Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Summary
In the following news article called “Denim drive expands to insulate Habitat for Humanity homes” by Wendy Koch was published on March 3rd, 2010 onwww.content.usatoday.com. In this article, Koch praises The Gap’s efforts to recycle jeans, wherein customers can donate any type of denim that are either out of style or no longer fit them (Koch, 2010).
The campaign’s main purpose is to encourage customers to become environmentally-friendly and to provide clothing to underprivileged groups. Koch argues that this campaign is successful as several customers have participated in this denim drive. This charitable program started in 2006 and has already received approximately 270,000 jeans, which is a total of cotton fiber insulation of 540 houses (Koch, 2010). The reason why this drive is effective is because The Gap store came up with an incentive program by giving 30% off to customers who donated jeans (Koch, 2010).
To explain how denim-recycling can be help our environment is that most of the jeans that have been donated are used in the so-called “Habitat for Humanity” homes. The process of using jeans as insulation starts off by removing any accessories (zippers, gemstones etc.) Then, the denim is treated with borate solution to make it fire resistant. The material is given to Bonded Logic who then makes the insulation. In addition, jean clothing are also donated to impoverished people.
To conclude, the success of the Denim Drive program implemented by Gap shows that it is beneficial for companies to engage in charitable events as it creates a positive relationship with the community and its customers.
(Photo credit on references below)
Opinion
The idea of Gap getting their consumers to donate their old jeans is a great idea. Not many organizations care about the community and saving our earth. While shopping at the Gap, we have personally been asked by staff to donate jeans. We are impressed to see that the Gap encouragesemployee participation in socially responsible activities. We argue that this leads to employee morale, identification with an organization, and motivation and job satisfaction.
Going back to our first blog on the Gap being linked to sweatshop factories, this article serves to show us that it is more beneficial for companies to be ethical. By showing customers that it doesn’t cost much to help our mother earth and those who are in need, the denim drive fosters customer’s identification with the company. We encourage companies such as Gap to invest time and effort in community involvement as this benefits the company’s reputation, which can lead to a long-term profitability potential.
In a scholarly business article we found, studies show that 42% of North American consumers surveyed stated that they will not purchase products from companies who are engaged in socially irresponsible behavior (Chong, 2009, page 112). In short, investing on socially responsible initiatives is mainly due to its tangible financial benefits, because it is not only “the right thing to do” but also “the smart thing to do” (Chong, 2009, page 108). Also, the author quoted other sources to show that there tends to be a bad publicity on firms due to unethical corporate behavior, which ultimately resulted to lowering of stock prices (Chong, 2009, page112). Therefore, in order to save the company from the probable risk due to negative publicity, it is wise for companies to use social events to build a good relationship with both its workers and consumers, leading to better economic advantage.
Click on the Youtube link below to see how GAP caught consumers' attention to donate their jeans!
Feedback Questions
1. In choosing a store to do your shopping, are you more likely to purchase from a company who is involved in ethical business practices? Is lower-priced goods more important than business ethics, explain.
2. Authors Koch and Chong argues that there is a correlation between profit and charitable business initiatives. Does this mean that companies are only being ethical because it is more profitable for them to do so? Is there something wrong with this goal morally speaking?
References:
Chong, Mark. (2009). “Employee Participation in CSR and Corporate Identity: Insights from a Disaster-Response Program in the Asia-Pacific.” Business Source Premier. Corporate Reputation Review. Vol. 12 Issue 2.
Chong, Mark. (2009). “Employee Participation in CSR and Corporate Identity: Insights from a Disaster-Response Program in the Asia-Pacific.” Business Source Premier. Corporate Reputation Review. Vol. 12 Issue 2.
The Gap. "Pants-formation" Oct 3, 2010. Retreived from <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zoxkvmayddk>.
1. Absolutely, it is a certain factor in how I shop. I prefer companies that pay their employees, or have environmental or ethical message that is consistent through their company. Chains like Walmart or Target do little to appeal to me as a customer; rather Whole Foods, Costco or Starbucks send a more progressive message that appeals to me as a consumer.
ReplyDelete2. That's a generalization. It all depends on the company as to what the real reason was for donating. The data correlating dontations-to-profit is compelling, but you have to look at the company as whole to see what the purpose was. Whole Foods is highly profitable as is Wal-Mart, but the reason donations exists from either company could be highly variable between the two.
Thanks so kindly for your thoughts. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to be an informed consumer. Brand loyalty entails knowing where the company get their goods from, hence knowing if they produce items fairly and ethically. As paralegal students who are advocates of equality,therefore we have a responsibility to promote being a conscious shopper. Companies, who may still be considered a "legal person" in law are part of our community, hence we should impose obligations on them to contribute to our environment and well being
ReplyDeleteIt is important to me that when I shop that the store are ethical. Quality is the main concern when I shop.
ReplyDeleteI believe that some businesses are getting involved in charitable organizations such as Habitat for Humanity for the free publicity that comes from it. I think it is ethically incorrect but in the long run the benefits to these charitable organizations outweighs the negatives.
Thank you for the comment, Jennifer. It is greatly appreciated! Your answers are very true and correct. It all just depends on the perspective of a person and how much a person is willing to research about a store before buying.
Delete1. After reading your article, I think I will go shopping at a company that is involved in ethical business practices.
ReplyDelete2. I think it depends, for ex, a company is going to be bankrupt. It has to do anything to survive even though it has to have unethical behaviors.
Finding a company with good ethical beliefs is hard. It will definitely take a lot of researching! Yeah, it does depend on what is happening with the company since the main goal is for them to make money. Thank you for the response!
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