“The Low Price” of the textile discounter KiK – consequences for labour conditions in textile factories in Bangladesh: Difference between revisions
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= | = Final version of the case study: <br> = | ||
== “The little Price” of the textile discounter KiK – consequences for labour conditions at textile factories in Bangladesh == | |||
=== <u>1) Introduction </u><br> === | |||
This case study wants to highlight a special part of the worldwide globalisation movement. The concentration lies thereby on the textile industry of low wage countries exemplified at the case of Bangladesh. Starting point for this study is the German garment discounter KiK and its price politics. To buy cheap clothes in Germany is something really normal for us today, but most of us do not consider or take care about where these clothes come from, by whom they are produced at which circumstances, for example labour conditions. This case study should offer a first inside-view into the economic methods that lead to such cheap prices and the humanity aspects considered with it. | |||
At the beginning of chapter 2 I give a short presentation of Bangladeshi economy and the social situation. It is important to see labour conditions not only in comparison to Western standards but also to local living conditions based on real basic needs of economic survival. Globalisation as influential criteria on labour conditions is mentioned in the next paragraph. It will be shown that globalisation has had impact on Bangladeshi textile industry which was both positive as negative for the economy and the workers. | |||
The chapter 3 is dedicated to the German garment discounter KIK and in general to the strategies huge discounter use to determine their prime costs. The profile of the KiK company will be presented and its advertising promises will get discussed. The market power of big discounter companies is the subject of the next paragraph. As an example the different price components of a T-shirt are shown. Additional aspects of the interaction of garment discounter and the textile industry at low wage countries are the purchasing practises of the business companies. Three tendencies can be made up that are of significant impact on the textile industry. As interesting last point in this chapter the KiK company statement on their behaviour as bulk buyer will be shown. This implies the code of conduct and how it is put into action and controlled. | |||
After the previous chapter did present what a discounter does to achieve little prices and my introduction concerning Bangladesh as a place that offers cheap work, I like to focus on the Bangladeshi labour standards in detail in this chapter 4. A research study gives concrete inside views on insufficient labour conditions in garment factories which produce cheap clothes for the Western market, also for the KIK company in Germany. | |||
The missing labour conditions lead me to the next and last chapter 5. It is dedicated to a final summary and an outlook. In this chapter I want to discuss the usefulness of the code of conduct in general and in this example. During a final outlook I like to present some possible strategies for the future for example more powerful conducts and under which political circumstances they can get active. | |||
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=== | === <u>2) Bangladesh – economic and social facts</u> === | ||
==== 2.1 Geographic and social information ==== | |||
< | In Bangladesh lives a population of about 164,4<ref>Report about human population 2010. http://www.weltbevoelkerung.de/pdf/dsw_datenreport_10.pdf</ref> million people on an area of 147.570 square kilometers. That makes the country to “one of the most crowded on Earth” . Bangladesh lies in the Ganges-Brahmaputra river system which makes the land very fructuous. The annual floods on the one hand are helping and welcomed because they give fertility to the land, but on the other hand they sometimes destroy the harvest and kill the people who are living near the river. Most of the Bangladeshi people live from agricultural production, for example “wheat, barley, maize, potatoes, pulses, bananas and mangoes”. The Bangladeshi people are very poor. Around 25% of the population is suffering from hunger. The garment industry contributes enormously to the economic development. 2 million people are working at the 3.500 factories. 85% of them are women from the rural regions who need to work in the cities because of job shortage in their home regions. The work at the garment factories is their only chance to receive income that helps to save the survival of the family. <br><br> | ||
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==== References<br> ==== | ==== References<br> ==== | ||
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<references /><br> | <references /><br> | ||
<br> | <br> --[[User:Reibe|Reibe]] 21:32, 22 January 2011 (CET) | ||
--[[User:Reibe|Reibe]] 21:32, 22 January 2011 (CET) | |||
=== <u>Literature review</u><br> === | === <u>Literature review</u><br> === |