Chaos in Cambodia

Chaos in Cambodia ________________________ It was a quiet afternoon at the office for Sareh Ahmadi. The door to her office at Simply Bergaya, Inc. was closed and her iPod was playing happy tunes as she buried herself in the task of reading the weekly reports from her staff. A clothing retailer like Simply Bergaya (the name comes from the Indonesian word for “stylish”) relied heavily on the information contained in such reports. As Operations Manager, Sareh’s job included responsibility for overseeing, directly or indirectly, many aspects of Simply Bergaya’s daily activities, from initiating contracts with factories to approving new marketing campaigns to hiring management staff for the company’s 238 retail outlets across Canada. As the sole person managing this responsibility, Sareh needed a constant flow of reliable information from her team. [[Pick up the next report.|2. A phone call]]

It was a big responsibility, one that Sareh took seriously. But she took a rare break from her reading to think about the weekend ahead of her. She had promised her spouse and kids that she'd "leave the work at work" this weekend, and that they would all spend the weekend together. They would pile into the car and drive out to the lake and go swimming. The only thing that stood between her and that much-needed break was another two hours of reading reports. And then the phone rang. Sareh sighed, plucked out her ear buds and looked at the phone. The Call Display showed Daniel Yoon, Simply Bergaya's Purchasing Manager. [[Continue reading reports.|2a. Continue reading]] [[Answer the phone.|3. A situation at the factory]]

Sareh continued reading. Whatever it was, Daniel could handle it. ---------- The weekend was great -- really relaxing. It was so good getting to reconnect with her spouse and their daughter. She had been spending too much time at the office in recent weeks. The weekend passed quickly. She had even turned off her phone for the weekend, taking a rare "totally offline" break. She had been working too hard for too long. She deserved it. Monday morning, she arrived at the office to find Mario D’sousa, CEO of the company, sitting at Sareh's desk with his feet up, waiting for her. “Oh, good, you’re here. Glad to see you’re back in the game. I know I can always count on you,” Mario said sarcastically. “I literally just landed, back in town after an overnight flight back from Madrid. I just found out about the explosion. I can’t believe you just disappeared over the weekend when there’s a crisis going on – a crisis that could kill our company. Do you have any idea what the press are going to do to us if we don’t handle this right? You’ve shown incredibly bad judgment.” Sareh is stunned. "Explosion?" she asks. "What explosion?" Mario doesn't let up: "If you'd been on the job, you would know. There was an explosion at a factory in Cambodia. There were deaths, Sareh," he adds emphatically. [[Apologize and say you'll get right up to speed.|Apologize]] [[Explain that Daniel should have been able to handle it.|3a1. Push back.]]

Daniel seemed relieved that she had picked up. "Um, hi, Sareh" he said in a grim voice. "You'd better check the news online. There's been an accident -- an explosion. At one of our factories in Cambodia." Sareh knew Daniel was simplifying for brevity. Simply Bergaya didn't have any factories. The company did have contracts with more than two dozen suppliers in southeast Asia including Cambodia, Vietnam, and Bangladesh. The suppliers owned the factories and employed local workers, mostly women, to sew the mid-priced, "fashion forward" clothes sold by Simply Bergaya. It was common for staff to refer to the factories as "our" factories, and to think of them that way. [[Tell Daniel to handle it.|3a. You Handle it Daniel]] [[Ask Daniel for a briefing on the explosion|4. Briefing]] [[Check the news online.|3b. early Twitter]] [[Give Daniel a reality check.|Correct Staff]]

Sareh was taken aback. “No way Mario. You can't lay this on me. Daniel was available and he should have been perfectly qualified to handle this.” Mario’s voice went cold. “I’m sorry Sareh. That’s just unacceptable. If you can’t see how serious this is and step up to the plate, then there’s no place for you at Simply Bergaya. I’ll expect your resignation effective immediately.” Take a minute to think about how you ended up here, and then [[end this game |end]] or [[go back to the beginning |1. A quiet afternoon at the office]].

Sareh replied, "Daniel, we don't have any factories in Cambodia, or anywhere else. We have contracts with suppliers, and those suppliers run factories that are external to our operations. I need you to be really clear about this. Particularly right now. We do not own any factories. They are not 'our' factories." [[Tell Daniel to handle it.|3a. You Handle it Daniel]] [[Ask Daniel for a briefing on the explostion|4. Briefing]] [[Check the news online.|3b. early Twitter]]

Daniel seemed surprised. “Me? I sort of thought this would be a senior-management kind of thing. I’ve never done this sort of thing before. I don’t know if I can.” Sareh persisted. “You’re the one with the direct relationship with the factories there. You handle it.” Sareh went back to reading her weekly reports. At 5pm, she packed up her laptop and stuffed a few printouts into her briefcase, and headed home. ------------------- On Saturday her work phone rang at 7am, waking her up. It was her boss, Mario D’souza. “Oh, good, you’re awake. I know I can always count on you,” Mario said sarcastically. “I just landed. Overnight flight back from Madrid. And I just found out about the explosion. I can’t believe you dumped responsibility for taking care of that situation on Daniel. There’s no way he’s equipped for this. You should have done it yourself. You’ve shown very bad judgment. I want you on a plane to Phnom Penh today. [[Push back at Mario.|3a1. Push back.]] [[Agree and start checcking for flights.|6. Book a flight]]

Sareh opened up a browser on her laptop and checked social media. So far, the only mentions of the explosion are from the Twitter accounts of a couple of labour activists in Phnom Penh, and a “Breaking News!” tweet from a Cambodian newspaper called Kohsantepheap Daily. The headline – “Factory Explosion in Phnom Penh” – was in English. But when Sareh clicked through to the story, it was entirely in Khmer, the official language of Cambodia. [[Tell Daniel to handle it.|3a. You Handle it Daniel]] [[Ask Daniel for a briefing on the explostion|4. Briefing]]

Daniel briefed Sareh quickly. The factory was one of three located in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. It was owned and operated by a small family firm called Kosal. The Kosal factories had long been a source of anxiety for Sareh. Reports from local inspectors hired by Simply Bergaya frequently indicated that factory managers were cutting corners -- one time storing toxic chemicals in a lunchroom, another time failing to maintain fire extinguishers in proper working order, allowing garbage barrels to obstruct fire exits. These kinds of shortcuts weren't terribly dangerous, but Sareh worried about them. On the other hand, the Kosal factories did very good work, always meeting deadlines and producing garments of higher than average quality. Whenever Simply Bergaya asked the factory managers to fix some problem found by the third party inspectors, they always complied -- at least mostly, eventually. [[Look up past safety reports.|4.a Look up safety reports]] [[Do a background check on the inspectors.|4.b Check background on inspectors]] [[Hit refresh on the news.|Check news 2nd time]]

Sareh opened up a folder called “Safety – Phnom Penh”. Inside were folders labeled simply “Factory 1,” “Factory 2,” and so on. Inside each sub-folder was a series of Safety Inspection documents going back several years. She opened the most recent reports for the factory that had just collapsed. All of them had the word “PASS” stamped at the top, though each of them listed a range of minor violations. Each violation was accompanied by the words “To Be Rectified Within 60 Days.” [[Do a background check on the inspectors.|4.b Check background on inspectors]] [[Ask Daniel for more information.|5. The explosion]]

On her personal phone, Sareh called her friend, Ying. Ying was a friend from Sareh’s university days, and worked with an organization called “Workers Rights NOW.” Ying knew more than just about anybody about the quality of safety inspections in developing countries. Sareh told Ying the names of the consulting inspectors whose signatures were at the bottom of the safety inspections documents currently on her computer screen, the ones giving the now-collapsed factory a PASS. Ying hummed. “Hmmm, those guys. Yeah, they’re OK I guess. Not the most careful and diligent outfit I can think of. But I think they basically play by the rules. I don’t see any obvious red flag there.” [[Hang up and ask Daniel for more information.|5. The explosion]]

Something had gone very, very wrong at the factory. Authorities in Phnom Penh said they suspected that the factory managers had stored flammable cleaning fluids near an aging electrical connection box, and that a spark had let to a fire. The fire had in turn spread to the fireworks factory next door, resulting in a massive explosion. Both buildings had collapsed. Twenty-three workers in the Kosal factory had died, and several dozen others were injured. Daniel finished his briefing. There was an uneasy pause. [[Start checking flights.|5c. Decide on flights]] [[Tell Daniel he has to handle it.|3a. You Handle it Daniel]] [[Wait and see. |7. Wait and see]] [[Call the boss for advice.|Call the boss for advice]]

Sareh checked online, trying Google News. “Uh-oh,” she muttered to herself. She was staring at a CBC News headline: “Factory Collapse in Phnom Penh – Canadian Connection?” Things had just become a lot more urgent. [[Look up past safety reports.|4.a Look up safety reports]] [[Do a background check on the inspectors.|4.b Check background on inspectors]] [[Tell Daniel to handle it.|3a. You Handle it Daniel]] [[Ask Daniel for more information.|5. The explosion]]

Sareh checked online for flights to Phnom Penh. They weren’t cheap. And her travel budget for the year had technically already been used up. She had serious doubts about continuing to do business in Cambodia. The media would have questions about a Canadian company like hers sourcing garments in a poor country like Cambodia, where workers were paid comparatively low wages to make fashionable clothes for affluent North Americans. The images would be all over social media. Maybe it would it be easier for Simply Bergaya to do business elsewhere, rather than have to answer questions like this. This was not turning into the relaxing weekend she had planned. [[Book a flight.|6. Book a flight]] [[Wait and see how things develop.|7. Wait and see]]

Sareh called her boss, Mario. It rang four times, and then went to voicemail. “Hi, you’ve reached Mario D’souza. I’m out of the country right now, and will return to the office Monday morning. Leave me a message and I’ll get back to you when I return.” Sareh had forgotten about Mario’s trip to Spain. He never looked at his phone when he was overseas. She couldn’t rely on him for advice now. [[Start checking flights.|5c. Decide on flights]] [[Wait and see. |7. Wait and see]]

During the ride, the brothers let Sareh know what has happened, how they have cooperated with the officials, and how the collapse has affected the community, and their reputation. They show Sareh the same inspector reports that she saw in here office, with Daniel's e-mails printed out giving them positive reviews each quarter, after they passed their inspections. Sareh made clear to the Kosal brothers that Simply Bergaya was unhappy. The company was upset not just because of the obvious loss of life, but because the whole situation would be a smear on their otherwise good reputation. She pointed out to them that Simply Bergaya’s current contract with them was due to end and up for renegotiation in six months. “I don’t need to point out to you that we have other options. There are other factories. For that matter, there are other countries that would be glad to have those contracts.” [[Arrive at the hotel|9. Son Chin]]

When Sareh landed at Phnom Penh Airport she looked on her phone for an Uber. Before she could complete the car booking, she was met by the Kosal brothers, owners of the three Kosal factories. Sareh turned to the brothers and greeted them by name, “Arun, Bora! What is going on here?" The brothers frantically explained that the explosion wasn't their fault. The fireworks factory next door was widely known to have a terrible track record in terms of safety. The owners of the fireworks factory were rumoured to have paid bribes, the brothers explained, to get the failed results changed. [[Accuse the brothers of bribery.|Bribery accusation]] [[Ask the brothers what they have done to handle the problem so far.|Ask Kosal brothers for info]] [[Ignore them and get an Uber.|Uber]]

Sareh decided to wait. She would wait, keep an eye on the her news feeds, and make a decision Monday morning about whether she would actually need to go to Phnom Penh herself. The weekend was great. Really relaxing. It was so good getting to connect with her spouse and their daughter. She had been spending too much time at the office in recent weeks. The weekend passed quickly, and Sareh had almost forgotten about the trouble in Cambodia. She had taken the rare step of turning off her phone, enjoying a "fully offline" weekend, confident in the knowledge that Daniel would have the Cambodian situation under control. Monday morning, she arrived at the office, to find her boss, Mario D’sousa, sitting at Sareh’s own desk. “Oh, good, you’re here. Glad to see you’re back in the game. I know I can always count on you,” Mario said sarcastically. “I literally just landed, back in town after an overnight flight back from Madrid. I just found out about the explosion. I can’t believe you just disappeared over the weekend when there’s a crisis going on – a crisis that could kill our company. Do you have any idea what the press are going to do to us if we don’t handle this right? You’ve shown incredibly bad judgment.” [[Apologize and start looking at flights.|Apologize]] [[Explain that Daniel should have been able to handle it.|3a1. Push back.]]

Sareh scrolled through the list of online flights. Flights to Cambodia were not cheap, but she was pretty sure that – given the circumstances – Mario would have no trouble signing off on the cost. She booked the flight, and called home to tell her family that she would be flying to Cambodia immediately. It was crucial for her to find out exactly what had happened. [[Next.|8. Kosal Brothers]]

Sareh was fuming when she left in the Uber, leaving the Kosal brothers behind. She was lost in thought during the 25-minute ride from the airport to her hotel. She replayed the scene at the airport and wished she had said “I’m afraid this incident is the last straw. I don’t care whose fault you say it is. Simply Bergaya will no longer be doing business with any of your factories.” She was glad she didn’t; they weren’t out of this mess yet. Maybe this country – doing business here – was more trouble than it was worth. Sure, the labour was cheap, and the Kosal brothers’ workers did good work. But maybe it would make sense to find other options. [[Check in at the Hotel.|9. Son Chin]]

Sareh had settled into her hotel. Soon after arriving, the front desk called and said she had a visitor. It was Son Chin, a local labour activist. Chin was clearly angry about the explosion, and about the deaths. But Chin also had a surprising message for Sareh. "Things have got to get better for workers here! You are a good company. I know you care about workers' safety," said Chin. "Just make me one promise. Promise me you won't pull your business from Cambodia. Our workers need the work very badly, and the factories you have contracts with are better employers than most. Please don't take their jobs away." Sareh looked at Chin and thought about what to say next. [[ASK Son Chin...|9a Ask Son Chin]] [[SAY to Son Chin|9c Say to Son Chin]] [[Ask YOURSELF|9b Ask yourself]]

Given everything you’ve thought and done, what do you ask Son Chin now? Take a minute to think, and then [[end this game |end]] or [[go back to the beginning |1. A quiet afternoon at the office]].

Given everything you’ve thought and done, what do you ask yourself now? What do you need to know? Who do you need to talk to? Take a minute to think, and then [[end this game |end]] or [[go back to the beginning |1. A quiet afternoon at the office]].

Given everything you’ve thought and done, what do you say to Son Chin? How do you expect Son Chin will react? Take a minute to think, and then [[end this game |end]] or [[go back to the beginning |1. A quiet afternoon at the office]].

"I'm sorry," says Sareh. "But I really thought Daniel could handle this." Mario is not impressed. "This is not a 'Daniel'-level issue. This is a major crisis, worthy of senior management attention. This is certainly worthy of your precious attention, Sareh!" [[Continue to push back.|3a1. Push back.]] [[Tell Mario you'll be on the next flight to Phnom Penh.|6. Book a flight]]

Sareh looked the Kosal brothers, one after the other, straight in the eye. Finally, she looked straight at Bora, the eldest brother. “Look guys, I know how business works here. I know how common bribery is. I want you to level with me: do you know that the inspectors take bribes because you’ve given them bribes too?” [[Kosal brothers are offended.|Kosal brothers offended]] [[Kosal brothers offer you a ride to your hotel and will explain in the car.|Kosal brothers offended]]

"I can't believe you're asking this," said Arun, the younger Kosal brother. We've worked with you for years, always in good faith." [[Apologize and ask for the brothers' perspective. |Ask Kosal brothers for info]] [[Stay angry, and head to your Uber. |Uber]]

"I don't need to hear excuses," says Sareh. I need facts. I'm going to find them myself." With that, Sareh heads off to meet her Uber driver. [[<img src="https://www.dropbox.com/s/zjh0dsbx0pmvtfj/Uber.jpg?dl=0" width="500" height="300" alt="Uber to the hotel">|8b. Uber alone]]

The scenario you've just experienced is based on real events. Sareh and "Simply Bergaya" are fictional, but the factory explosion in Phnom Pehn and the choices faced following it are loosely based on real events, especially the collapse of the Rana factory in Bangladesh in 2013. Cases like this one raise issues at several levels. What are the responsibilities of Canadian companies for safety -- or working conditions more generally -- at contractor factories in foreign countries? Should Canadian consumers hold Canadian companies responsible always, or only when those companies know about worrisome conditions? At a more personal level, should managers feel a responsibility to the workers employed by the companies they do business with, whether in Canada or abroad? [[Go back to the beginning to play again |1. A quiet afternoon at the office]] or feel free to close your browser.