The Corporation

Should corporations be entitled to the same legal rights as individuals? Where the line should be drawn?

To the answer this question I asked my self what are the legal rights of a person and here are some rights: (United Nations, 1995)

• the right to legal recourse when their rights have been violated, even if the violator was acting in an official capacity
• The right to life
• the right to liberty and freedom of movement
• the right to equality before the law
• the right to presumption of innocence until proven guilty
• the right to appeal a conviction
• the right to be recognized as a person before the law
• the right to privacy and protection of that privacy by law
• freedom of thought, conscience, and religion
• freedom of opinion and expression
• freedom of assembly and association
• self-determination
• wages sufficient to support a minimum standard of living
• equal pay for equal work
• equal opportunity for advancement
• Freedom to form trade unions
• strike
• paid or otherwise compensated maternity leave
• free primary education, and accessible education at all levels
• copyright, patent, and trademark protection for intellectual property

If we see all the rights mentioned, from a legal position, corporations can do many of the same things that natural persons do--buy and sell property, hire and fire, sue and be sued, and so many rights can be applicable as the right to presumption of innocence until proven guilty, but I DO NOT think that corporations should have the same legal rights as individual. As we have seen in the document corporations have not adapted or penetrated as being a member of a society. Their main goal is to increase their wealth by whatever mean possible, leading to labor exploitation, environment pollution, human health for toxic or bad products etc. They are not the same as individual so they shouldn’t be treated as one, I mean can you imagine a corporation going to jell because it committed a crimes? No because they can’t they use the law and the system as if everything was permitted they just have to pay money if they make a fraud or a crime with no serious consequences. The corporation by itself can’t survive or think it must have the people in order to perform property. Corporations should have some norms and rules such as social responsibilities to ensure that the members of the corporations are not being used and have good working conditions.

Should individuals (directors, employees, shareholders) bear any responsibility for the actions of a corporation, if so, to what degree?

In general is very hard to talk about this topic because I mean so many confusions came into my mind; for the most part I think the corporations is the one that has to bear with the responsibilities for the action because for example if a person for UNE comes to your house to fix the internet connection and they still something you don’t think about that individual being the responsible, we tend to blame the company for the event and we assume that they must take responsibilities. On the other hand when a corporation has been doing something that is illegal and all or most of the members of the corporations know or were involved in taking those decisions, they should have some responsibilities for the actions, because they agreed to do harm to other for getting extra money.

International Organization for Migration

IOM works with its partners in the international community to: (IOM)

• Assist in meeting the growing operational challenges of migration management.
• Advance understanding of migration issues.
• Encourage social and economic development through migration.
• Uphold the human dignity and well-being of migrants.

According to a research done by INSTRAW: “One out of two migrant is a woman”, this number is increasing and these are women who live and work away from their countries of origin send billions of dollars to their relatives - often more frequently than men (INSTRAW, 2008). Nowadays woman are migrating more to other countries for different reason, but they also have the poorest life conditions when they arrive in the host country, they are exposed to human trafficking, abuse, they don´t have access to some jobs etc.

The OIM usually are asked to work in conflict and post-conflict situations. In the camps of refugees and displaced people, they intervene in collaboration with other United Nations agencies such as the High Commissioner for Refugees (HCR), UNICEF, or the World Health Organization (WHO) so that women can receive the required attention. Information campaigns are developed so that women can acquire more knowledge. They are given tools and equipment so that they can promote health correctly and improve their environment. (INSTRAW, 2008)
In the case of professional women who leave their home countries on their own, they demand access to decent work and proper payment, and to be able to live on their salary in their host country. One of the other requests from the majority of professional women migrants is to have the possibility of contributing to the development of their host countries, either by sending money to help the family left behind, or as investors with local associates to create employment and profit-generating activities for themselves. (INSTRAW, 2008). IOM developed credit project for women to give them access to save money for future uncertainties from their income in order to reduce poverty, while increasing self-sufficiency among women from low- income, as well as to send remittances to their home country. Since most of the times these women have large families and are single mother they don’t have the capacity to have a savings account. We tend to think about the present but barely about the future.

The IOM has a program called: "Migrant Women for Development in Africa" (WMIDA) which aims at engaging West African women migrants living in Italy in the development of their countries (International Organization for Migration). The program supports West African women migrants interested in using their remittances to establish small or medium enterprises in their countries of origin through joint ventures with Italian partners and host communities. IOM is going t chose 15 entrepreneurial projects from the ones that are presented by migrant women; which then will receive financial support as well as professional training on business development, management, marketing, and access to credit.

I AM WHO I AM BECAUSE THE OTHERS AROUND ME

Ubuntu can be defined as humaneness pervasive spirit of caring and community, harmony and hospitality, respect and responsiveness—that individuals and groups display for one another. (Mangaliso, 2001)

In this article they talk about several thinks that make part of Ubuntu philosophy and that if taken into account by the managers and implemented in the company can become a competitive advantage for the company. I´m going to explain one by one the concepts and then I’m going to explain why these things are important and should be acknowledged by cross-cultural managers.

• Relationships with Others: for the Ubuntu philosophy human interdependence is very important, as well as collaboration among member. Extended family is very important and individuals are part of a group, and have relationships with the entire member in their group, clan, family etc. Teamwork and solidarity are key concepts in Ubuntu. If a manager know that they workers are very collective than the best thing he can do is to encourage teamwork, reliance on the other to increase the outcomes since collective work will be better that individuals work. It’s also important to be tolerant to workers when dealing with death of clan members, ceremonies and reunions. In projects workers will be able to cooperate and have a positive working environment, (responsible, committed members, synergies etc.)

• Language and Communication: merely oral communication; communication is primarily for reinforcing the relationship of the members not necessarily about efficiency of information transfer. The manager must allow workers to establish relationships, even when not required by the task structure, improves effectiveness and decreases antagonistic feelings toward the organization (Mangaliso, 2001). If the workers are prohibited to communicate during their working hour this are going to create resentment for the organization and their superior and less concentration and encouragement to achieve the task. Another thing a manager can do is give them a lunch break where they have time to communicate with the rest of the staff, as well as have seasonal or periodic meeting, ceremonies, parties etc. a space where workers can reinforce their relationships.

• Decision Making: decisions are made by consensus, different and opposite opinions are encouraged. Dispute resolution is always effective to restore harmony. Even though this process is long because is made by consensus it can be more effective. The manager must include the employees in some decision making process in order to not only increase the trust but to motivate the workers to do their best for the company and that their opinion counts. It’s important to have face-to-face meeting to dispute resolution and to reach decision. The decisions are going to be more efficient and targeted to long term because the commitment and the involvement of different parties of the organization.

• Time: time must be used wisely, but there is no time limit for things or to reach decisions. Managers must be patient and encourage their workers to reach high quality standard rather than having time limits where they feel pressured and rushed.

• Productivity and efficiency: Must be optimized. Solidarity and social harmony are important. Rewards are shared, so is suffering (Mangaliso, 2001). As I have mention Ubuntu is based on collaboration so this variable is always present in the daily activities. A manager must know that workers must be rewarded as a group not as individuals, and their collaboration is the key to achieve and efficient production if the manager can manage to motivate as a group to achieve the same goal. The company is like a family and each member has a task but the rest are willing to be supportive and soldiery when a worker needs it. The manager must be very supportive with the staff and also show that he is willing to cooperate and discuss all the issues.

• Age and Leadership: Age is an ongoing process of maturing and acquiring wisdom. Older people are respected. Gray hair is a sign of wisdom (Mangaliso, 2001). This means that for Ubuntu followers the best option for a manager will be an older person, because he has had the necessary experience and has recollected a lot of wisdom throughout the years. So if a young manager is at charge things are not going to be so easy, he must build a relationship with the workers and gain their trust, in order to set the example and be followed. On the other hand if an older person is the manager than he will start off with more acceptances from the workers, but he must show the capabilities to maintain the status.

• Belief System: when a manager is faced with belief I think this is one of the toughest things to manage but it’s not so involved in the working area. The manager must understand and respect all the diversity of cultures that work within the same company and he must be creative in handling the situation regarding belief. For example if an employee is asking for permission because he must attend a special ritual of his religion the manager must be flexible. He can also use those beliefs in his advantage as mentioned in the example in the article.