Anglo American PLC in South Africa

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Table of Contents

Introduction/ Situation Analysis
Stakeholders to consider
Pros and cons of adopting an effective HIV/AIDS strategy
Recommendations to the company
Evaluation of the recommended courses of action
Migrant workers
Pharmaceutical companies
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction/ Situation Analysis

Although company executives will always want their companies to expand and operate globally, the challenges of operating a business in the global economy are enormous. Anglo American PLC is one of the largest gold miners in the world, but the company is facing a threat in its operations in South Africa.

Although South African is a large gold producer, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has adversely affected the operations of Anglo American PLC. Essentially, South Africa has the highest number of people infected with the HIV in the world (Walker, Reid, and Cornell 17). About 60% of the South Africans are HIV-positive, and the rates of infection are extremely high.

The most insinuating fact is that about 1000 South Africans die of HIV/AIDS on a daily basis (Daniles, Radebaught, and Sulivan 252). The deaths have significant effects on the country’s economy as the per capita growth is decreasing drastically. International companies operating in the country are suffering because of AIDS-related deaths among workers.

At some point, Anglo American PLC was accused of defying the social responsibility tradition when operating overseas. Although various stakeholders had mixed reactions about addressing the epidemic, the company resolved to provide free antiretroviral therapy (ART) to its HIV-infected employees.

In spite of the difficulties that the company encountered in its struggle to deal with the epidemic, its objective was to adopt an effective HIV/AIDS strategy.

Stakeholders to consider

Whenever the managers of a company decide to do something, it is always wise to consult the main stakeholders of the company. The directors, employees, the government, suppliers, the community, and the customers are some of the stakeholders of the company. However, the shareholders of the company are the main stakeholders to consult about any project that the company intends to implement.

The shareholders are the owners of the company, and if they pull back, the company’s operations may become crippled because of the lack of funds. Therefore, as Anglo American adopts an effective HIV/AIDS strategy, it should consider its shareholders.

Secondly, the company should consult the South African government and humanitarian organizations across the globe. The directors and employees can also be of great help in trying to convince fellow workers to agree to have part of their salaries channeled towards supporting the ART program.

Pros and cons of adopting an effective HIV/AIDS strategy

Since Anglo America has a huge investment in South Africa, the adoption of an aggressive strategy in combating HIV/AIDS among its South African workforce would be highly advantageous. Although the company operates in various nations across the globe, it dominates the South African economy, which is a core strength that would drive it into adopting an aggressive strategy of combating HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

The number of employees and contractors that the company has in South Africa are infinite, and it cannot afford to pull back in its efforts to find a strategy of combating the epidemic. The adoption of an aggressive strategy to combat HIV/AIDS is the only way that the company can protect its majority-share ownership in various companies around the country.

The entire exercise will be a major opportunity for the company to gain trust from the employees, investors, customers, and some stakeholders of the company. Moreover, since the company was among the first multinational enterprises to develop comprehensive strategies to combat the damages of the disease, trying to stop its efforts would portray an immoral sense of responsibility (Daniles, Radebaught, and Sulivan 255).

On the other hand, it is noteworthy that the company would really encounter tough moments in trying to address the situation. The cost of providing free antiretroviral drugs increases daily, and the greatest threat is the significant rise of the prevalence of HIV-positive workers from one time to another.

The vice president of the medical division reported that the number of HIV-positive workers increased at a rate of 2% annually (Daniles, Radebaught, and Sulivan 253). Therefore, the company has to increase its expenditure on the costly antiretroviral drugs by at least 2% per annum.

The production costs of the company would increase concurrently, and the company may have problems in sustaining its costs after some years. The overstretched budgets, the overwhelmed stakeholders, and the uncooperative pharmaceutical companies are the main threats to the ART program.

Moreover, decreasing proceeds, insufficient funds, and dissatisfied stakeholders are some of the difficulties that Anglo American PLC will encounter because of the ART program. The worst scenario is that at the end of the day, the HIV/AIDS victims will be absent from work occasionally.

Moreover, some of the patients will not respond to the antiretroviral drugs, and the company will have to retrain other workers and replace them in their job positions. The hospitalization payments and death benefits are overwhelming to the company. The mentioned costs that the company will have to meet translate into millions of losses, and thus are weaknesses associated with the ART program.

Recommendations to the company

The first thing that Anglo American ought to know is that struggling to combat HIV/AIDS in South Africa single-handedly is overwhelming. Anglo American PLC was bold enough to announce that it would provide ART to its South African workforce at the company’s expense. However, the situation is now getting out of hand, and it is time the company admitted their defeat.

The executives of the organization ought to approach the World Health Organization (WHO), the Global Business Council on HIV/AIDS, the South African government, and other humanitarian organizations and inform them of their grievances. They should seek financial assistance from the mentioned organizations and other well-wishers who may be willing to assist.

The main approach that the company will use to ensure that all infected employees are committed to the program is subjecting them to be responsible for managing and financing the ART program partially. The beneficiaries of the program should allow a small percentage of their salaries to be channeled towards financing the program.

The HIV infected employees should be their brothers’ keepers, where, the employees should ensure that every infected person takes the antiretroviral drugs responsibly. Any person who transmits the HIV to another person willingly should face harsh criminal charges, and there ought to be a penalty for the infected people, who do not adhere to the prescriptions of the doctors.

There should be guiding and counseling sessions for those people, who drop out from the treatment routines, as this could reduce the hopelessness that some people develop once they discover their HIV status.

Evaluation of the recommended courses of action

Admitting defeat and asking for help from the government and other organizations would be the last thing that Anglo American PLC would desire. This is because it had bravely announced that it would provide ART to its workforce at the expense of the company. However, when matters are unbearable, the only way out is to ask for help instead of struggling to please some stakeholders at the expense of the company.

Subjecting employees to be responsible in managing and partially financing the ART program would sound to be cruel at first. The beneficiaries of the program would feel overwhelmed, and they would distrust the company that they had trusted all along.

However, the negative insights would diminish with time, and the HIV infected people would start being responsible for their actions. They would be their brothers’ keepers and it would be easier to control the entire situation, given the harsh criminal charges on irresponsible people.

Migrant workers

Migrant workers are very essential because they bring innovative ways of running the operations of the company. However, the migrants are likely to acquire and spread HIV/AIDS while in South Africa. Imposing a law to ban migrant workers will be very unfair in the contemporary world. Instead, Anglo American should embark on educating and bringing awareness to the migrants.

They should find ways to encourage the migrants to participate in the awareness and prevention programs. The migrants ought to be cautioned about the possibility of acquiring the deadly virus if they engage in immoral behaviors.

Prevention initiatives like the distribution and insisting on the use of condoms would play a significant role in containing the migrants. Skill related training, Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT), care, and wellness programs would help greatly in incorporating the migrants into the South African work environment.

Pharmaceutical companies

The pharmaceutical companies have a huge role to play when it comes to the issue of addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa. GlaxoSmithKline’s approach of allowing Anglo American to purchase the antiretroviral drugs at a tenth of the market price is recommendable. Other drug makers should also employ GlaxoSmithKline’s approach of cutting prices for any non-profit making organizations.

The South African HIV/AIDS epidemic is known globally and the help of the pharmaceutical companies towards saving the HIV-infected people in the country would be a great show of social responsibility. The companies ought to know that the entire world is depending on them, and if they fail to meet people’s expectations, the infected people would die mercilessly.

Conclusion

From the discussions, it is evident that multinational enterprises with businesses in South Africa are really facing tough moments. Apart from struggling to make profits, they have to address the unending needs of the ailing society. However, investors should not shy away from investing in South Africa, as it is one of the thriving nations in Africa. They should join hands in addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa.

The efforts employed by Anglo American PLC are commendable; however, it is a high time that the government recognized its efforts. Indeed, it would not be worthwhile for the company to keep on struggling to please some stakeholders while risking its existence in South Africa. The South African government should increase its budget allocations towards addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic and stop blaming Anglo America.

Moreover, the South Africans should learn to behave responsively, accept to engage in voluntary counseling and testing, and adhere to medication willingly.

Humanitarian organizations, NGOs, companies, the World Health Organization, the Global Business Council on HIV/AIDS, and all well-wishers around the world should rise up to find effective strategies to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic that is adversely affecting the South African economy.

Works Cited

Daniles, John, Lee Radebaught, and Daniel Sulivan. International Business: Global Edition, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Higher Education, 2011. Print.

Walker, Liz, Graeme Reid, and Morna Cornell. Waiting to Happen: HIV/AIDS in South Africa: The Bigger Picture, Claremont, South Africa: Juta and Company Ltd, 2004. Print.

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