As the scope of business ethics has developed from a shareholder-centric approach to a stakeholder and triple bottom line approach, so too is the scope of ethics facing another extension. This centres on unethical practices among organisations’ suppliers.
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On 24 April this year it will be two years since the collapse of Rana Plaza, an eight-story commercial building in the Greater Dhaka area, the capital of Bangladesh. The search for the dead ended on 13 May with a death toll of 1 129, making it the deadliest garment-factory accident in history.

Last December’s International Human Rights Day was marked by labour rights campaigners across Europe and the USA calling on Italian fashion brand Benetton to finally pay into a Fund set up to pay compensation to thousands of families affected by the disaster. According to the Clean Clothes Campaign, a group dedicated to improving working conditions in the global garment and sportswear industries, Benetton is the only international brand with confirmed links to the Rana Plaza factories which has refused to contribute to the Donors Trust Fund set up by the ILO.

The BBC Breakfast interview, “Rana Plaza - has anything changed?” provides sobering viewing on the working conditions, while also reflecting the challenges of managing the ethics of the company’s suppliers (discussed in greater detail in the article above).

The ease and speed with which information can be accessed electronically is clearly an advantage for current students – a huge change from when students had to search for sources in a library. What has not changed is the importance of acknowledging the source of the information. Plagiarism is an increasing problem and it warrants a clear understanding to avoid this area of fraud. Professor Adèle Thomas of the University of Johannesburg has shared her guide to avoiding plagiarism. Read more …