Editorial: The Caring Organisation

Abstract

The following true story starts on a bright West-African morning in front of the gate of a factory belonging to a large international brewer. That morning the guard was alarmed by the sound of a crying baby, lying in front of the gate. Nobody had any idea where this child came from so the child was taken inside and brought to the manager’s office. The manager was somewhat puzzled by the whole situation. There were no clear procedures, no precedents and so he decided to call the head of compliance at the international headquarters to ask for directions. Of course this problem was just as perplexing to the compliance officer as it was to the local employees. She instructed the manager to talk to his employees and try to find out what was going on. Soon it became clear that this child was the result of an extramarital affair of one of the employees with a girl from the village. Abandoned by the lover the girl decided to leave the child behind at the factory gate as she considered the man responsible for taking care of the child. The man however refused to assume his responsibility. What was the manager to do? Take the child back to the village and leave it there? Pressure the employee to take up his responsibility? Bring it to an orphanage home? Or simply neglect its existence?