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Leadership Commitment on

Corporate Human Rights Violations

and the Influence of Media

Marieke Gieling 10002558

Amsterdam, June 29, 2015,

MSc Thesis – Business Administration – International Management University of Amsterdam – Faculty of Economics and Business Supervisor: Dr. M. K. Westermann–Behaylo

Second reader: Mr. R.H. Kleinknecht, MSc Academic year of 2014/2015

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1. Abstract

This study examines the relationship between corporate abuse allegations, media attention and top management’s commitment towards respecting human rights. More specifically, this research explores what happens to leadership commitment after instances of human rights violations have been covered in global media, by analyzing four in-depth cases of such violations and one positive example in the global textile and apparel industry. This study contributes to existing scholarship as it provides an analysis of real-life cases in the relatively understudied area of business and human rights violations. The results from this study emphasize the crucial effect of media attention and the spotlight phenomenon on a firm’s willingness to remedy, and also finds partial support for the proposed relationship between willingness to remedy, media attention and future leadership commitment, but acknowledges that further research into the matter is desired as the relationships may be more complex than initially thought.

Statement of originality

This document is written by Marieke Gieling, who declares to take full responsibility for the contents of this document.

I declare that the text and the work presented in this document is original and that no sources other than those mentioned in the text and its references have been used in creating it.

The Faculty of Economics and Business is responsible solely for the supervision of completion of the work, not for the contents.

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Table of Content

1. Abstract ... 2 Statement of originality ... 2 Table of Content ... 3 1. Introduction ... 4 2. Literature review ... 6 2.1 Human rights ... 6

2.2 Labor rights as human rights ... 7

2.3 Development and freedom of poverty rights as human rights ... 9

2.4 Human rights and the multinational enterprise ... 11

2.5 Guiding principles on business and human rights ... 13

2.6 Leadership commitment and human rights ... 16

2.7 Media attention and the spotlight effect ... 18

3. Conceptual framework ... 21 3.1 Conceptual model ... 24 4. Methodology ... 25 4.1 Method ... 25 4.2 Case selection ... 26 4.3 Data collection ... 28 4.4 Data analysis ... 30

4.5 Validity and reliability ... 31

5. Results ... 31

5.1 Within-case analysis ... 31

5.2 Cross-case analysis ... 59

6. Discussion ... 65

6.1 Contributions, limitations and research recommendations ... 68

7. Conclusion ... 70

8. Bibliography ... 71

Appendix 1: Selected International Newspapers ... 78

Appendix 2: Primark, Bangladesh... 79

Appendix 3: Topshop, Mauritius ... 88

Appendix 4: Benetton, Argentina ... 91

Appendix 5: Zara, Brazil ... 95

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1. Introduction

It has been over 50 years since the idea of a “global village” (McLuhan, 1962) – a world where time and place barriers of communication eradicated, resulting in worldwide communication, thus connecting the world into a global village – was coined. Today’s world is one remarkably similar to this idea, as globalization and technological innovation are able to link nations, corporations and individuals together. Globalization has changed the competitive dynamics between nations, industries and firms (Gereffi, 1999), and as the world has become interconnected, the business environment transformed as well. This change is most visible in international trade patterns, where the rapid growth of investment in foreign developing countries shows a shift in the center of production and export from developed countries, to newly developing economies (Gereffi, 1999).

This process stimulated the rise of the transnational corporation or multinational enterprise, which is generally referred to as a corporation with business operations in more than one country (Weissbrodt & Kruger, 2003). Over time, multinational enterprises gained influence, growing into giant and powerful entities and becoming an integrated part of current society (Bishop, 2011). As the multinational enterprise is so influential and its impact so large, it is crucial that these corporation are respectful of human rights (Bishop, 2011).

Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Globalization and the interconnectedness of the world also resulted in an increase in communication and visibility (Ratner, 2001), making instances of human rights violations more visible to the eye of society. Recent human rights violations such as the disastrous collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh in 2013 or the BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 gained global attention, both by media and society.

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To date, the Rana Plaza factory collapse remains one of the most deadly human rights disasters in the global apparel industry (Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, 2014). It seemed like a regular day in Bangladesh, April 2013, when over 3600 workers went to their factory jobs, manufacturing clothes for at least 29 major multinational enterprises (Clean Clothes Campaign, 2014). Shifts of 14 hours and earning less than 1.5 US dollar a day, were common practice for the mostly young and female Rana Plaza workforce (Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, 2014). These employees were used to dreadful and unsafe working conditions in the factory, but were reluctant to enter the building on April 24, 2013 when hazardous cracks in the factory walls were noticed. Despite hesitation and at the urge of the factory owners, the employees ultimately entered the building and went to work. As it turns out, it was not a regular day in Bangladesh. The Rana Plaza factory collapsed, killing 1,137 people and injuring thousands more (Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, 2014).

The Rana Plaza collapse is not an incidental stand-alone occasion, as human rights violations by multinational enterprises happen far too often, despite the increase in visibility. A chief executive officer of a major Western company involved in the Rana Plaza catastrophe, went as far as to say that “Rana Plaza was a huge wake-up call long overdue” (George Weston – the Independent), indicating the change necessary. With power should come responsibility (Weissbrodt & Kruger, 2003), and as the multinational enterprise possesses such significant power over global society, scholars argue that corporations should at least respect human rights as a minimum. For a firm’s employees to behave accordingly and respectful of human rights throughout the firm’s entire business operations, it is key that corporate management supports and promotes the firms commitment to respect human rights (Logsdon & Wood, 2005).

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As an academic field of study, the research on businesses and human rights violations is only starting to gain interest. There is much more to uncover about the risk factors and outcomes of human rights violations. Therefore, it is vital that research is done to explore the different factors involved around the relationship between multinational enterprises and the impact of corporate leaders on human rights violations.

This study will begin with an overview of the relevant scholarship human rights and their connection to businesses, media attention and leadership commitment, from which the conceptual framework flows. Thereafter, the methodology section follows. Subsequently, the results chapter outline the conducted analyses and is followed by the discussion. Finally, the conclusion summarizes and closes this study.

2. Literature review

In this chapter, the research topic is specified by evaluating the previous literature on human rights, specifically labor rights and development & freedom of poverty rights and leadership commitment towards respecting human rights in business operations.

2.1 Human rights

The essential idea behind human rights is captivating in its simplicity: all human beings have a right to be treated with dignity (UNHRC, 2012). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is without doubt the most complete and elaborate definition of human rights, as its thirty articles include a wide range of rights applicable to all human beings (UN General Assembly, 1948). With this wide range and completeness of the definition of human rights, also comes complexity. Previous research has resulted in more simple definitions of human rights as well,

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such as “the rights one has simply because one is human” (Donelly, 2013, p. 7) or “the rights accorded to all human beings by virtue of their humanity” (Collins, 2011, p. 140). In general, human rights are associated with the universal moral rights of freedom and autonomy of all human beings (Wettstein, 2012), such as individual rights, but also the rights of the individual in relation to civil contexts, spiritual, political and public freedoms and several social, economic and cultural rights (Laws.com, 2015). This research will focus on two more specific human rights, namely labor rights and development and freedom of poverty rights as human rights.

2.2 Labor rights as human rights

The multinational enterprise is an entity so large and influential that its impact reaches people across the globe (Bishop, 2011). This impact can be rather direct, since multinational enterprises have millions of employees worldwide, even a single enterprise such as Walmart employs over 2 million people alone (Walmart, 2015). Developing nations are often less strict in enforcing standards in order to attract foreign business activity (Zaharia, et al., 2011), making the workers in that country vulnerable and sometimes even worse off by international business activity (Harrison, 2006). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights covers the rights applicable to all human beings (UN General Assembly, 1948), but there are several rights applicable specifically to employees.

Labor rights are both individual and collective privileges or rights that explicitly relate to the role of being an employee or worker (Mantouvalou, 2012). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights holds several articles that relate to labor rights, such as Article 4, which states the prohibition of slavery, Article 23 which among others states that everyone has the right to work in a job freely chosen, equal pay should be received for equal work and everyone has the right to

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form and join trade unions, while Article 24 provides a right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitations to working hours (UN General Assembly, 1948).

Alongside the articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Labor Organization (ILO), a specialized agency of the United Nations, also advocates several labor rights as human rights. The Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights and Work, adopted by the ILO in 1998, contains four central principles based on eight conventions (International Labor Organisation, 2015).

The first principle is “Freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining”, based on the C87 and C98 ILO convention in 1948 and 1949 respectively, which enables workers to encourage and realize fair working conditions (International Labor Organisation, 2015).

The second right is the “Elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labor”, based on the C29 and C105 ILO conventions of 1930 and 1957, stating that a work relationship is chosen by free will and without threat (International Labor Organisation, 2015).

“Effective abolition of child labor” is the third fundamental principle, based on the C138 and C182 ILO conventions in 1973 and 1999 respectively. This principle ensures that children are protected from dangerous and unacceptable work and enjoy the opportunity to develop themselves (International Labor Organisation, 2015). All states should enforce a minimum age for children to enter different types of work, with a general minimum that should not be less than the age of finishing compulsory education and never less than 15 years. An concession is made for developing countries, where a minimum age of 14 is tolerated in certain circumstances (International Labor Organisation, 2015). However, the “worst forms of child labor” such as

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slavery, human or drugs trafficking, forced labor, prostitution and military work are intolerable for all children under the age of 18, regardless of any circumstances (International Labor Organisation, 2015).

The fourth and final principle is the “Elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation”, based on the C100 and C111 ILO conventions in 1951 and 1958, which prohibits both direct and indirect discrimination based on sex, race, origin, religion, political opinion, but also on health, disability or age (International Labor Organisation, 2015).

As labor rights are covered in globally accepted and influential documents such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the in the Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, labor rights can thus be regarded as universal human rights (Mantouvalou, 2012).

2.3 Development and freedom of poverty rights as human rights

As previously mentioned, the rise of the multinational enterprise was accompanied by a transition in international trade patterns, as the rapid growth of foreign investment shifted from developed countries to nations still in development (Gereffi, 1999). In present time, the multinational enterprise thus often operates in countries with weaker institutional frameworks, and less advanced welfare. With this increased business activity in developing nations, the right to development becomes even more relevant and an integral part of universal human rights (Marks, 2004).

The right to development was officially recognized as an universal human right with the acceptance of the Declaration on the Right to Development in 1986, and received full international consensus a few years after that (Sengupta, 2004). The right to development is “the

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indisputable right of which every human is entitled to participate in, contribute to and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realized, implying the full realization of the right to self-determination” (United Nations General Assembly, 1986).

The Declaration on the Right to Development also states that “nations have the duty and right to put in place appropriate development policies that aim to improve the well-being of the entire population and all its individuals”, that “states should take action to promote the development of countries” and that “states have the duty to co-operate with other nations to ensure development and eliminate obstacles to this process of development” (United Nations General Assembly, 1986).

The same globalization process that gave rise to the multinational enterprise, resulted in a rise in focus on welfare distribution as well (Harrison, 2006). On the one hand, the shift in international business activity to developing countries could help reduce poverty, as developing countries gain economic activity due to a low wage competitive advantage (Harrison, 2006). However, as mentioned previously, developing nations are often not too strict in enforcing regulations in order to remain attractive for foreign businesses (Zaharia, et al., 2011). While this generates more economic activity, it also makes developing nations vulnerable and they face difficulties in realizing the profits from this economic activity, often being excluded from its benefits (Marks, 2004) and complicating the ability of the nation’s population to live with dignity and to grow out of underdevelopment (Sengupta, 2004).

Related to development, and highly relevant as nearly half of the developing world lives on less than $2 per day (Pogge, 2007), freedom from poverty as a human right becomes

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reasonable. For those humans living in poverty, many fundamental rights are out of reach (OHCHR, 2015). As stated in Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “every human has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of him and his family, this includes food, clothing, housing, medical care and social service and the right of security related to unemployment, sickness, disability, old age and other livelihood circumstances beyond his control” (UN General Assembly, 1948). The elimination of extreme poverty resulting in the denial of human rights should therefore be a pressing issue in countries where such poverty exists (OHCHR, 2015).

2.4 Human rights and the multinational enterprise

For a vast period of time, there was little academic research on the connection between business and human rights. This changed in the 1990s, when companies were starting to get publically called out on instances of human rights violations (Wettstein, 2012). Minimizing costs, maximizing profit or adapting to unethical standards simply because fellow competitors do so, multinational enterprises may have different reasons to violate human rights. Human rights violations symbolize a form of humiliation as it disregards the dignity of a human being (Wettstein, 2012). There are numerous types of human rights violations, some well-known global examples are child labor, unsafe or unhealthy working conditions and environmental pollution (Weissbrodt & Kruger, 2003). Over the next decade, human rights organizations started to continuously share reports on corporations that violated human rights in any way, raising media attention to the violations by multinational enterprises. As a response, firms started to formally develop human rights policies (Wettstein, 2012).

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In the same time period, the world experienced the aftermath of the Cold War. This brought global influences of both liberalization and deregulation, resulting in a shift of power relations in the global political economy (Wettstein, 2012). As the nation-state started to lose some of its power, it became debatable whether the state remained an effective protector of human rights. Simultaneously, the same liberal influences and globalization led to an increase of business activity beyond the national borders of the firm’s country of origin and as the power of the state declined, the influence of corporations on people’s lives increased (Ratner, 2001).

The combination of these power shifts, ultimately created a governance gap between the scope and impact of the multinational enterprise and the capacity of the state to protect human rights from this force, leaving space for wrongful business operations (Ruggie, 2007). The United Nations recognized the importance of corporate respect of human rights (Ruggie 2007), as the multinational enterprise is an entity so large and powerful, that it impacts people on a global scale. The impact of these multinational enterprises is extensive, as this not only comprises direct involvement (e.g. corporate employees), but also indirect involvement in society both through supply chain associations and ownership of the majority of resources within nations (Bishop, 2011). As the multinational enterprise operates in more than a single country, it has the opportunity to exercise its bargaining power on both nations and employees, by placing the different nations and its workforce in competition for the capital and jobs the multinational enterprise provides (Jones, 2005). Due to the substantial influence possessed by this power, some scholars argue that the multinational enterprise is morally obliged to, at a minimum, respect all human rights (Cragg, 2004).

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In sum, the state based system of protection of human rights was no longer sufficient, as the state had lost its influence to multinational corporations (Ruggie, 2007). Both labor rights and rights to development and freedom from poverty qualify as universal and fundamental human rights. However, neither the Universal Declaration of Human Rights nor the Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work include any remarks on whether the multinational enterprise has an obligation to respect human rights.

2.5 Guiding principles on business and human rights

Businesses hold a powerful force to generate economic growth, reduce poverty and contribute to the realization of human rights on a global scale (Ruggie, 2008). However, violations of human rights still happen too often and the root of this issue lies in the governance gap created by the globalization process, leaving space for unjust actions of corporations without sufficient sanctions (Ruggie, 2008). In order to fill this gap and protect human rights, the United Nations aim to establish international standards (Ruggie, 2007). Several efforts were made, which ultimately resulted in the United Nations “Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights” (UNHRC, 2011). These principles provided guidelines that apply to all nations and corporations, both transnational and local, regardless of size, location, ownership or structure (UNHRC, 2011). The United Nation's guidelines aim to enhance standards and practices and to achieve results in respect of businesses and human rights, thus contributing to social sustainable globalization, without creating new law obligations (UNHRC, 2011).

The United Nations principles propose general principles in the shape of a three pillar framework. These three pillars are “the state’s duty to respect, protect and fulfill human rights and fundamental freedom, the responsibility of business enterprises to comply with all applicable

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laws and respect human rights, and the need to provide effective remedies in response to human rights violations” (UNHRC, 2011, p.1). As this framework suggests, the state is responsible to both protect and respect human rights, having both legal and policy dimensions (Ruggie, 2008). But as the framework has three pillars: protect, respect and remedy, it also highlights the importance of the role of businesses in the protection of human rights, holding the corporation accountable for human rights violations (Weissbrodt & Kruger, 2003).

The first foundational principle of the framework is the state’s duty to protect human rights within their boundaries and jurisdiction, against third parties such as multinational enterprises and clearly communicating this to all business enterprises located in its territory (UNHRC, 2011). In achieving to meet this duty to protect, the state should enforce laws requiring to respect human rights, ensure that these laws are not in conflict with pre-existing ones, and provide effective guidance to corporations on how to respect human rights throughout their business activity (UNHRC, 2011). States must take all required steps to protect the violation of human rights, including preventing, investigating and punishing any violation (Ruggie, 2008).

The second pillar of the framework focuses on the corporate responsibility to respect human rights throughout their business operation s (Ruggie, 2008) and comply with all applicable laws (UNHRC, 2011). Corporations are expected to obey the laws, even when not enforced, and to respect international guidelines when national law is lacking (Ruggie, 2008). This means that corporations cannot use the failure of a nation to protect universal rights, as a justification for avoiding its responsibility to respect them. It is the responsibility of the corporation to respect human rights, to avoid contributing to human rights violations and to express their commitment to this responsibility (UNHRC, 2011). Human rights due diligence is “the ability of a business enterprise to know and show that it respects human rights” (Ruggie, 2007), not only ensuring

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compliance with laws and regulation, but also managing the risk of human rights violations by seeking to avoid it (Ruggie, 2008).

The third pillar of the framework is the need for rights and responsibilities to be matched appropriately and to effectively provide remedies when human rights are violated (UNHRC, 2011). In these instances, the state has the duty to provide access to a remedy to those affect through judicial, administrative and legislative means (UNHRC, 2011). States must take the necessary steps to let those affected have access to an effective remedy (UNHRC, 2011). Some remedies to the human rights violations, will be managed by non-state-based mechanisms, such as business enterprises (UNHRC, 2011). While it is the state’s duty to facilitate access to these mechanisms, it is the corporation’s responsibility to establish and participate in an effective mechanism that provides a remedy to those affected by the human rights violation (UNHRC, 2011).

In case of a violation, Ruggie’s framework suggests that business enterprises should set up effective “operational-level grievance mechanisms” to remedy individuals and communities impacted by the violation (UNHRC, 2011). These grievance systems serve as a channel for those affected by the violation to raise concern to the corporation, enabling the firm to identify the problem and change their business operations accordingly, and assess the impact of the violation to be remediated (Blitt, 2012). Remedies provided by corporation can take a variety of forms, such as an apology, a guarantee of non-repetition, restitution or rehabilitation, but also (non)financial compensation and disciplinary sanctions (UNHRC, 2012).

While it is the state’s duty to protect human rights and the corporations responsibility to respect them, both share the responsibility to provide legal and non-legal remedies to those

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affected by the violation of human rights. These Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights address both the state and the enterprise on their duties and responsibilities with regard to human rights. However, as the United Nation’s framework consists of responsibilities of corporations and duties of states, it lacks legal requirement to enforce respect of human rights standards (Fasterling & Demuijnck, 2013) and unfortunately, human rights violations still occur. For human right policies to be successful and the corporation to actually be respective of human rights, it is key that corporate leaders support and promote the firm’s commitment to the policy (Logsdon & Wood, 2005).

2.6 Leadership commitment and human rights

While leadership is universal phenomena among humans (Bass & Stogdill, 1990), it remains a complex construct that is difficult to define as a whole (Bolden, 2004). One definition of leadership is “a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal” (Northouse, 2004, p. 3) or “leadership involves a social influence process whereby intentional influence is exerted by one person (or a group) over others to structure the activities and relationships in a group or organization (Yukl, 2002, p. 3). Leaders are agents of change: persons whose acts affect other people more than other people's acts affect them. Leadership occurs when one group member modifies the motivation or competencies of others in the group” (Bass & Stogdill, 1990, pp. 19-20).

Leaders in an organization set common goals and guard the process of realizing these goals, by providing the organization with the necessary means to achieve these goals, while stimulating action and interaction within the group, motivating its members and ensuring group cohesiveness and satisfaction (Bass & Stogdill, 1990). Leadership is commonly considered a

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critical factor for an institution to be successful, as leaders stimulate employees, impacting employee satisfaction, behavior and motivation throughout the organization (Bass & Stogdill, 1990).

Leaders such as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) are at the top of the organizational hierarchy, serving as a role model for ethical behavior by their words and deeds (Schwartz, et al., 2005). These ethical norms and values set at the high levels of corporate hierarchy, are referred to as “tone at top”. Tone at the top can be defined as “the shared set of values that an organization has emanating from the most senior executives. It can be reinforced with written codes and other policies and documents, but, more importantly, it reflects the actions of these executives - are they “walking the talk?” ” (Cunningham, 2005, p. 6). The tone at the top is thus set by top management, with the intent to signal commitment to certain ethical standards throughout all activities in the value chain (Hunton, et al., 2011). As the CEO represents corporate leadership, he or she strongly impacts the tone at the top of the enterprise (Amernic, et al., 2010), promoting personal ethical standards and influencing employee decision making throughout all levels of the corporation (Wally & Baum, 1994). The tone at the top set by organizational leaders such as the CEO are key to the overall ethical environment and behavior of the firm, as they set the example by their words and deeds (Amernic, et al., 2010).

Thus, putting human rights policies in place is simply not enough to guarantee compliance of business practices with these codes. For an enterprise and its employees to uphold an ethical business practice that is respectful of human rights, it is essential that top management and company values are aligned and supportive of these standards (Bansal & Roth, 2000). Therefore, leadership commitment is a crucial predictor of a firm’s respectfulness of human rights and willingness to remedy after a violation occurs. Unfortunately, as violations of human

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rights still occur. To-date, the world is characterized by interconnectedness, globalization and technological empowered (Ratner, 2001). Violations of human rights standards are increasingly more visible and instances of violations are shared across the globe within minutes after their first discovery. This increased media visibility is also bound to have its impact on the relationship between leadership commitment and corporate human rights violations.

2.7 Media attention and the spotlight effect

As previously mentioned, the processes of globalization has led to increased flows of communication, information and visibility (Ratner, 2001), which in turn has started to change the way corporations deal with their treatment of human rights issues (Spar, 1999). When a multinational enterprise expands its business across borders, it not only transfers its capital and knowledge, but also its reputation, international image and brand name (Spar, 1999). How a firm’s brand name is perceived among its customers, shareholders and partners, has significant implications for its profitability (Barry, et al., 2013) as reputation is of one of the firm’s most valuable assets (Spar & La Mure, 2003). The increased exposure due to foreign expansion makes the enterprise more vulnerable to facing so-called “audience costs”, costs associated by market sanctions, such as reputational and image damage, and ultimately a decrease in profitability (Blanton & Blanton, 2007).

This also has it implications regarding human rights. Human rights violations are increasingly more visible to the eye of society, as state actors, such as international non-governmental organizations, realized the potential influence they exercise upon a multinational enterprise’s reputation (Spar, 1998). Through the process of “naming and shaming”, where non-state actors call out a corporation on its bad business practices, raising media attention to the

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violation (Barry, et al., 2013), the corporation is put in a peculiar spotlight. This so-called “spotlight phenomenon” describes the relationship between a firms eagerness to preserve its reputation, by responding to public anger and media attention over human rights violations by implementing more socially responsibly business practices (Spar, 1998).

Technological advancements in communication expanded the scope and intensity of this spotlight phenomenon (Barry, et al., 2013). With the rise of the Internet, media are able to bring attention to even the smallest stories across the globe (Spar, 1999), creating negative publicity and magnifying the effect of human rights violations (Spar, 1999). Reputational costs of being associated with negative images such as poverty, exploitation and child labor (Spar & La Mure, 2003) force corporations to take instant and public action to separate themselves from such human rights violations in the future (Barry, et al., 2013), providing a stimuli for firms to offer a remedy to a committed human rights violation.

As media are considered as self-referential systems, e.g. something is newsworthy when other media determine it to be so (Kitzinger & Reilly, 1997), when an event, such as a corporate abuse allegation, triggers media attention, this often leads to a spiral of more media attention. The ‘interactive media momentum’ states that media coverage generates different sorts of social responses, encouraging new media items on the topic (Vasterman, 2005). Social responses on a news item can vary from individuals sharing similar experiences, to official statements from corporations or interests groups aimed to promote their view on the matter (Kitzinger & Reilly, 1997), for example a corporate response to an abuse allegation. This action-reaction process of societal response to the corporate abuse allegation furthers feeds the news wave (Vasterman, 2005) centered around the corporate abuse allegation.

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In sum, the influence of multinational enterprise is growing significantly as the world continues to become more integrated and states lose some of its power to protect human rights (Ratner, 2001). The United Nation’s put forward a three pillar framework of good practice for corporations to engage in human rights due diligence. At its core, it proposes that while the state should respect, protect and fulfill human rights, it is the responsibility of corporations to comply with laws and be respectful of human rights (UNHRC, 2011), while working to avoid human rights violations (Ruggie, 2008). In response to the shift in power dynamics and the increased public attention through the media towards business compliance with human rights standards, multinational enterprises develop human right policies, that signal the firm’s intention to respect human rights standards (Wettstein, 2012). Previous research shows that the effectiveness of voluntary policies is reliant upon corporate leaders’ commitment to these policies (Bansal & Roth, 2000).

However, there is a scarcity in the scholarship on what generates leadership commitment towards human rights, specifically what happens to leadership commitment when a multinational enterprise is accused of violating human rights standards and what influences a firm to offer a remedy to those affected.

This study will aim to fill this gap in academic literature, by answering the following question: “How do past allegations of abuse of human rights violations affect top management’s commitment to respect human rights in their business operations?”. This will be done by looking at the different factors of influence, described in detail in the conceptual model of the following paragraph.

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3. Conceptual framework

This study considers the effect of past corporate abuse allegations of violations of human rights on leadership commitment. Leadership commitment is operationalized in accordance with previous research (Hamann, et al., 2009), thus as top management’s reference to human rights protection in public company reports, such as the CEO statement in corporate social responsibility programs or in the firm’s annual reports. As the multinational enterprise gained influence (Bishop, 2011) and human rights due diligence is not a legal obligation, but a moral commitment (Fasterling & Demuijnck, 2013), corporations that exhibit a relatively high presence of leadership commitment to respect human rights, are likely to show greater due diligence on human rights (Hamann, et al., 2009).

However, what happens to leadership commitment after an allegation of human rights violation is made? Current scholarship has begun to consider factors contributing to human rights violations and the possibility to avoid them. But at some point in time, a firm with a certain commitment towards respecting human rights, may be accused of violating them. There is a dearth of research considering how firms respond to these allegations. When faced with an allegation, a firm can respond in a variety of ways, such as offering an apology, taking action to remedy the violation, denying the allegation or simply offering no response at all.

This study argues that the way the CEO and the firm deal with the corporate abuse allegation will serve as an indicator of future leadership commitment towards respecting human rights. When a corporation acknowledges the human rights violation and actively participates in the remediation process and offers a remedy, it signals intended compliance with the third pillar of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human rights, namely the responsibility to effectively

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and appropriately remedy to those affected (UNHRC, 2011). This opposed to all forms of reactive response, in which the violation is denied or in which no remedy is offered. Thus, it is proposed that offering a remedy for the violation, signals high future leadership commitment while an apology without remedy, denial or no response signals low future leadership commitment, leading to the first set of working propositions (WP).

WP 1: A higher (lower) initial leadership commitment towards respecting human rights makes it more (less) likely for a firm to offer a remedy in case of a violation.

WP2: A remedy offered by a /firm in response to a corporate abuse allegation signals high future leadership commitment of the CEO of the firm towards respecting human rights.

WP3: No remedy offered by a firm in response to a corporate abuse allegation signals low future leadership commitment of the CEO of the firm towards respecting human rights.

The spotlight phenomenon seeks to exploit a firms vulnerability to “naming and shaming” and the threat of reputational damage, by raising media attention to enforce more socially responsible business practices (Spar, 1998). Firms/CEO’s willingness to offer a remedy in case of human rights violations is thus influenced by the amount of media attention the corporate abuse allegation receives, as more attention increases the spotlight effect on the corporation. Instances with a lot of media attention, put the firm under close scrutiny and the firm will face a lot of pressure when it does not offer a sufficient response on the allegations. Therefore, firms will be more likely to offer a remedy towards the allegation when there is a lot of media attention, as

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opposed to cases where the corporate abuse allegation receives little media attention and the firm takes less heat when deciding to deny or refuse a remedy for the violation. This leads to the following working propositions:

WP4: High (low) media attention on the corporate abuse allegation is related to the firm offering a remedy (no remedy) for the human rights violation.

WP5: High (low) media attention on the corporate abuse allegation is related to high (low) future leadership commitment towards respecting human rights.

As hypothesized, corporate abuse allegations receiving a lot of media attention will increase the likelihood that a firm offers a remedy to the violation. When a firm responds to the allegation and media attention proactively, this will generate new media attention in return, feeding the news wave (Vasterman, 2005). This increased in media attention will raise the stakes, as the firm will face even more pressure when it fails to respect human rights in the future, thus leading to a high future leadership commitment. This leads to the final working proposition:

WP6: A remedy offered by a firm will generate new media attention, reinforcing the relationship between a remedy offered and high future leadership commitment.

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3.1 Conceptual model

In sum, media attention is the key influence that accounts for the change in leadership commitment of respecting human rights. When there is little media attention, firms will not face severe societal consequences when they do not remedy the allegation. This opposed to cases where firms do receive a lot of media attention on the corporate abuse allegations and firms will suffer from negative publicity when failing to offer a sufficient response. Thus, in those cases firms will tend to offer a remedy for the corporate abuse allegation and showing a high leadership commitment towards respecting human rights in the future. When corporations offer a remedy to those affected by the human rights violation, this in turn will generate more media attention. Thus this process of offering a remedy and media attention will enforce the relationship between offering a remedy and high future leadership commitment. The working propositions as proposed in this framework are visually presented in a conceptual model, as shown in figure 1.

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4. Methodology

This paragraph outlines the research methods used in this study and elaborates on the collection and analysis of the data to research the proposed conceptual framework as described above.

4.1 Method

The research conducted in this paper is a multiple case study of qualitative and descriptive nature. Descriptive research enables to portray an accurate profile of events (Saunders, et al., 2009), while case study research allows for the detailed investigation of a phenomenon in a real-world context (Yin, 2013). Descriptive analysis is used to outline the different key variables, namely leadership commitment, corporate abuse allegations, response strategy and media attention, in order to find evidence of a change in leadership commitment as a result of providing remedies to corporate abuse allegations and the impact of media attention.

A case study enables to study a phenomenon in a real-world context (Yin, 2013). By analyzing multiple cases, replication logic can be used to discover if the findings of one case are supported by other cases (Eisenhardt & Graebner, 2007) . The selection of cases needs to be done judiciously, so that either literal or theoretical replication can be assumed (Yin, 2013). This study uses theoretical replication of cases to cover the different theoretical conditions, of which different results are expected, for the hypothesized explanations (Yin, 2013). Since an analysis of all corporate abuse allegations on a global scale will be unfeasible, this research will focus on corporate abuse allegations in the textile and apparel industry, and more specifically on human rights violations with regards to labor, freedom of poverty and development rights. This research done by means of a multiple case study, in which five cases are analyzed.

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4.2 Case selection

A theoretical sampling approach of cases is used, ensuring that the selected cases fall within the research scope (Eisenhardt & Graebner, 2007). To study and compare multiple cases and explore the working propositions, a parallel multiple-case study method is used to compare the five selected cases (Thomas, 2011). Key information on the selected cases can be found in table 1.

The first is a labor violation instance, the case of Rana Plaza in Bangladesh. This case will be a “deep case” – as it is by far the most explicit and powerful human rights violation and very recent – it will be analyzed to great extent, and more specifically to the case of Primark. The second instance regards an alleged labor violation by Topshop in Mauritius and the third is an alleged poverty & development allegation by Benetton in Argentina. The fourth is the labor viaolation by Zara in Brazil. The fifth and last case is positive instance of human rights, the labor case of Alta Gracia Apparel in the Dominican Republic.

Table 1 Key corporate characteristics of selected cases

Company Primark Stores Ltd. Topshop Benetton

Founded 1969 1964 1965

HQ location Dublin, Ireland London, United Kingdom Treviso, Italy

Industry Fashion & Apparel Fashion & Apparel Fashion & Apparel

Parent Associated British Foods (ABF) Arcadia Group Benetton Group

CEO Owner

George Weston (2005) Ian Grabiner (2002)

Philip Green (2002)

Marco Airoldi (2014) Luciano Benetton (1965)

CAA Labor (2013) Labor (2007) Development & Poverty

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Table 1 (cont.) Key corporate characteristics of selected cases

Company Zara Alta Gracia Apparel

Founded 1975 2010

HQ location Arteixo, Spain Alta Gracia, Dominican Republic

Industry Fashion & Apparel Fashion & Apparel

Parent Inditex Knights Apparel

CEO Armancio Ortega (1975)

Pablo Isla (2011)

Joseph Bozich (2010)

CAA Labor (2011)

The selected cases focus primarily on violations of labor rights as human rights, with the exception of the development and poverty violation by Benetton. This is mostly attributable to the fact that this research focuses on the global textile and apparel industry, and that there are relatively few development and poverty violations in this industry, as these most often occur in the natural resources industry, such as mining and oil and gas. However, development and freedom of poverty rights and labor rights are somewhat intertwined, as for example the case of paying fair wages can be both categorized as a labor issue as well as an development and poverty issue.

This research covers a deep analysis of the most deadly human right violation in today’s history, namely Rana Plaza, as well as three other human rights violations by Benetton, Zara and Topshop. To counterbalance these cases of alleged human rights violation, the positive case of Alta Gracia Apparel is included.

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4.3 Data collection

This research uses several sources of data to analyze the research question. The main data source is the CHRD database, providing data on instances of corporate abuse allegations, the corporations response to these allegations, thus whether a remedy is offered or not. Supplementary archival data on corporations will be collected from the Orbis database and additional corporate data sources, such as company reports and corporate website information. Media reports and articles from ten major international news bodies, as outlined below, will be collected with the aid of search engines like LexisNexis and Google News.

4.3.1 Leadership commitment

Leadership commitment is operationalized in accordance with previous research, as the reference of the CEO’s statement on human rights in public company reports, such as annual or corporate social responsibility reports (Hamann, et al., 2009). While most corporate social responsibility reports often contain a segment describing the commitments and corporate justification of respecting human rights in the firm’s business operations, these reports do not specifically reflect the voice of the CEO. Thus, to effectively capture leadership commitment, quotations and statements must be directly attributable to the CEO. The most appropriate way to find such quotations, is by analyzing the CEO letter or statement, which is personally written or at least signed by the CEO, covering corporate reports.

4.3.2 Corporate abuse allegation

An alleged violation of a human right by an enterprise is also known as a corporate abuse allegation. As the most complete definition of human rights is so complex and substantial (United

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Nations General Assembly, 1986), its violations can also be numerous. The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre contains an extensive body of global corporate abuse allegations (BHRRC, 2015). The CHRD project aims to create a large database by systematically coding the information of the BHRRC and attempts to classify different types of human rights violations in to broader categories (CHRD, 2014). The project classifies human rights violations in five distinct categories, namely: physical abuse, labor, environment, health, and development and poverty violations (CHRD, 2014). Physical abuse violations include all kinds of human abuse, e.g. violence, death, intimidation and so on (CHRD, 2014). Labor violations comprise general working conditions of employees, e.g. fairness of wages, working hour and child labor (CHRD, 2014). Environmental violations include to the contamination of the natural environment, e.g. pollution, destruction of resources and (toxic) waste dumping, while health violations include access to healthcare and work safety conditions (CHRD, 2014). Finally, development and poverty violations impacted by the denial of development and enablement of humans involved in the multinational enterprise (CHRD, 2014). This research will focus specifically on corporate abuse allegations of labor and freedom of poverty and development rights as human rights.

4.3.3 Corporate response to allegation

General corporate communication strategies can be proactive or reactive (Becker-Olsen, et al., 2006). This distinction can also be made in relation to the corporation’s response on a corporate abuse allegation. Applying this division, a proactive response means that the corporation takes action and offers a remedy to those affected by the human rights violation. Acknowledging and apologizing for the human rights violation, but not offering a remedy, denying the allegation, or simply not responding at all are all classified as a reactive response. This way response is classified in terms of willingness to remedy a violation of human rights.

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4.3.4 Media attention

The final key variable in this research is media attention. It is proposed that what ultimately accounts for the change in leadership commitment, is the severity of the pressure exercised by the media. To operationalize this variable in to compare media attention across cases, this study will focus on news items of ten major international news bodies (see appendix 1). Without doubt, the instances of human rights violations have been covered in local media substantively. But for media attention to serve as a base of comparison, it is operationalized this way that violations across the globe can be compared against the same standards of international media attention. By defining media attention as the amount of articles reporting on the allegations from this standardized pool of news institutions, and the intensity of the words of these news articles describing the violation, the data can be analyzed across multiple cases.

4.4 Data analysis

Qualitative data analysis involves three co-existing flows of activity, namely data reduction, e.g. the process of sorting, eliminating and organizing the data in order to draw conclusions, data display and conclusion-verification of the analysis (Miles & Huberman, 1984). This process is done with aid of inductively developed codes, derived from existing literature, combined with codes that emerged in the process of analysis. Using the software program NVivo, the data is managed and analyzed in a structured and comprehensive way (e.g. by use of adding (parent) nodes and memos). After the collection of the data, a within-case analysis is conducted, providing a detailed and descriptive overview and insight into the five cases, followed by a cross-case analysis which looks at the cross-cases through multiple lenses and beyond initial findings to search for cross-case parallels and differences (Eisenhardt, 1989).

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4.5 Validity and reliability

During the course of the collection of data, validity and reliability of the research are taken into account. By clearly formulating a research framework based on the foundations of pre-existing studies, the internal validity can be ensured (Saunders, et al., 2009). External validity, the degree to which findings are generalizable beyond the case studies (Yin, 2013), may be more difficult to ensure. By selecting multiple cases based on replication logic external validity is improved. By using not only corporate archival data, but also third party sources such as new articles and the CHRD database, the bias of merely using secondary data is opposed. Finally, to ensure reliability of the study, the cases are analyzed according to codes based upon the existing scholarship on the research matter, and managed in a structural and comprehensive way.

5. Results

In this chapter the results of the qualitative analysis are presented. First, the within-case analyses of the different cases are described, providing a detailed overview and insight into the case. After that, the results of the cross-case analyses are presented, looking for differences and parallels across the multiple cases.

5.1 Within-case analysis

This paragraph outlines the results of the analysis per case, illustrating the corporate abuse allegation, the media attention surrounding the allegation, the company’s response to the allegation and whether or not a remedy has been offered, and ultimately the change in leadership commitment of respecting human rights in future business operations.

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5.1.1 Primark and Rana Plaza, Bangladesh

The first case discussed is that of Primark and Rana Plaza in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Primark is a British apparel retailer, founded in 1969 and currently has operating stores across Europe and the United States (Primark, 2015). Amongst others, Primark offers clothing for people of all ages, as well as accessories, beauty products and home ware (Primark, 2015). Like many other global retail corporations, Primark outsources its production to external corporations, contracting around 700 suppliers in Eastern Europe, China and India, as well as in Bangladesh (Primark, 2015). Although Primark has been in business for many years, it never officially released a corporate social responsibility report until 2010. In that year, Primark’s chief executive officer George Weston, paid little attention to human rights in his introduction letter. Weston simply states that he stands behind “four overarching business principles”, namely “managing our environmental impact; taking care of our people; fostering ethical business relationships; and being good neighbors” (Primark, 2010), which might be indicative for a relatively low level of leadership commitment towards respecting human rights – and will be discussed later on.

One of the suppliers Primark outsourced its production to, New Wave Bottoms, had its factory in the Rana Plaza building, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This eight-floor building housed not only several shops, including a bank, but also five garment factories (Clean Clothes Campaign, 2014). For several years, trade unions and labor rights activists had been calling for action to address the hazardous working conditions in apparel factories in Bangladesh, such as the illegal construction of buildings, lacking fire safety equipment and emergency exits, dangerous heavy machinery operated without training and overcrowded factories (Clean Clothes Campaign, 2014). As it turned out, this was also the case at the Rana Plaza factory, where (unofficial) sources state that the building had been built on unstable swampland with cheap materials, adding three illegal

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extra floors to the existing structure, which was never intended to be used for industrial purposes (Clean Clothes Campaign, 2014).

On April 24, 2013, this ultimately resulted in the most deadliest disasters in the garment industry, as this was the day that the Rana Plaza factory collapsed (Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, 2014). While the Bangladeshi employees were not unfamiliar with unsafe working conditions, they remained reluctant to enter the building when hazardous cracks in the wall were noticed. Despite these alarming conditions, thousands of the Rana Plaza employees were forced to return to work by the factory owners (Clean Clothes Campaign, 2014). When the building collapsed only 45 minutes later, 1,137 people were killed and thousands more injured (Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, 2014).

As stated, the Rana Plaza building housed multiple garment factories, producing clothing for several major Western retailers, such as Wal-Mart, Mango, J.C. Penney, Carrefour, and Benetton as well as Primark. Therefore, Primark was accused of violating labor rights by subcontracting its production to factories with unsafe and sweatshop working conditions, ultimately leading to the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory, killing thousands of its employees.

5.1.1.1 Media Attention

The case of Rana Plaza could be one of the most explicit and extreme cases of corporate human rights violations, as it is one of the most deadliest disasters to date (Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, 2014). Because of the intensity of the disaster, it does not come as a surprise that this human right violation was well covered in global media. The combined attention that the ten selected institutions of global media paid to the human right violation, lies roughly around 1,250 news articles, and this instance was covered in all of the selected media (see appendix 1).

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While some media describe the event rather objectively, with phrases such as “The Rana Plaza building in Savar, a commercial hub north of the capital, collapsed at 9 a.m., after work had started in several companies at a complex that houses roughly 5,000 workers” (Al-Mahmoo & Banjo, 2013, p. 1), and “Death toll rises after building collapse in Bangladesh” (Al-Mahmood, 2013, p. 1) or “The death toll from the April 24 collapse of a building housing garment factories rose to 622 on Sunday, after bulldozers reached the ground floors, uncovering many badly decomposed bodies 11 days after the tragedy” (Al-Mahmood, 2013, p. 1). These quotations take a rather objective way of reporting the event, speaking of the Rana Plaza area as a “commercial area hub” and remarking upon the state of the conditions of the human remains that were found at the scene. Moreover, these quotations reflect a non-emotional way of reporting facts, speaking of a “death toll” and “bodies” rather than the deaths of thousands of innocent human beings.

However, the majority of the media coverage regarding the Rana Plaza collapse are more emotional and intense in the words describing the event, such as “Bangladesh factory disasters highlight regulatory failures” (Kazmin, et al., 2013, p. 1), “Bangladesh mourns factory collapse” (Tharoor, 2014, p. 1) , “Relatives of those missing in the collapse of the Rana Plaza building continued to hold a vigil at the site on Sunday, clutching photos of their loved ones” (Al-Mahmood, 2013, p. 1) and “Rescue workers give up hope of finding survivors at collapsed Bangladesh clothes factory” (Buncombe, 2013, p. 1). While still not getting too personal, the majority of media coverage speaks of a “disaster”, “tragedy”, “loved ones” and “survivors”, rather than “collapse” and “bodies”. Other quotations show an even more close-up perspective on the human right violation, such as “We knew there was some problem with the building. When I went inside with my sister, I realized the problem was serious. Some of us wanted to leave but the production manager would not allow us. He threatened to tell our fathers. Two minutes later

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the power went out and the building collapsed. My sister's body was never found.” (Tharoor, 2014). And "I was trapped in the darkness," she said. "There was choking dust. There was a big slab of concrete. I couldn't get out." (Al-Mahmoo & Banjo, 2013, p. 1). These quotations show that several media have an even more emotive and personal way of describing the event, including personal stories of survivors of the collapse and relatives of its victims.

Overall, the general reporting on the Rana Plaza event is up-close and the intensity and tragedy of events and its disastrous consequences are recognized in the way media describes the situation. On top of that, global media also pressed the urge of providing a remedy and compensation for survivors of the tragedy and relatives of the victims, by stating “The workers who survived this catastrophe and the families of those who did not are in desperate need. The brands can show that they can be part of the solution – but only if they pay up” (Al-Mahmood, 2014, p. 1), “Firms urged to pay into fund for Bangladesh factory victims, it’s time to name, shame and campaign” (Thomasson, 2014, p. 1) and “Significant compensation was promised to the wounded survivors and the grieving families of the victims” (Tharoor, 2014, p. 1) while “Victims of the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh are still waiting for long-term compensation with six weeks to go before the first anniversary of the disaster in which 1,100 workers lost their lives.” (Butler & Siegle, 2014, p. 1).

In sum, media attention regarding the Rana Plaza incident and the involvement of Primark and other Western retailers, gained high levels of media attention. Not only is this corporate abuse violation of human rights covered extensively in all global media sources as presented in appendix 1, the nature and tone of the majority of media coverage is also of emotional, personal and sincere nature, emphasizing the impact of the tragedy and the implications it has on the lives of those affected.

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5.1.1.2 Primark’s response

As the Rana Plaza factory collapsed on April 24, 2013, Primark came with an official response two days later, as it stated on April 26, that “Primark confirms that one of its suppliers occupied the second floor of the eight floor building, which housed several suppliers to the garment industry making clothing for a number of brands” (Primark, 2013, p. 1) and that “Primark is shocked and deeply saddened by this appalling incident at Savar, near Dhaka, and expresses its condolences to all of those involved” (Primark, 2013, p. 1). With this official statement, Primark acknowledges its involvement in the corporate abuse allegation, as it confirms that Primark subcontracted its apparel production lines to the Rana Plaza. Primark’s response is remarkable compared to other Western retailers involved in this incident, who denied involvement even though evidence was found that labels were produced in Rana Plaza (Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, 2014). While acknowledging involvement in the allegation, Primark’s response further contains a sincere apology to all of those affected by the situation. In the weeks after the collapse, Primark issued a press release in which it stated that “Primark is working on a comprehensive support package for workers affected by the disaster in Bangladesh” (Primark, 2013, p. 1), indicating that Primark is willing to provide a remedy to this human right violation. Next to that, Primark was one of the first retailers to commit to signing the “Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh”, a global initiative recording the commitment of the apparel and textile corporations to finance and implement fire and building safety programmes, including inspections, remediation and safety training in all factories (Primark, 2013, p. 1).

In the aftermath of the Rana Plaza disaster, Primark upheld its promise to provide a remedy to the incident. Primark registered 2,673 workers and their relatives eligible for their

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short-term financial programme, paying three times the monthly wage for immediate support to these workers and families, while also setting up a food aid programme to alleviate immediate hardship of affected families (Primark, 2013). Two years later, Primark continues its long-term financial aid programme, completing more than 95% of the payments to the workers and their families of New Wave Bottoms, Primark’s subcontractor in Rana Plaza (Primark, 2015). The total payments made by Primark reached $14 million, paid directly to those affected by the Rana Plaza collapse (Primark, 2015).

In sum, Primark was quick to acknowledge the corporate abuse allegation and to apologize to those affected. By offering immediate short-term financial aid and setting up a food aid programme, and committing and upholding a long-term financial compensation programme to all those affected by Primark’s interest in Rana Plaza, Primark shows its willingness to remedy the human right violation. With regard to the published responses by Primark, it is worth notifying that all these statements were issued from Primark in general. Primark CEO Weston also a few personal remarks on the matter, stating that “Primark has been at the forefront of supporting victims and their families, spending 2m on aid so far” (Neville, 2013, p. 1), and that “If there is any good that comes out of Rana Plaza, it is a huge wake-up call that the sector has been long overdue” (Neville, 2013, p. 1).

5.1.1.3 Media attention on Primark’s response.

International media picked up on Primark’s official statements regarding the allegation and the initiatives to remedy those affected in the months after the building collapse and this was thus covered in global press as well, reading “Primark offers long-term compensation to Rana Plaza factory collapse victims” (The Guardian, 2013, p. 1), “The British retailer has agreed to pay

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$9m to the 581 workers, or their families, from New Wave Bottoms, Primark's supplier, which was based on the second floor of the building in Dhaka. A further $1m will go into a communal compensation pot to be shared among all the 3,600 workers who suffered when the eight-floor Rana Plaza complex collapsed in April last year” (Butler, 2014, p. 1) and “Five hundred and fifty workers at the supplier New Wave Bottoms, which had been making clothes for Primark, will be given a third short-term payment, believed to be three months' wages, while the long-term compensation is finalized” (The Guardian, 2013, p. 1).

5.1.1.4 Leadership commitment

As mentioned previously, Primark issued its first corporate social responsibility report in 2010, in which Primark’s CEO Weston pays little attention to human rights. As Primark releases its corporate social responsibility report only once every three years, its next report was published shortly after the Rana Plaza incident. In this statement, Weston pays significantly more attention to the four business principles of Primark, carefully explaining each one and the responsibilities of Primark, “What does it mean to us to be a good employer? At one level it means providing a safe working environment as we have to do as a matter of law, but we go beyond that and we continue to be diligent in reducing the injuries sustained by our workforce, often in challenging environments” (ABF , 2013, p. 4) and “We have an obligation to people who work for our suppliers, particularly where other sources of protection for them are absent or only marginally effective. We have an obligation to work to prevent abuse and reduce risk wherever we can and we have an obligation to foster good operating standards” (ABF , 2013, p. 4), but without getting into details on how Primark acts upon these principles.

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