Answers for the case study
Student advocacy and “sweatshop labor”; the case of Russell Athletic
Q1
* Culture of the particular country
It is very important to study the different elements of culture of the country. When consider China and India, being large countries, the cultural diversity is higher and varies with the geographical areas. In some cultures, the value systems and ethics will be critically affected on the business. Some businesses are almost impossible to start in some regions due to cultural factors such as religion and value systems. Particularly, in Chinese culture, collectivism plays a major role in decision making. Therefore, a thorough knowledge about the culture is necessary before going to start a business.
Ultimately the livelihood is affected with unemployment. Therefore regardless of the working conditions, people have to find some kind of employment to feed their family. Also in some cultures, it is accepted to work long hours (eg- Japan) and use child labor. Another issue is the high competition in the market. People are looking for the cheaper products. To produce cheaper products, the easiest and most effective way is to reduce labor cost, particularly by outsourcing. This could be leads to sweatshop conditions.
Q 3 * Maintaining same higher labor standards and regulations as in the home country is not always possible. But it is better to keep at least the minimum accepted level of standard which complies with the international rules. It is difficult to compare the living standards of a developed and a developing country and most of the times, people of the developing countries do not ask for such higher standards, since it is not available in many local business environments. But their rights should not be violated and they should pay accordingly while keeping safe and adequate working environment. Also the aim of outsourcing is to reduce the cost of production. Therefore, a fair compromise should be maintained between the labor standards and the cost of production. Otherwise profit will be affected. Keeping this balance is a challenge for MNCs.

Q 4 * The labor practices should be regulated and supervise by the