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Poverty is Useful for Businesses to Prosper

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What do you think of when people talk about business? A business textbook, “The Future of Business”, defines a business as “an organization that strives for a profit by providing goods and services desired by its customers” (McDaniel and Gitman), and following this, there is an idea of “money” being involved – sometimes “big money”. Ever wondered how business giants like Wal-Mart got to be where they are today? The root of all successful businesses is in its workforce. Now, thanks to the growing phenomenon known as globalization, businesses in retail are seeking elsewhere for labor, yet their position in the market grows stronger still. This is because Multinational retail chains like Wal-Mart prosper from outsourcing labor, by taking …show more content…

The Independent Institute also asserted in their research, that MNCs give back by creating jobs in the less developed nations that they supply from (Powell and Skarbeck). While this is true to a certain extent, MNCs do take advantage of the abundance of cheap labor that is available to them. For one, most MNCs outsource manufacturing labor in less developed countries with a dense population and low Gross Domestic Product per capita. For example, the Washington Post reported that China, with a population of 1.3 billion and growing, is a popular choice for Wal-Mart, and that at the time of the report, 80% of 6000 Wal-Mart suppliers are in China (Goodman and Pan). Although MNCs create jobs, MNC factories also have poor safety standards. There are many reports of poor safety conditions of these facilities, for example, the New York Times reported that a 16 year old Wal-Mart factory worker in China was found to have hands covered in blisters from handling dangerously hot plastic molding machines (Barboza). MNCs may be contributing to the economy but their concern for the welfare of the workforce is very minimal. Wal-Mart themselves have claimed that they conduct inspections audits regularly to ensure manufacturing facilities are being run legally and ethically. Their statement is disagreeable as many MNCs, including Wal-Mart, conduct unethical auditing practices when they source from less developed nations. Firstly, audit information on

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