A critical scenario analysis of end-of-life ship disposal: The “bottom of the pyramid” as opportunity and graveyard
Critical Perspectives on International Business
ISSN: 1742-2043
Article publication date: 1 July 2014
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to critically engage with the premise of development at the “bottom of the pyramid” through consideration of the current and potential future status of the workers who dismantle end-of-life ships in the breaking yards of “less developed countries”, here with specific reference to the dynamic situation in Bangladesh.
Design/methodology/approach
The study applies “critical scenario method” (CSM) to explore different possible and plausible futures for the ship-breaking industry globally and locally.
Findings
The paper argues that the status of the workers in the ship-breaking industry of Bangladesh can be conceptualised as firmly set at the “bottom of the pyramid”, and that, for most if not all, this situation cannot be changed within any industry future without wider, radical change to socioeconomic and political structures both in the country and globally.
Originality/value
This paper offers a contribution to the discourse on consumption at the “bottom of the pyramid” as a development process.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author is grateful to Shams Rahman for information that first pointed me to Maersk’s environmental initiatives, to Don Feaver and Ben Sheehy for stimulating his thinking on global, national and industry regulatory frameworks and to members of Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) Bangladesh for information on the “realities” of the industry in that country. Also, the author acknowledges the reviewers for the ANZIBA Conference held in Melbourne in 2011, at which a developmental version of this paper was presented. Finally, the author would thank the anonymous reviewers from CPoIB for their critically constructive guidance.
Citation
Cairns, G. (2014), "A critical scenario analysis of end-of-life ship disposal: The “bottom of the pyramid” as opportunity and graveyard", Critical Perspectives on International Business, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 172-189. https://doi.org/10.1108/cpoib-10-2012-0049
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited