Made in China, Storyville, BBC 4. (2004, 80 minutes).

Storyville: Made in China

Made in China, a documentary film by Thomas Balmes, follows Nokia's new ethical management consultant, Hanna Kashiken, on the corporations first ethical assessment of their supply chain in China. As Balmes has noted in publicity interviews for the film Nokia is both a secretive and conservative organisation: 'every single person who works at Nokia has a contract with a non-disclosure clause that doesn't allow them to talk about their day-to-day work, even within their own family'.

The programme begins with a management seminar at Nokia's Finnish HQ, where the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility is stressed to participants. The starting point for the film is the revelation that Nokia cannot afford to be dropped from the ethical investment indices it is presently quoted on. This premise leads another manager to ask 'Do we want to create the illusion we are clean, and send PR type communications that we are clean. What is our strategy?'

For Balmes, the dilemma facing Nokia is the challenge of corporate led globalisation to social democracy: 'Finland is the most advanced country in the world in terms of social welfare and equality. Nevertheless, when the biggest company in the country needs to be global then they have to play the game the American way. That's the main point of the film - how can you resist? Especially when you are being traded every day in New York, 90% of the ownership is based in the United States, and they keep you on the leash and don't allow you big margins on how you should behave'.

Nokia, like many leading transnational corporations, also hire consultants with ethical expertise. In this case Louise Jamieson, a CSR specialist is brought in to help with the ethical assessment. Her initial exchange with Kashiken, when they talk about the need for business cards made from recycled paper, suggests that this dynamic duo might not quite push back the boundaries of conscientious capitalism. Jamieson's remark that 'a lot of people like to kid themselves [about their supply chain ethics]' gets closer to the heart of the problem, which we soon see in some detail as the action shifts to China.

Nokia's Subcontracted Chinese Workers assembling mobile phones

We are told that many companies in China keep two sets of books, one for public inspection by regulators, and the other which is the real record of the activities of the business. This is confirmed later as the books are contradicted by the testimony of women working in the factory. Nokia's ethical assessment is presented as a benchmarking exercise, and the benchmark to be used is local law. The protection offered to the workforce (97% female) by the law is very basic.

One of the most striking aspects of this documentary is the fate of the female workers. The shot of the factory security guard saluting the management team and quickly dropping his hand as some women workers pass by hints at their subordinate status. One of the plant managers' remarks of the women on the assembly line: 'we can't replace them with machinery. They are very low maintenance and very reliable'. It is later revealed that 99% of the workforce live on site, in company accommodation. Male and female employees are kept apart, living in cramped quarters (often eight persons per room) which costs them roughly a quarter of their pay.

The exploitation of workers is well captured as the film picks up the disparities between management and employee versions of work conditions. Management claim to pay the minimum wage of 536 RMB for a 26 day month (equivalent to £36stg). Workers insist that overtime is compulsory, that they experience trying conditions, poor food and occasional violence. For all this they take 'home' only 200 RMB per month. Some get what is euphemistically termed a 'position bonus'. This is basically danger money for working with hazardous chemicals and materials that go into making mobile phones for western consumers. For example PVC pellets are needed to give phone recharger cables their 'sexy feel for marketing'. A manager freely admits this adds nothing to the functionality of the cable, while greatly increasing the health risks to Chinese workers.

Management at the site have created a 'workers welfare committee' which deals with the concerns of the employees. One Chinese manager explains; 'I help them organise everything. In fact I am taking care of their lives, the canteen, housing'. Such is his concern that he asks the Nokia inspection team if he can sit in on their interviews with employees: 'I'd like to listen. I am a middle manager, not the big boss. I'm their friend'. Thankfully Jamieson rejects this overture as inappropriate and we get to hear the sobering testimony of the workers.

Having catalogued a series of breaches of health and safety and employment law (i.e. the benchmarks being used by Nokia: "Nokia is strongly committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct, and full compliance with all applicable national and international laws. This includes, … labor laws and practices, the environment, human rights laws ... Nokia's goal is not mere minimum legal compliance, but as an industry leader to be among the world’s best in corporate responsibility, practicing good corporate citizenship wherever it does business" Nokia CSR.) Jamieson reports to the plant management team that she is 'delighted' with the company's record keeping and praises some of their practices. Nokia encourage their supplier to take greater care in the storage of some chemicals near a drinking tap, and ask they watch the level of worker overtime. That such a gentle rap on the knuckles can be delivered after uncovering routine malpractice and fraud is perhaps the most astonishing feature of the film. One might have expected the consultants to act tough for the benefit of the camera. Worryingly, maybe they did!

The response of the management team to their ethical assessment is predictable. Of course they valued the input of Nokia and would take on board what they said. However, the most revealing moment comes when the 'big boss' asks about the purpose of the documentary film. When he is told it is part of a wider project about Nokia he becomes quite concerned: 'The shareholders [in Europe] I have to report to are particularly low profile in terms of the aspects of this company being outside the customer and supplier relationship. We are unable to give our consent to documentary activity…no problem with filming - you use it for your research back home within Nokia'.

In this telling scene we immediately understand that while the CSR experts might not see too much wrong with operations in China, the viewing public in Europe could take a much different view.