An expose of bad businesses and their unethical practices

The recall of dangerous children’s products by American corporations is becoming much too common. The lead-painted toys at Mattel and others, the Starbucks children’s mugs, these are just the tip of the iceberg. Now that we have been alerted to the problems, these sorts of dangerous items are turning up everywhere. But it should not have taken a media scandal to set things right.

Manufacturers and retailers have an ethical responsibility to protect their customers from harm caused by the use of their products. That is especially true of goods used by children. Yet, the huge American corporations which profit from these items are just now beginning to test their cheaply-bought merchandise for problems. Cheap goods are cheap for a reason. Often that reason is a disregard for safety. An MBA is not needed to figure that out.

The major American corporations that control so much manufacturing in the world today were certainly smart enough to be aware of these problems before the media exposed them. Perhaps they were looking the other way, which is unconscionable. Perhaps they knew and were not telling, which is worse. Whatever the excuse, these companies are guilty of lax oversight which can kill, really Bad Business. They are taking steps to do testing now. Why were they not doing that ten years ago?