Film Analysis -- China Blue

Film Analysis -- China Blue What do you think "corporate social responsibility" means? Can corporations simultaneously be socially responsible and make a profit? How so? In principle, "corporate social responsibility" means nothing more than limiting the pursuit of financial profit to that which can be achieved without exploiting other human beings.

Corporations can pursue maximum profit without violating Christian morality or secular ethical principles by paying a fair wage, providing for the human needs of workers, and making sure that the relationship between employer and employees is symbiotic rather than parasitic. A perfect example of the morally righteous path toward pursuing corporate profit is that of Milton Hershey, founder of the Hershey Chocolate company and of the Pennsylvania company town of Hershey (Hershey.com, 2011).

At the time, in post-World-War II America, most company towns were notorious for exploiting workers by taking advantage of their nearly complete dependence on their employers (Halbert & Ingulli, 2008). Typically, companies paid low wages and recouped most of what they paid hard-working miners and other hard laborers by over-charging them for rent and consumer goods available in the only stores, which were also owned and run by the employing companies (Halbert & Ingulli, 2008).

Milton Hershey demonstrated the exact opposite approach that was completely consistent with Christian principles of good stewardship and moral responsibility toward his fellow man (Hershey.com, 2011). He established a company town but instead of using it at a means of extracting more profits by exploiting his employees, he devoted himself to creating a positive environment that included quality schools and other social institutions to treat all his workers to the highest possible quality of life.

He still managed to amass a tremendous financial fortune from his business and ultimately willed most of it to trust funds intended to preserve the quality of life for the residents of Hershey Town long after his death (Hershey.com, 2011). 2. Who do you think is more responsible for bad conditions in the factory in the movie, Mr. Lam the manager, or the foreign purchasers? Who do you think has more power to improve things for the workers? Mr.

Lam and the Western companies were equally at fault for the deplorable conditions endured by the Chinese workers in the film. The Western companies deliberately contract with foreign manufacturers to circumvent the very laws and public policies of their own societies that are designed to protect their citizens from exploitation in the workplace.

Instead of accepting the natural limitations on profit that were possible in their own nations, Western companies chose to export their manufacturing operations to China where no legal or public policy restrictions were available to protect the welfare and safety of working conditions and where children were still routinely forced to work long hours at hard labor. Obviously, Mr. Lam and other similarly situated Chinese nationals also share the same moral responsibility because without their complicity, the Western companies could not pursue their profit in such morally reprehensible ways.

In many respects, the host nations could refuse to accept contracts that failed to pay at least what a fair wage.