Footwear Industry and Bangladesh

2.0        PROBLEM STATEMENT

The situation between the international footwear industry and Bangladesh, especially Muslims, shows that people of different religions and education levels may encounter conflict and collapse if they do not consider diversity. Therefore, in order to conduct a better cross-cultural management, we need to study the problems in this situation. In this article, we have three issues to discuss. The design of the insole has caused controversy and student demonstrations can have serious consequences. The allegations against Carlson will have an adverse effect on the company. The main problem which faced by the Footwear International is Muslim community in Bangladesh boycott the product of the company which may lead to further momentous negative consequences towards the company.

First, the design of the insole caused protests by the Moslem. The sandals made of footwear use the word God as part of the insole design, which is an insult to all Moslem. Moslem believes that it is a great disrespect to their religion to step on the word "Allah". However, after investigation, the supervisor reported that the design was based on a group of Chinese temple bells purchased by the designer in the local market. Carlson is not a Bangladesh and he is considered as a minority of foreigners that works in Bangladesh. Due to different religious beliefs, Carlson did not pay special attention to the status of “Allah” in the hearts of Islamic believers, and this caused dissatisfaction from the Moslem.

As the situation worsened, student demonstrations also appeared. Especially in countries like Bangladesh, the threat of student demonstrations may have a long-term impact on densely populated countries with low levels of education. For the same reason, there may be the occurrence of self-immolation incidents, riots and crazy demonstrations. This may also spread to other Moslem countries and trigger uprisings in Footwear's other subsidiaries. We also believe that the situation is very serious because religion and culture are very sensitive topics for all civilizations. Such collective demonstrations will cause social panic and are not conducive to social stability.

This incident will cause serious adverse effects on the company and trigger a chain of reaction. The criminal charges against General Manager John Carlson and three other footwear managers may lead to large-scale disagreements in the field of human resources and even leads to panic resignations. This incident may also lead to a series of suspicions about products, companies and their joint ventures, which may lead to the withdrawal of funds. After the incident, Footwear International not only lost some of the talented employees but also affected the company's reputation and sales performance. In addition, Footwear International is one of the few multinational companies in Bangladesh. If there are major changes in the situation, it will also affect the employment of Bangladeshis and it will have an adverse effect towards the manufacturing and economic stability of Bangladesh.

3.0        ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES

3.1        Step forward and clarify the situation to the society through local media

        In order to circumvent the chaotic situation which faced by the International Footwear and Bangladesh regarding the sandals issue, John Carlson as the managing director of footwear Bangladesh should utilize the extensive and beneficial media to help the company to clarify and apologize for the misunderstanding and facts behind the design of the sandals. Formal and veracious information should be given to the media by avoiding them to spread imprecise and faulty information to the community which will exacerbate the current situation. Besides avoiding the media from presenting the misconducting details, John Carlson can also improve the company’s image with the help of the media. By utilizing the media in a positive way, John Carlson can request the media, especially the local media to help the company to promote and clarify the company’s motives through advertisement and stories. Other than that, John Carlson should also held a press conference which gather the media from all over the world in order to make clear apologies to the public especially for the parties that have been feeling insulted. The usage of media in clarifying and presenting the accurate information should be widely used by John Carlson in order to help the company to overcome the problem because media is one of the substantial platforms which indirectly influences the community.

3.2        Eradication of the entire product line

        John Carlson should immediately stop the production and sales of the particular sandals, which hit the nerves of the Moslem in Bangladesh until further notices are given. John Carlson should also come out with a new design of sandals to replace the previous design in order to debilitate the rigid and tense situation. Strict and immediate action should be taken by John Carlson and his subordinates to ensure the whole production and sales of the previous sandals were totally cut off to avoid further misunderstanding and unnecessary problem. After the eradication of the entire product line, John Carlson needs to undergo a market research and investigation in order to discover the community’s respond and reaction after they decided to eradicate the product from the market. The outcome of the community’s responses is very crucial to the company’s future as they will decide the stay or leave of the Footwear International company.

...