Title: Multinational Corporations and Responsibility

Title: Multinational Corporations and Responsibility

Narrative Description of Module:

This assignment’s focus is on the Union Carbide Bhopal disaster in December 1984. This leaking gas/explosion tragedy hit the residents of Bhopal, India twice, and it is also known as “the second tragedy.” The “second tragedy” refers to rehabilitation in Bhopal, to the litigation of the case in India and the U.S., and to multinational corporate conduct all over the world.

You will look into business practices of companies like Union Carbide all over the world and provide insight into what can, and should be done to hold corporations responsible for their business practices all over the world.

Educational Objectives:

Providing you an inside look into how multinational companies operate and how they get away with so much in the developing and underdeveloped world countries – all at the expense of the poor and needy. The picture they portray is so different from what they are all about.

This module will also expose you to the world around us. Very often, we fail to see the “big picture” and form our opinions by only what is reported by the American media. My hope is that this assignment will broaden our horizons.

Your assignment is to write a paper in the MLA (Modern Language Association) format (3 to 4 pages) that includes facts, data and references.

You will pick one U.S. company that has its branch/branches in other countries, especially developing and underdeveloped countries where the laws are not so stringent. Your job is to report whether or not this particular company is following the guidelines that are set for it in the U.S. and whether or not it is conducting business in a safe and ethical manner. Your sources for your paper should be clearly cited.

This assignment is worth 40 points. 

Listing of Audio-Visuals that can be used for the project:

1)      British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), “Bhopal, The Second Tragedy”

http://www.films.com/Films –Home/Item.cfm/1/5807

2)      Appalshop Media and ArtsCenter, ChemicalValley

http://www.appalshop.org/film/

3)      Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union (OCAW), “Out of Control: The Story of Corporate Recklessness in the Chemical Industry”