The Central Issue:
This case makes us think how to prevent the mismanagements of subsidiaries in abroad. And it also brings attention to specific issues including government relationships with multinational corporations and environmental abuse.
Recommended course of Action:
Safety issues were virtually ignored at the Bhopal plant. To prevent tragedy like this, Union Carbide needs to take significant precautions in Bhopal. Union Carbide should check and maintain all equipments regularly in their Bhopal plant, to make sure all equipments are safety. And they also need to make sure all the staffs know how to use equipment safety.
Basis of Recommendation:
Safety production is crucial for all corporations. It is one of the most basic points for corporations to ensure the success of their operations. Based on the book and my own opinion, Safety equipment and well-trained staff are two important foundations of safety production. In this case, human error and inadequate safety equipment are the two main contributing factors of the disaster. In order to prevent a tragedy like this, it is Union Carbide’s responsibility to check and maintain all equipments regularly, and Union Carbide also need to make sure all staff in their plant are well-trained.
Reasonable Alternatives:
1. In this case, Union Carbide India Ltd. chose to store and produce MIC, in an area where nearly 120,000 people lived. To prevent this disaster, UCIL could locate their plant far away from the shantytowns that most of people live in. this is a good way to lower the number of death after the disaster happened, but it is not a good way to prevent the tragedy. No matter where UCIL locate their plant, if they do not produce MIC safety, the industrial accidents will still happen soon or later.
2. Union Carbide’s organizational structure proves the lack of communication between domestic company and the foreign plant. To prevent this disaster, Union