Inclusion, Ethics, Well-being and Sustainable IHRM

Introduction

International human resource management (IHRM) is increasingly judged not only by whether organizations recruit, deploy and retain capable employees, but also by how responsibly they exercise power across borders. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) operate across different legal systems, cultures, labour markets and institutional environments. These differences create opportunities for learning and innovation, but they can also produce unequal treatment, unsafe work, exploitation, privacy violations and ethical inconsistency.

Inclusion, ethics, employee well-being and sustainability are therefore strategic IHRM concerns. They affect employer reputation, workforce commitment, productivity, risk exposure, investor confidence, market access and organizational legitimacy. A company may comply with the minimum legal requirements in its home country while violating local law or international labour principles elsewhere. Conversely, local practices may be legal but ethically unacceptable, such as excessive working hours, discriminatory recruitment or retaliation against workers who raise concerns.

Responsible IHRM requires more than a written policy. It involves governance systems, leadership behaviour, employee voice, transparent decision-making, supply-chain oversight and reliable evidence about outcomes. This chapter explains the major concepts and shows how HR professionals can apply them to international workforce decisions.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, students should be able to:

1. Explain diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and discrimination in international employment.
2. Apply ethical reasoning to cross-border HR decisions.
3. Evaluate psychological safety and occupational health risks.
4. Relate human rights principles to employment and responsible supply chains.
5. Use governance and ESG perspectives in IHRM decision-making.
6. Recommend practical, evidence-based interventions for inclusive and sustainable workforces.
7. Critically assess the limitations of policies, metrics, audits and technological tools.

1. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the International Context

Diversity

Diversity refers to differences among people in a workforce. These may include nationality, ethnicity, race, language, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, disability, social class, education, family status, migration status and professional background. Diversity may be visible or non-visible, inherent or acquired, and legally protected or not explicitly protected in a particular jurisdiction.

International organizations face additional forms of diversity. Employees may differ in immigration status, cultural expectations, language proficiency, national identity, assignment status and familiarity with the organization’s home-country practices. A host-country employee, expatriate, third-country national and migrant worker may experience the same employer very differently.

Diversity is not automatically beneficial. A diverse workforce can improve problem-solving and market insight when employees are able to participate meaningfully. Without inclusion, however, diversity can generate conflict, exclusionary informal networks and unequal access to assignments or promotion.

Equity and equality

Equality means applying the same rule or resource to everyone. Equity recognizes that people may begin from different positions and may require different support to achieve fair opportunity. For example, providing identical training materials to all employees may be formally equal, but translated materials or accessibility adjustments may be necessary for equitable participation.

Equity does not mean lowering legitimate performance standards. It means examining whether standards, processes and organizational structures create unjustified barriers. A selection test should measure job-relevant capability, not simply familiarity with the dominant culture’s language or social conventions.

Inclusion and belonging

Inclusion is the extent to which people are respected, able to contribute, involved in decisions affecting them and given fair access to opportunities. Belonging is the subjective experience of being accepted as a legitimate member of the organization. An organization can be diverse but not inclusive; it can also be inclusive in daily relationships while maintaining inequitable promotion systems.

An inclusive IHRM system normally includes:

• accessible recruitment and selection;
• consistent, job-related criteria;
• reasonable accommodation;
• fair pay and career access;
• multicultural leadership capability;
• employee voice and representation;
• protection from harassment and retaliation; and
• monitoring of outcomes by relevant demographic categories, subject to privacy law.

2. Discrimination and Organizational Justice

Discrimination occurs when a person or group is treated less favourably, or placed at an unjustified disadvantage, because of a protected or socially salient characteristic. Direct discrimination is explicit unequal treatment. Indirect discrimination occurs when a seemingly neutral rule disproportionately disadvantages a group and cannot be justified as necessary and proportionate. Harassment, victimization and retaliation are also forms of harmful unequal treatment.

International HR professionals should distinguish individual prejudice from systemic discrimination. Individual prejudice concerns attitudes or actions by particular people. Systemic discrimination is embedded in policies, routines, technologies, networks or institutional practices. For example, a global promotion process based on informal sponsorship may repeatedly favour employees who resemble existing senior leaders, even when no manager expresses discriminatory intent.

Organizational justice provides a useful analytical framework:

• Distributive justice: whether outcomes such as pay, promotion and assignment opportunities are fairly allocated.
• Procedural justice: whether decision processes are consistent, unbiased, accurate, correctable and participatory.
• Interactional justice: whether people are treated with dignity and respect.
• Informational justice: whether decisions are explained honestly and adequately.

Perceived fairness influences trust, commitment, cooperation and willingness to raise concerns. However, perceptions should be assessed alongside objective outcomes. A process may feel fair to the majority while producing persistent disadvantage for a minority group.

Managing diversity across cultures

Cultural differences should not be reduced to stereotypes. National culture frameworks can help managers identify possible differences in communication, authority, time orientation or conflict management, but they describe tendencies rather than individual behaviour. Effective managers use cultural knowledge as a hypothesis to test through dialogue, not as a label that determines capability or character.

Global policies should establish non-negotiable principles—such as freedom from forced labour and harassment—while allowing legitimate local adaptation in communication, holidays, consultation and implementation. The challenge is to avoid both ethnocentrism, which imposes home-country assumptions, and moral relativism, which treats any local practice as acceptable merely because it is customary.

3. Ethical Reasoning in International HRM

Ethics concerns the principles used to judge whether conduct is right, fair, responsible and respectful of human dignity. Law is an important minimum standard, but legality and ethical legitimacy are not identical. In countries with weak enforcement, legal compliance may provide inadequate protection. In other cases, home-country law may restrict conduct that local law permits.

Major ethical perspectives

Utilitarian reasoning evaluates consequences and seeks the greatest overall benefit or least harm. It can support decisions that improve the welfare of many employees, but it risks sacrificing minorities if their interests are treated as expendable.

Rights-based reasoning emphasizes fundamental rights, such as freedom from forced labour, freedom of association, privacy, equality and safety. It places limits on actions that might otherwise be justified by aggregate benefits.

Justice-based reasoning asks whether benefits, burdens and procedures are fairly distributed. It is especially relevant to pay equity, layoffs, international assignments and access to development.

Duty-based reasoning focuses on obligations and principles. An employer has duties not to deceive, coerce or discriminate, even when doing so might produce short-term advantages.

Virtue ethics asks what a responsible organization and a good professional would do. It emphasizes integrity, courage, compassion, fairness and practical wisdom.

No single framework resolves every dilemma. A useful decision process combines them:

1. Define the decision and identify affected stakeholders.
2. Establish relevant laws, contracts, policies and international standards.
3. Identify rights that must not be violated.
4. Compare benefits, burdens and foreseeable harms.
5. Examine whether the process is fair and whether vulnerable groups bear disproportionate risks.
6. Consider alternative actions that achieve the legitimate business purpose with less harm.
7. Consult affected employees or their representatives.
8. Document the reasoning, safeguards and review mechanism.
9. Monitor actual outcomes and correct unintended effects.

Ethical decision example

Suppose an MNE plans to close a production site in a country where severance obligations are weak. A purely financial approach may recommend immediate closure. An ethical IHRM analysis would also consider contractual expectations, family and community impacts, worker voice, redeployment, retraining, payment of earned benefits and the company’s public commitments. The responsible option may still involve closure, but with consultation, notice, fair compensation and transition support.

4. Psychological Safety and Employee Voice

Psychological safety is a shared belief that people can speak up, ask questions, admit mistakes and raise concerns without humiliation or retaliation. It is not the same as comfort, agreement or the absence of accountability. A psychologically safe team can maintain high standards while allowing employees to challenge unsafe or unethical practices.

Psychological safety is particularly important in international organizations because language differences, status hierarchies, cultural norms and distance can silence employees. An employee may notice a safety defect or labour-rights violation but remain silent because the supervisor is an expatriate executive, because dissent is culturally discouraged, or because reporting systems are not trusted.

HR practices that support psychological safety include:

• leaders who invite and respond constructively to dissent;
• confidential and accessible reporting channels;
• protection against retaliation;
• multilingual communication;
• independent investigation procedures;
• feedback and listening systems;
• team norms that permit respectful disagreement; and
• visible action after concerns are raised.

A hotline alone does not create voice. If reports disappear, reporters are exposed, or senior employees are exempt from investigation, employees learn that silence is safer than participation.

5. Occupational Health, Safety and Well-being

Occupational health and safety (OHS) concerns the prevention of work-related injury and illness. Well-being is broader and includes physical, psychological, social and financial aspects of working life. International HR must consider both direct employees and workers in contractors, agencies, logistics networks and supply chains.

Key risks include machinery accidents, chemical exposure, ergonomic injury, fatigue, extreme heat, infectious disease, violence, harassment, psychosocial stress, excessive workload and insecure employment. Risks may be amplified for migrant workers who depend on employers for visas, housing or transportation.

A sound OHS system follows a prevention hierarchy:

1. Eliminate the hazard where possible.
2. Substitute a safer process or substance.
3. Apply engineering controls.
4. Establish administrative controls and safe procedures.
5. Use personal protective equipment as the final layer rather than the primary solution.

HR contributes by designing training, staffing, working-time rules, reporting processes, return-to-work arrangements and manager accountability. Safety cannot be delegated entirely to an HR department; operations, procurement, finance and senior leadership also shape exposure to risk.

Well-being and decent work

Well-being initiatives should not become substitutes for correcting harmful work design. Meditation sessions, resilience training or wellness applications cannot compensate for unsafe equipment, unpredictable schedules, excessive workload or abusive supervision. Effective well-being strategy begins with job quality: adequate staffing, reasonable working time, fair pay, autonomy, respect, development and access to support.

Mental health requires particular care. Organizations should reduce psychosocial hazards, train managers to respond appropriately, protect confidentiality and provide access to professional support. Managers should not diagnose employees or require disclosure of sensitive medical information beyond legitimate legal and operational needs.

6. Human Rights and Responsible International Employment

Human rights are inherent rights and freedoms belonging to all people. In employment, relevant principles include non-discrimination, freedom from forced and child labour, freedom of association, collective bargaining, safe and healthy working conditions, privacy, fair remuneration and humane treatment.

A human-rights approach changes the question from “What is legally required?” to “Whose rights may be affected, how serious is the impact, and what remedy is available?” It also emphasizes due diligence rather than one-time compliance.

A practical human-rights due-diligence cycle includes:

1. Commit: publish a policy approved by senior leadership.
2. Identify: map workers, locations, contractors and salient risks.
3. Assess: examine actual and potential impacts, including consultation with affected groups.
4. Integrate: assign responsibility and change purchasing, staffing or operational practices.
5. Prevent and mitigate: address risks before harm occurs and reduce ongoing harm.
6. Track: use evidence to evaluate effectiveness.
7. Communicate: report accurately, including unresolved problems.
8. Remedy: provide or cooperate with legitimate remediation when the organization causes or contributes to harm.

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the International Labour Organization’s fundamental principles and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises are influential reference points. National laws on modern slavery, forced labour, supply-chain disclosure, data protection and corporate due diligence may also apply to global operations.

7. Responsible Supply Chains

An MNE’s labour responsibility extends beyond its legal employees. Outsourcing can transfer operational control without eliminating moral responsibility. Risks may occur among suppliers, labour agencies, subcontractors, home-based workers, transport providers and raw-material producers.

A responsible supply-chain system should include:

• supplier standards aligned with recognized labour and human-rights principles;
• risk-based supplier mapping;
• prequalification and contract clauses;
• worker interviews and grievance channels independent of management;
• corrective-action plans with realistic deadlines;
• purchasing practices that do not impose impossible price or delivery demands;
• escalation for severe or unremedied violations; and
• transparent reporting of progress and limitations.

Social audits can identify evidence, but they are not proof that a supply chain is ethical. Announced audits may encourage temporary preparation, while workers may fear speaking openly. Audit quality can also be weakened by language barriers, falsified records, limited sampling and auditor conflicts of interest. Effective due diligence combines audits with worker voice, local civil-society knowledge, data analysis and continuous engagement.

8. Governance, ESG and Sustainable IHRM

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) thinking links workforce issues to broader organizational accountability. The social dimension includes labour standards, diversity, human rights, community impact and employee well-being. Governance includes board oversight, controls, ethics, accountability, risk management and transparent reporting. Environmental decisions also affect HR through climate-related relocation, heat exposure, green skills and changes in employment.

Sustainable IHRM seeks to balance organizational performance with long-term social, environmental and human consequences. It includes responsible recruitment, development of green and digital skills, decent work, sustainable mobility, fair restructuring and workforce resilience.

Governance mechanisms should clarify:

Measuring responsible IHRM

Useful indicators may include representation by organizational level, recruitment and promotion rates, pay-equity gaps, turnover, grievance volume and resolution time, safety incidents, lost-time injuries, absence, training completion, living-wage coverage and supplier corrective-action performance. Indicators must be interpreted carefully. A low number of complaints may indicate low harm—or fear of reporting. A rise in complaints may indicate worsening conditions—or improved trust in reporting channels.

Quantitative indicators should therefore be combined with qualitative evidence, employee interviews and trend analysis. Data should be disaggregated only when legally permitted and ethically justified. Small groups may be identifiable even after apparent anonymization, so privacy and data minimization are essential.

9. Technology and AI in Responsible IHRM

Technology can improve accessibility, identify safety patterns and support workforce planning. It can also reproduce discrimination, intensify surveillance and obscure accountability. AI-assisted recruitment may disadvantage applicants if training data reflect historical exclusion. Automated scheduling may allocate undesirable shifts unfairly. Sentiment analysis may misinterpret multilingual or culturally specific communication.

Responsible use requires:

• a clear, job-related purpose;
• lawful and informed data processing;
• representative and validated data;
• bias and impact testing;
• human review of consequential decisions;
• explainability appropriate to the decision;
• security and restricted access; and
• a route to challenge or appeal the outcome.

Automation should assist professional judgment, not remove responsibility from decision-makers. Vendors should be subject to due diligence, contractual controls and audit rights.

10. Illustrative Case: Meridian Apparel Group

Background

Meridian Apparel Group, an illustrative multinational clothing company, sources products through factories in four countries. Its public code prohibits forced labour, discrimination and unsafe work. The company also promises rapid delivery and low prices to major retailers.

Problem

A worker survey and media investigation suggest that one supplier uses labour brokers who charge migrant workers recruitment fees. Employees report excessive overtime, poor ventilation and reluctance to use the grievance hotline because the supplier’s HR manager monitors it. Meridian’s initial social audit found no major violation.

Analysis

The audit result does not resolve the problem. Worker-paid recruitment fees may create debt-related coercion. Excessive overtime and poor ventilation create health risks. The hotline lacks independence, and Meridian’s purchasing targets may contribute to the supplier’s pressure. The case involves human rights, OHS, psychological safety, supply-chain governance and commercial incentives.

A narrow response would terminate the supplier immediately. That might protect Meridian’s reputation but could leave workers unemployed and without repayment of fees. A responsible response should first assess the severity of immediate risks, protect workers from retaliation, and develop a remedy plan while preparing escalation if the supplier refuses cooperation.

Approach and solution

Meridian should:

1. Arrange confidential, multilingual worker interviews through an independent organization.
2. Stop further recruitment fees and require reimbursement to affected workers.
3. Verify working hours, wage records, ventilation and emergency procedures.
4. Establish an independent grievance channel accessible by phone and in person.
5. Require a time-bound corrective-action plan with worker participation.
6. Review Meridian’s own purchasing forecasts, prices and delivery deadlines.
7. Provide technical support for safety improvements where appropriate.
8. Protect complainants and investigate retaliation.
9. Report progress accurately to retailers and investors.
10. Suspend or terminate the relationship if severe harm continues without credible remediation.

Outcome

In this illustrative case, the supplier reimburses recruitment fees, improves ventilation, limits overtime and agrees to independent worker representation. Meridian changes its purchasing calendar and includes worker-rights performance in supplier evaluations. The company continues monitoring rather than treating one successful audit as permanent proof of compliance.

Learning points

The case demonstrates that responsible IHRM is systemic. Supplier misconduct, buyer pressure, weak grievance systems and audit limitations can interact. Ethical responsibility requires prevention, participation, remedy and accountability—not merely contractual language.

11. Implementation Framework for HR Professionals

A practical implementation sequence is:

Diagnose. Map workforce groups, countries, suppliers, legal duties and vulnerable populations.

Prioritize. Rank issues according to severity, likelihood, number of people affected and organizational contribution to the risk.

Design. Create global principles, locally appropriate procedures, ownership, resources and escalation rules.

Engage. Consult employees, unions, worker representatives, community organizations and relevant experts.

Implement. Train leaders, improve systems, adjust incentives and integrate standards into recruitment, mobility, performance management and procurement.

Measure. Track both outcomes and process quality using quantitative and qualitative evidence.

Remedy and learn. Correct harm, protect affected people, investigate root causes and revise practices.

Common failure modes include symbolic diversity programmes without structural change, compliance checklists without worker voice, wellness initiatives that ignore workload, inconsistent global standards, excessive reliance on audits and the use of opaque algorithms. Effective leaders connect ethical commitments to budgets, manager evaluations, purchasing decisions and board-level risk oversight.

Challenges and Limitations

Global IHRM involves genuine tensions. A single global standard may conflict with local law or custom; local adaptation may become an excuse for lower protection. Collecting demographic data may improve equity monitoring but create privacy or safety risks. Stronger labour standards may increase short-term costs, although failure to address risks can produce greater long-term costs. Supplier exit may avoid association with abuse but may also remove leverage and harm workers.

Metrics are never neutral. Representation targets can encourage attention to numbers while neglecting inclusion. Complaint statistics are difficult to interpret. ESG reporting may become selective or symbolic, especially when organizations highlight positive achievements and conceal unresolved problems. Critical evaluation, independent assurance and transparent discussion of limitations are therefore essential.

Chapter Summary

Inclusion, ethics, well-being and sustainability are strategic dimensions of international HRM. Diversity describes workforce differences, while equity concerns fair opportunity and inclusion concerns meaningful participation and respect. Discrimination may be direct, indirect or systemic, and organizational justice helps evaluate outcomes, procedures and interpersonal treatment.

Ethical IHRM requires more than legal compliance. Rights-based, justice-based, consequence-based, duty-based and virtue-based reasoning help managers identify affected stakeholders, assess harms and design responsible alternatives. Psychological safety and employee voice enable workers to report problems, but they depend on trust, independence and protection from retaliation.

Occupational health and well-being require prevention, decent work and attention to physical and psychosocial risks. Human-rights due diligence extends responsibility through supply chains and includes commitment, risk identification, prevention, tracking, communication and remedy. ESG and governance systems connect workforce decisions to board oversight, accountability and long-term sustainability.

Technology can support responsible IHRM but may reproduce bias or intensify surveillance. AI and workforce analytics therefore require validation, privacy protection, human oversight and appeal mechanisms. Ultimately, sustainable IHRM is achieved when ethical commitments are embedded in decisions, incentives, purchasing practices, leadership behaviour and organizational systems.

Key Terms

Belonging: The experience of being accepted and recognized as a legitimate member of an organization.

Bias: A systematic tendency that may distort judgment or produce unequal outcomes.

Discrimination: Unjustified unequal treatment or disadvantage based on a personal or social characteristic.

Diversity: The presence of differences among members of a workforce.

Due diligence: A continuing process of identifying, preventing, mitigating and accounting for risks and impacts.

Employee voice: Opportunities for employees to express views, concerns and suggestions and to influence decisions.

Equity: Fairness that recognizes different starting conditions and barriers.

ESG: Environmental, social and governance considerations used to evaluate organizational responsibility and performance.

Inclusion: The extent to which people can participate, contribute and access opportunities with respect and fairness.

Interactional justice: Fairness in interpersonal treatment during organizational processes.

Occupational health and safety: The prevention of work-related injury, illness and exposure to hazards.

Psychological safety: A shared belief that people can speak up and take interpersonal risks without retaliation or humiliation.

Remedy: Action to correct or compensate for harm and prevent its recurrence.

Responsible supply chain: A supply network managed to prevent and address labour, human-rights, environmental and ethical harms.

Stakeholder: A person or group affected by, or able to affect, an organization’s decisions.

Systemic discrimination: Unequal outcomes produced by organizational structures, routines or institutions.

Well-being: The physical, psychological, social and financial quality of working life.

Worker voice: Worker participation through representation, consultation, reporting and collective action.

Review Questions

Short Answer Questions

1. Distinguish diversity, equity and inclusion.
2. What is the difference between direct and indirect discrimination?
3. Define psychological safety and explain why it matters in international teams.
4. Identify four human-rights principles relevant to employment.
5. Why are social audits insufficient on their own for responsible supply-chain management?

Long Answer Questions

1. Explain how organizational justice can be applied to international recruitment, promotion and pay decisions.
2. Compare utilitarian, rights-based and justice-based approaches to an international HR dilemma.
3. Describe a human-rights due-diligence process and explain the role of worker voice.
4. Discuss how occupational health and employee well-being should be integrated into IHR strategy.
5. Evaluate the role of ESG governance in making workforce responsibility strategically credible.

Analytical / Application Questions

1. An MNE discovers that a contractor legally employs migrant workers for extremely long hours and retains their identity documents. Analyze the situation using ethical reasoning and recommend an action plan.
2. A global AI recruitment system selects substantially fewer applicants with disabilities than human recruiters. Design an investigation and remediation process.
3. A supplier has repeated safety violations, but terminating the contract would eliminate the income of thousands of workers. Assess the ethical trade-offs and propose a responsible decision.

Multiple Choice Questions with Answers

Question 1

Which statement best distinguishes equity from equality in international HRM?

A. Equity always requires identical treatment for every employee.

B. Equity recognizes different barriers and may provide proportionate support to achieve fair opportunity.

C. Equity means selecting employees only from underrepresented groups.

D. Equity applies only to compensation decisions.

Correct Answer: B. Equity recognizes different barriers and may provide proportionate support to achieve fair opportunity.

Question 2

Which example best illustrates indirect discrimination?

A. A manager openly refuses to hire women.

B. An employee is insulted because of nationality.

C. A neutral scheduling rule disproportionately disadvantages a religious group without sufficient justification.

D. A company publishes a diversity policy.

Correct Answer: C. A neutral scheduling rule disproportionately disadvantages a religious group without sufficient justification.

Question 3

Psychological safety primarily means that employees believe they can:

A. Avoid all performance accountability.

B. Speak up and raise concerns without humiliation or retaliation.

C. Make decisions without organizational rules.

D. Receive promotion regardless of performance.

Correct Answer: B. Speak up and raise concerns without humiliation or retaliation.

Question 4

Which ethical perspective emphasizes fundamental rights such as freedom from forced labour?

A. Rights-based reasoning

B. Pure utilitarian reasoning

C. Market-efficiency reasoning

D. Behavioural conditioning

Correct Answer: A. Rights-based reasoning

Question 5

What is the preferred first step in the hierarchy of controls for an occupational hazard?

A. Provide personal protective equipment only.

B. Increase disciplinary penalties.

C. Eliminate the hazard where possible.

D. Ignore the hazard if injuries have not yet occurred.

Correct Answer: C. Eliminate the hazard where possible.

Question 6

Why can a low number of employee complaints be difficult to interpret?

A. It always proves that working conditions are good.

B. It may reflect either low harm or a lack of trust in reporting systems.

C. Complaints are unrelated to organizational culture.

D. Complaint data can never be collected ethically.

Correct Answer: B. It may reflect either low harm or a lack of trust in reporting systems.

Question 7

Which activity is part of human-rights due diligence?

A. Identifying and mitigating actual and potential impacts.

B. Publishing only positive achievements.

C. Transferring all responsibility to suppliers.

D. Conducting a one-time audit and ending review.

Correct Answer: A. Identifying and mitigating actual and potential impacts.

Question 8

Why are social audits alone an insufficient guarantee of responsible supply chains?

A. Audits cannot examine working conditions.

B. Audits may miss hidden abuses because of falsified records, fear or limited sampling.

C. Audits are always illegal.

D. Audits measure only environmental performance.

Correct Answer: B. Audits may miss hidden abuses because of falsified records, fear or limited sampling.

Question 9

Which practice is most appropriate when using AI in consequential HR decisions?

A. Remove all human review to improve efficiency.

B. Use historical data without testing because it reflects real decisions.

C. Provide validation, bias testing, human oversight and a route to appeal.

D. Keep the system’s purpose secret from employees and applicants.

Correct Answer: C. Provide validation, bias testing, human oversight and a route to appeal.

Question 10

A responsible supply-chain response to recruitment-fee exploitation should normally begin by:

A. Ignoring the issue if the supplier passed an audit.

B. Assessing immediate risks, protecting workers and pursuing repayment and remedy.

C. Immediately dismissing all affected workers.

D. Increasing production targets to offset reputational risk.

Correct Answer: B. Assessing immediate risks, protecting workers and pursuing repayment and remedy.