08.03.07

China’s Scandals American Corps’ Fault

Posted in General Management, Small Business at 2:19 by lnxwalt

I recently responded to an article by James Robertson about China’s product problems. USA Today has an opinion item today that reiterates my words. If the link dies, it is also in the dead-tree edition, on page 11A (”Hidden culprit of product scandal made in China”, USA Today, 11A, 2007-AUG-02).

I quote:

Nearly all the recent alarms raised about Chinese products point fingers solely at the Chinese, neglecting entirely how China’s success as an exporter is, in large part, the product of roughly a trillion dollars of foreign investment and limitless expertise that floods into the country in order to escape some standard or other at home.

In other words, when we want to make the product more cheaply, without dealing with all the restrictions that are built into Western social democracies, we have it made for us in China. When we don’t want to pay employees enough to own homes in pricey American cities, we move to work to factories in China, where they don’t have our standards. When we don’t want the cost of conforming to environmental regulations, we move the work to factories in China, where there are effectively no regulations.

Unfortunately, it is easy to blame China, its government, its culture, or its people, for the shortcomings of American corporations. If big-name-corporate retailer insisted that products it sold were produced under “ethical management” and held producers to similar standards as U.S.-based producers have to meet, Chinese companies would either step up their quality (in exchange for higher fees) or lose business to companies that would comply. In some cases, the products could even be produced in North American factories.

It is up to those of us in OMBs and SLOBs to take this message to heart. When a large company wants you to bid for work, refuse to bid if you have to compromise ethical standards in order to get or keep the work. Make it clear that you are willing to work extremely hard to get your costs down and your output up, but you are not willing to mistreat your employees or the community where you operate. There is a good chance that you will lose some big-business customers to foreign suppliers. Even so, take a stand and make it public. Make it a part of what you do and the way you present yourself and your business.

“Joe’s Upholstery uses only the finest materials, assembled by our highly-skilled workforce, right here in Pinon Hills, California.” Be sure to emphasize your local workforce, even if your only “employees” are your children Joey and Anna. Emphasize the quality of your work, but don’t make it just a slogan–make sure you really do produce a good product or service and price it fairly.

It also takes a commitment to bring your pocketbook in line with your principles. If big-name retailer violates your principles, you are going to have to stop doing business with them (and their “business club” subsidiary), even if it means you’ll have to pay a little more for what you buy. If other suppliers violate your principles, you are going to have to stop doing business with them also. It doesn’t have to be immediate, nor does it have to be ironclad. If your plumbing requires a plunger at midnight and big-name retailer is the only place that is open, go buy yourself a plunger.

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