Reflection – The Hershey’s and Shell Cases

The Hershey’s and Shell cases bring to light the responsibility of corporations for the effects of their operations. It is important to note that in the Hershey’s case, the company was entirely unaware of the problems which the general public pointed out in the first place. As far as the company was concerned, they purchased their cocoa through valid and legal means. What they failed to account for was the fact that the manner by which the cocoa was being harvested was anything but valid and legal back at home.

On the other hand, Shell knew all along that it was propagating a world of conflict and suffering around its Nigerian refineries. The general public was well aware of this. Unfortunately, it was just the general public of Nigeria. The world’s thirst of crude oil has effectively granted Shell a veritable cloak of immunity. After all, wars have been waged for black gold. Suffering and death for the sake of crude oil is anything but new to the rest of the world.

If anything, these cases allowed me glimpse at the real nature of the power that big businesses hold. Shell is blatantly violating entire bodies of law as is where is and is still let off scot free by essentially the whole world.

The idea is mind boggling for me as my experience as a law student has taught me that even the richest, most powerful individuals can be made to bow before the will of justice through law. And indeed this has happened time and again. Nations have been liberated as mass murderers and genocidal dictators have been subdued by international law. And yet here the world allows a mere multinational company to have death and suffering as part of its daily operations list.

If the courts cannot bring justice to the people of Nigeria or other people oppressed by commercial companies, who will? From the onset, there appear to be innumerable issues on hand. International, local, and even trade nuances for that matter.

In my opinion, the problem really started with the decision makers of Shell. At one point in time, they had the call on what to do given the socio-political plight of Nigeria. They could have as easily done something else rather than simply play along. Logically, they followed the path of least resistance. They get their profits for the least effort exerted. They did not dodge the bullet. They just pushed someone else in to get shot. This was sadly and literally the case.

Hershey’s could have easily done the same thing and turned a blind eye to the cacao farmers and a deaf ear to the protesters. What they did was actually surprising for such a large company. Hershey’s could have used its army of lawyers to do legal acrobatics for it or simply abandon these cacao suppliers. They did neither. They actually listened and decided to help out.

Whether or not the decision makers of Hershey’s did what they did because the world hungers not for chocolate as much as crude oil, we will never know. What we do know is that they took a look at the problem and did what they did best – make business decisions. So they did the math, worked the logistics, and essentially, did the right thing.