¶ … H.B. Fuller in Honduras: Street Children and Substance Abuse
The discussion of ethics in business is one that continues to receive increased attention in today's society, especially in viewing the ever-increasing technological business facets that exist in today's business environment. With the increased transparency of the internet age, as well as growing emphasis on a connected, global economy, the issue of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is one that has risen to the forefront in the minds of many business owners and stakeholders, alike. Ethical issues in the business world occur quite frequently in the business world today, and certain courses of action must be taken in order to ensure that a business fulfills its duties, not only to itself but to its stakeholders, in undertaking a course of action on such ethical dilemmas. In these situations, each step -- or misstep -- can alter the future of a company forever, and it is with great care and deliberation that such decisions must be undertaken, as seen in the case study: "H.B. Fuller in Honduras: Street Children and Substance Abuse."
Case Study Background: Issues at Hand
The case study opens with a focus on the ever-increasing problem of the use of the product -- Resistol -- a contact cement glue, widely-used by shoe repairers, as a hallucinogenic that is being utilized by an immense number of poverty-stricken children in Honduras slums. The children, who are able to find the product easily in household goods stores, are said to overwhelmingly turn to the drug to lift their spirits, as the huffing of the Resistol provides them a sense of contentment and happiness that many of the children who abuse the drug cannot find in their own lives living in one of the poorest areas in the world.
Honduras, the study notes, is certainly not the only country in the world to sell such products, thereby facing such problems of misuse and addiction. However, in countries such as the United States, certain states have regulated that products containing narcotics also include a type of chemical that makes sniffing the glue excessively painful and therefore impossible to tolerate. It is here that the issue of business ethics and CSR come immediately into play. Countries such as the United States, the study notes, are not federally mandated to include such chemicals in their products in order to deter misuse and addiction; these companies choose to include it themselves.
Resistol is manufactured by H.B. Fuller S.A., which is a subsidiary of Kativo Chemical Industries S.A., which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of the H.B. Fuller Company of St. Paul Minnesota. As of the publication of the case study, Kativo was one of the 500 largest private corporations present in Latin America, and Resistol products were shown to have a large product market in Honduras. Further, due to the international status of the Kativo Company, local managers throughout the world -- and throughout Latin America -- are given a high degree of authority and autonomy to make local decisions for themselves and for the betterment of their own branch of the company. Additionally, despite the unstable political and economic climates in which many Latin American branches of the Kativo Company operate under, mangers consistently emphasize the importance of going above and beyond the company's mission, which is to adhere to "a profound philosophy and ethical conduct, worthy of the most advanced firms." Kativo also cites itself as "carrying out business with the utmost respect for ethical and legal principles and its orientation is not solely directed to the customer, who has the highest priority, but also to the shareholders, and the communities in which it operates."
It would seem then, that when the issue of child drug addicts found its way into the media, Kativo would put its own mission statement to work, immediately doing what it could to make the children and the effected communities of Honduras the priority. It would seem. The Kativo Company -- on paper -- should hold the notion that the problem of product misuse and addiction within Honduras -- one of the company's largest Resistol distributors -- not only merits an ethical response, but mandates one, based on the company's own mission statement.
Actions Taken
When the issue of product abuse rose into the media spotlight, Kativo managers rushed to have the blame placed not upon the company, but upon the larger social issue of drug abuse. Resistol, the managers noted, was not the only product children were sniffing. Therefore, society -- and not Kativo -- was...
So as anyone knows, higher prices always keeps addicts from continuing to use a product. So not only did the monster hybrid successfully sail the seas of a possible disastrous press package, but it also made more money on the kids that were addicted to the product in the first place. So in answer to the question as to whether or not H.B fuller conducted itself in a morally
H.B. Fuller Case Study H.B. Fuller Company, a company based out of Minnesota that prides itself for being a socially responsible business, is a worldwide manufacturer of adhesives, sealants, and paint coatings. Since the early 1980's, H.B. Fuller has been marketing a solvent-based glue, known as Resistol, in Latin America. In 1996, a wrongful death lawsuit was filed against H.B. Fuller by the parents of Joel de Jesus, who claimed that
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