Phillip I have some direct experience in the US in some areas you comment
on.
Replying to LO23506 --
>Most American manufacturers, in fact all I have been close to, tried to
>pay attention the environment and total implications of what they were
>doing. Years ago 'they' we did not know that some things done were
>harmful but as 'they' find out the practice changes.
I cannot speak for American manufacturers, but if they are anything like
Australian manufacturers then some companies might have done some or all
of the following:
a. continued to mine and expose workers to asbestos in manufacturing years
after the medical evidence pointed to a strong link between asbestos and
various terminal respiratory diseases.
So did American companies mine as well. But the reason was not knowing how
to quit on a dime. So we took the precautions we knew how to take and at
the same time put up with the flak from those who job it was to complain.
Fixing starts with knowing there is a problem but that is not enough. We
must figure out what to do that works. It took years to find substitutes
for asbestos in brakes that actually worked.
b. promoted tobacco long after they knew of the health problems
Here too. Though I know nothing of their situation. I believe the people
should have the right to choose to smoke or not to become addicted or not
and the government should limit their role.
c. exported processed milk products to the Developing World as "health
products" that caring mothers should give their children even if they
could not provide sterile ingredients to mix the milk powder in and with.
We made that mistake to. I see this one as stupid not so much greed. Many
time I see incompetence where others greed and conspiracy.
d. avoided waste dumping charges by deliberately pouring toxic products
into sewers and/or dumping garbage into parks and bushland.
That happens here also often due to incompetence of the organization. I
know of one situation where a chemist was hired to get the plant into
compliance. He had virtually no financial constraints to truly fix the
problems. However we found he was dumping waste in the middle of the
night while he was giving seminars to other companies on how to clean up a
plating process. He simply did not have the courage to say I do not know
ho to fix this so he lied to himself and kept his technicians in the dark.
Not to mention his cover ups with management. Management's heart and
pocket book were in the right place. But they could not tell for some time
the hired fix was not competent.
f. tried to sell drugs and chemical banned in our country to other less
well-policed countries
This is not to say all companies do all of this as most companies are, of
course, law abiding corporate citizens, but all of the above happened and
still happens here...and all driven by an unethical pursuit of profit.
It happens in the US also. It has more to do with values and competence to
run an organization than the pursuit of profit. Very often I see
companies driven into the ground by managers trying to show a short term
profit. Again this is values and competence in managing people and the
organization. Often we provide the wrong goals, wrong values, wrong
measures, wrong training about how to make a profit etc.
et
Eugene Taurman
interLinx
http://www.execpc.com/~ilx
--"Eugene Taurman" <ilx@execpc.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>