Maintain high ethical standards; Prof. Buah to multinationals

Ghana is grappling with a situation where many of its natural resources are being destroyed by the operations of some so-called multinational companies.

Professor John Nelson Buah, Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), who expressed these sentiments, noted that the degree to which multinational Companies respected and resolved ethical, social and environmental issues depended on the market community in which they operated.

At a public lecture organized by the UCC School of Business Studies, Prof Buah expressed concern was concerned that several agitations to have various anomalies addressed in the country have yielded no positive result or seen any improvement.

He advised the said companies not to stratify the market community, if they really wanted to respect ethical and environmental issues across board

They are also to make conscious efforts to prevent forced labor, provide workers with the needed protection and access to effective remedies and carry out due diligence to prevent and respond to the risk of forced labor.

A professor of Management Studies at San Jose State University in California, USA, Prof Anne Lawrence added her voice to the concerns by Prof Buah stressing that multinational companies operating in Ghana and the rest of Africa should take due consideration to ethical, social and environmental issues.

Speaking on the topic: “Social, Ethical and Environmental responsibility in the Global supply chain”, she urged them to ensure the protection of available natural resources in their quest to supply products to their customers.

Prof Lawrence said most multinational companies either lacked control over their supply chain or failed to report publicly on their due diligence measures and did not carry out systematic monitoring of their suppliers.

She warned that failure to address these issues might cost the companies millions of dollars and there is the need take full responsibility of their supply chain to safeguard their valuable brands and reputations.

She proposed to such multinational companies to from time to time needed to organize capacity building training for their suppliers as well as their business partners and set codes on common standards in order to have a shared value.

Citing numerous instances where companies have been sued and made to pay millions of dollars for not following ethical standards, the management professor advised supply chain managers to properly monitor the activities of their suppliers to make sure they adhered to the set codes and common standards.