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China has emerged rapidly as such a dominant economic and geopolitical power in the world, but to date little attention has been given to how Chinese businesses interact with the various levels of government and the elements of the civil society there. In the developed countries of North America and Western Europe advocacy groups play a critical role in the interdependency of the business and civil society spheres. Whether large, powerful, and well-funded organizations like AARP or much smaller, more tightly focused ones like the Rainforest Action Network, the thousands of advocacy groups in the West are an established and important part of the dynamic between business and the broader society. While this may be changing while the central government in China may be taking some putative steps to ease restrictions on public protest of any sort movement in this direction has been minimal as witnessed during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Now, it is not unusual for businesses to be owned privately, ownership shares are publicly traded on functioning exchanges, product, manufacturing, capital, and labor decisions are made without a mandate from the government. In early December, the Chinese government provided the figures of victims: 294,000 children suffered from urinary problems and six babies died from drinking tainted formula (Spencer, 2008). On January 30, 2008, the Humane Society of the United States released an undercover video showing workers at the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. of Chino, California, kicking sick cows and using forklifts to force them to walk to the slaughter area. This video, and the subsequent furor fomented by newspaper reports across the country, led in less than three weeks to the largest recall of ground beef in United States history. The worker shown prodding the sick cow, Rafael Sanchez Herrara, pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of illegal movement of a no ambulatory animal, was sentenced to six months in jail after which he was to be deported to his native Mexico (Martin et al, 2008) General Mills announced that it had recalled 35,000 cases of its Progresso Italian Wedding soup because it contained beef from a supplier that got meat from the Hallmark/Westland [sic] plant (Zhang, 2008). At this stage one might reasonably conclude that a country with a more highly developed infrastructure established legislation, functioning regulatory agencies, an active and effective complex of advocacy organizations, and a free and open media can offer consumers a higher level of protection. Indeed, it was in an open container of King Nut peanut butter in a Minnesota long- term care facility that a strain of salmonella was discovered which had the same genetic footprint as the cases in the national outbreak that has sickened almost 400 people in 42 states (PR Newswire, 2009). Stewart Parnell, owner and president of PCA, and Sammy Lightest, the manager of the Georgia plant, appeared under subpoena before the House Energy and Commerce Committees investigations panel but refused to testify claiming their Fifth Amendment rights not to incriminate themselves. Both times the inspections revealed rat droppings, live beetles, dead insects, and the potential for microbial contamination, and Nestl rejected PCA as a supplier (Layton, 2009b). We see that a robust civil society sector specifically a minimum number of active advocacy groups and an unfettered, independent media are essential if the excesses of business behavior are to be constrained. Finally, these cases should stir our interest in how a countrys economic growth and the development of what we have termed its regulatory infrastructure are influenced by its history, its culture, its social structures, and its unique political system. As other countries such as India, Brazil, and Russia continue to gain importance in the worlds geopolitical system, this question will provide a fascinating and fertile ground for further study.

Questions

1. Compare the Business, Government and Society Relationship in China and the United States indicating which BGS model is most applicable to each country.
2. Comment on the strengths and weaknesses in governance with regard to the tainted milk case and one of the US cases.
3. Outline ethical issues and discuss ethical theories that can be applied to these cases.
4. Discuss the strategies or policies identified by the author to prevent or rectify the issues

that occurred.

5. Comment on the applicability of these strategies or policies in a Caribbean country of

your choice.

Prepare a report of between 3000-5000 words.

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