Week 4 - Nokia

Companies like Nokia are outsourcing the manufacturing to their suppliers. These supplier companies are active in countries with low labor cost. Whose responsibility is it to improve the working conditions for the laborers in the supplier factories?

Is it effective to let suppliers meet Nokia's sustainability criteria diffusively?
By selecting the most sustainable supplier for their devices Nokia can steer towards its criteria for sustainable development. If production cost only rises with a small fraction it would be acceptable. If not only the involved production line is improved but the entire factory complies with the demands then the effects could be huge.

How would another government mechanism improve on this?
If none of the existing factories is able to deliver the required quality there is also an option to start an own factory where the conditions can be determined. This is not likely to happen because Nokia's policy is to focus on the design instead of production. Also there would be a stronger connection between the company and possible abuses that could deliver bad advertisement.

Policy of the Chinese government

The employees in the documentary A Decent Factory by Thomas Balmès are on probation time for half a year without a contract. In this way they can work below minimum wage. If the government would allow lower wages during the probation time they would possibly get a contract. This way the employees would get more rights.

A successful government mechanism is the implementation of one child politics. The factory is responsible for birth control. If a girl gets pregnant this will also gets her fired. Apparently it is not difficult to let companies cooperate with government policy. A law or better enforcement could improve the conditions of workers in the entire country.