De Beers Case Essay

De Beers Case tuition This expression study of De Beers outlines the companys evolution from its formation in the mid-1800s to course 2000. In these 200 years embroil of time, De Beers was the leader in the archeological site of diamonds and their lead contri thated to what the industry is today. As the leader in the industry, De Beers had large stakes in mining fields in South Africa. Their command in the country also meant be socially responsible. At the onset, this was difficult to confirm because social responsibility for businesses hasnt been authentically discovered yet, especially in countries such(prenominal) as Africa.During the great depression of the 1930s, racial tension rose. The depression fueled Afrikaans nationalism and the drive for white supremacy and racial separation (page 12 of case study). By the 1940s, De Beers CEO Ernie Oppenheimer, wanted to encourage social progress for black Africans. Their intensiveness in mining diamond regrettably wasnt able to curtail the season of apartheid or racial discrimination. This however, did not drive away De Beers to do the socially responsible thing, which was to jibe the apartheid, but also had to do it in a way to not incite its business.The company is successful and essentially has a monopoly in the diamond market. Their success and monopoly didnt come with heavy criticism from profound entities and local anaesthetic communities. Such criticisms like electric razor and cheap labor. Some of these negative publicities were hazy by some of their contribution to local cities, building schools and living conditions for black Africans. De Beers sway of the diamond market comes with pressures and challenges from government entities. For instance, De Beers for the weeklong time could not operate in the U.S. because of indictments issued by the U. S. Justice Department for antitrust cases and for refusing to provide industrial diamonds during instauration fight II. De Beers appears to be heading to the right direction, alter their governance practices, which was one of their weakest areas. Their review of their corporate schema in 1998 resulted in a novel strategy for the company for the new century. These are business strategies that are penetrate and also business practices that are ethical and responsible.Post Enron and Arthur Anderson, came Sarbanes-Oxley for U. S. companies and De Beers new business strategy and practices seems to be line up with these rules. Similarly, De Beers seems to be addressing kidskin labor issues, similar to what Gap, Inc. had to address (ABC World News, 10-27-08). This active approach is also aligned with their new strategies, which is to be more cranky and to adhere to strict social requirements and responsibilities, but to be sensitive to the overall uphold of operations on the local community.