse their sustainability
criteria shows that they take their responsibility, be it risk driven, as they
do not want their image of a correct Nordic company to be stained by working with suppliers that do not
meet legal standards. As Nokia says, you cannot change the world in one day,
and with time things will improve if you just keep pushing them in the right direction. As an audience of the documentary a judgemental feeling can easily overcome you, thinking that it is inhuman to live with 8 people in one room, or to be cutting cables for the whole day 6 days a week, but it is important to keep these considerations in perspective. Once I was in China for instance on a University where the dorm rooms were very similar. When asked if they didn't miss privacy, they didn't understand my question as they just did not have that concept. Similar puzzled faces were seen when asking people in a factory if they liked their jobs, what was there to like? It provided them with food, a house and money to take care of the son or daughter. Local laws are in place that supposed to fit local circumstances. It is Nokia's job to check if they comply to these laws or not.
Other mechamisms to improve
However as
they also noted within the factory they also make products for their
competitors for which different rules apply. For instance Nokia increased the
wages on their product line, but when they are producing for say Samsung they
get paid less again. Therefore it is necessary to organize a collective
industry wide platform which coordinates and sets these minimum standards so
that they all operate as one actor that has one and the same legal demands. This would for one be a positive development that could diffuse sustainability criteria within the Chinese high tech industries.
1 comment:
Hi Jody,
I very much enjoyed reading your blog, especially since you make it very accessible and easily understandable. Also the structure is clear.
I also enjoyed the fact that is very much written from own experience, I only wonder if this may not be a bit too much. I seem to be missing some background information from the articles provided. Maybe you could elaborate a little on the possible effect on Nokia from geographical boundaries as a pose to industry boundaries? You clearly feel the factoy only has to apply the regulations provided by Chinese government and culture, but what if transparancy on the way the factory works has a negative effect on Nokia as a brand? I feel although not mentioned explicitly Nokia does self-assessment, do you think this is an effective and sustainable way? And do you think the funds on corporate sustainability assessment they have agreed to sign would agree with you in the fact that Chinese standards are simply different from western standards? I think they mention in the documentary that they can not afford to lose these funds because of the negative effects. You might want to look into that.
Hope this is helpful, these are only my thoughts. If you do not agree or have questions please let me know!
Jochem
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