Social responsibilities of multinational corporations Essay - 1

Social responsibilities of multinational corporations - Essay Example In order to prove themselves right, and cover up their flaws in living up to their social responsibility, a few multinational companies have taken different steps that reflect adherence to their social responsibility. In this paper, I will argue that most multinational companies have disregarded their obligations to respect human rights of their host countries, and have continued to violate human rights indirectly, as they capitalize on the weaknesses in their host’s government systems, and lack of standard rights, while earning big profits in their host countries. Multinational corporations extend their production and marketing processes into different world regions. In the new business environment, these multinationals have a great political and economic influence on the host countries. These exploit the resources and labour in these countries with an aim of making more profits. It has been argued that the multinational corporations in the developing countries do more harm t han good and function there without a social conscience. Most multinationals have chosen to operate in more developing countries because the business standards and restrictions there are less tight as compared to those in the West (Arnold 156). Some scholars have argued that multinational corporations play an important role in the modernization and globalization processes. This argument bases on the fact that these introduce new technology and capital market in the host countries. If the host countries are developing nations, they benefit from all the western assets that the multinational corporations come with. Although the multinational corporations might appear capitalistic, these serve the needs of the society, while pursuing their own interests. These corporations make maximum use of efficiency and productivity, with global operations, and help in the distribution of goods around the world. Some analysts have therefore argued that since the multinational corporations have a gre at impact in the world, their activities, links to the governments, and their general influence on the international system needs to be known (Arnold 156). Trends in human rights continue to change today, and human rights issues have ceased to become matters of the state only. There are more multinational corporations today, and some of the concerns raised about human rights issues come from these corporations. Today, different multinational corporations have been involved in a number of cases concerning their violation of human rights in the host countries. This is not a new happening, as human rights violations by multinational corporations can be traced back to the eighteenth century. The non-governmental organizations today accuse multinational corporations of causing environmental degradation in the host countries, exploitation of offshore factory workers, and the denying employees their right to association and free speech. However, the multinationals argue that they have a ri ght to influence the public policy of their host country. However, these have a negative influence on the country’s public policy, therefore, failing to fulfil their social responsibility (Arnold 155). According to Donaldson, the rights people take for granted in the United States are greatly violated in some countries, and citizens are denied these rights. For instance, results of an interview conducted in Central America in 1987,