Business Governance and Ethics - Current Event - CSR and Human Rights : Hershey's Child Labor

Forbes recently carried an interesting article about the most important trends that will dictate Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) in 2012. Among critical issues like Globalization, Sustainability and others , also listed was Human Rights . Companies will have to take a closer look at the length and breadth of their supply chain to ensure that there are no violations to basic human rights. In this connection, a case to quote is of cocoa company Hershey , embroiled in the controversy surrounding child labor in West Africa. According to a Wall Street Journal report , an estimated 1.8 million children are employed on cocoa farms in West Africa where Hershey sources most of it cocoa from.

Of course with public and international outcry that followed the news, Hershey was quick to react to the situation .WSJ reported that Hershey has made a $10 million commitment in West Africa to improve cocoa farming community and reduce child labor . As part of the Hershey "Learn to Grow " initiative they aim to provide technology to the farmers to better farming practices and improve social and environmental practices. Hershey also partners with Source Trust , a non-profit organization targeted to help farmers improve livelihoods by sustainable agricultural practices.

In fact, International Labor Organization  also specifically addresses this aspect of CSR  through IPEC (International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labor) and categorically calls for enterprises to be accountable and responsible in eliminating child labor across supply chains.

It is certainly not in Hershey's best interests to have children as consumers at one end of its supply chain ,and is ironically employing children as labor at another end. This is obviously a very serious problem Hershey should have anticipated and mitigated .

Interestingly Social Media is listed as one of the CSR trends to look out for in 2012 .It is an increasingly important factor in shaping the perception of a brand today and a controversy like this could tarnish the company's image sooner than it can recover from it. The power of social media lies is in its simplicity and speed at which it can reach millions of consumers. The very fact that an eighth grader was able to exert influence on Hershey's management by creating an online petition through Change.org indicates its significance. Incidentally, children also want to eat ethical chocolate .

Given the scale of consequences that can result from ignoring CSR issues anywhere in a product's supply chain, it then becomes imperative for companies to monitor it closely. Business leadership should foster an intrinsic foundation of business with economic gain not conflicting moral obligation.

REFERENCES

"Hershey Announces GPS Project to Map Cocoa Farms in Ghana",WSJ , Business Wire, April 2012

http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20120426-913591.html


"Hershey Fudges Labor Relations Image" , Forbes , Susan Adams, August 2011, http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2011/08/26/hershey-fudges-labor-relations-image/ 

"Hershey's Transgressions Mount on World Day against Child Labot" , WSJ , PR Newswire , 2012 , http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hersheys-transgressions-mount-on-world-day-against-child-labor-2012-06-12

"International Labor Organization" , http://www.ilo.org/ipec/Action/CSR/lang--en/index.htm

"Hershey's Child Labor : Chocolate Company to source independently certified cocoa by end of 2012",The Huffington Post , http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/01/hersheys-child-labor_n_1247111.html 

"The Top 10 Trends in CSR for 2012", Forbes , Tim Mohin , Jan 2012
http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesleadershipforum/2012/01/18/the-top-10-trends-in-csr-for-2012/