For over a century, Penman Industries has prided itself on providing our customers with high
quality, stylish writing utensils at an affordable cost. We’ve done this by building a corporate
culture of care for the well-being of our employees, suppliers, and customers by taking
socially responsible steps that make a positive impact on their lives. We've worked hard to be
ranked among Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” over 20 consecutive years.
We’ve earned this ranking by providing pay equity, flexible work schedule, and recruiting a
diverse talent pool. We also built a corporate culture where everyone, at every level of our
organization, has a role in ensuring that every aspect of our Penman Industries’ operation
reflects our caring philosophy (Yohn, 2021). We count on each of you to uphold and defend
our values.
Today, we learned about a recent whistleblower media report concerning our top ink supplier,
Tusche Lithography. The report indicates that the company has been operating under poor
employee work conditions, which include the use of child labor, low wages, long working
hours mandates, and a lack of employee benefits. We commend the whistleblowers’ actions.
These practices go against our caring philosophy, are a violation of our supplier agreement,
and are not condoned business practices.
We take this report seriously. As a result, we have suspended future orders and will continue
to do so until the level of operation as required by our supplier agreement is met. We have
also dispatched a team to assess and evaluate when the conditions and timing are right to
initiate new orders. In the interim, we have secured agreements with other suppliers to acquire
the ink needed to continue production without disruption.
Finally, we extend our sincerest apologies to the employees of Tusche Lithography and will
advocate for better working conditions moving forward. We also apologize to you, our
employees, for any alarm and embarrassment that this report has caused. We are doing
everything in our power to right this wrong and plan to keep you abreast as pertinent
developments arise. Feel free to direct any questions or concerns that you may have to our
Thank you for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.
Reference
Cardon, P. W. (2021). Business communication: Developing leaders for a networked world
(4th ed.). McGraw Hill Education.
Yohn, D. L. (2021). Company Culture Is Everyone’s Responsibility. Harvard Business
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