Ethics within the retail sector - Essay Example

? Ethics within the retail sector Report on Ethics within the retail sector This paper focuses on giving a report on ethics for a board meeting. It seeks to explore on issues pertaining the organization approaches on ethics in terms of the social responsibility, green issues, product safety, grey imports and sourcing of the products. This is through explaining the ways in which the organization can engage in the development of a highly respected approach on the issue of ethics. Therefore, the main objective of the paper is to support the notion that; indeed, there is a place in successful retailing for a long-term growth of the business. However, in order to approach the attaining of the business growth, there the following concepts that need to be observed. Corporate social responsibility There have been numerous laws that regulating the organization terms of social responsibility. This rules focus on things like the disposal of toxic substances environmental pollution and the employment laws that regulate the working hours. However, it is the responsibility of the organization to comply with the regulations. It is significant that the organization focus on acting responsibly on ethical issues. There are long-term plans that would assist to deal with the problem of dumping the waste in a way that affect the environment. This would include establishing ways to treat the waste in order to ensure it do not have an effect to the environment. The other thing would develop pollution, and waste management policy in the company, in order to prevent future occurrence of such an incident that would affect the organization negatively, whilst eliciting negative impact to the society. The last thing is to establish a permanent means of disposing the waste in order to avoid pollution. Social responsibility should not be perceived as a policy or a moral approach, but it should be seen as the state of the corporate mind. A direct and mutual relationship exists between the environmental and commercial wellbeing. This is because a healthy environment facilitates the operations that are profitable to the business. There should be a substantial recognition by the board that it is within the self-interest of the corporation to operate in an entrusted society with a social responsibility. This is in order to ensure that the organization has an outstanding reputation in the society. This will facilitate the organization to achieve the desired market target in order to attain the organizational objectives. Therefore, the corporate should understand that it is not possible to fulfill the corporate responsibility through exploiting labor, shortchanging beneficiaries, pollution the environment, evading tax, neglecting the needs of the local community and engaging in anti-social practices. The business should focus on being socially responsible in order to facilitate the desirable operations of the business in the organization. The social responsibility makes the organization avoid the disputes that are brought about by law pursuits. Product safety According to EUROCOMMERCE (2010), there has been a lot of advancement in the field of product safety in the ethical situations. This has been facilitated by the federal initiatives. In the cases of chemical involvement in the production, there have been implementations of legislations as a step aimed at the consumer protection. However, the consumers have been more suspicious concerning products more than ever. In the business, there have been a lot of strived in the challenging pursuit adhering to the provision of safe and ethical products. Numerous introductions of ethics in the retail business in have facilitated to the attendance of a significant portion branded products and consumer market. There have been retailers in the clothing industry with a high status in the market and willing to invest more with the aim of keeping the good will through the production of ethical products, which observe the consumer safety. These have led to many retails to be keen in the addressing of the product safety and ethical production. There are also approaches for keeping the desired standards. EUROCOMMERCE (2010) explains that, there have been focuses on the ethical standards with the aim of social compliance and various initiatives in the field. The significant contribution aimed at enhancing safety and ethics in the retail sector meets the consumer group expectation. In addition to that, the media have been involved in a scrutinizing of the safety and quality in the products. The scrutiny keeps the retailers and the producer is active in the field of ensuring the product safety. Green issues The green issues have been real in the clothing industry and the supply chain involved. There were various assumptions that the retailers were paying for lip services for the fact that they would abruptly fade away. Newbery and Rani (2011) argued that, consumers were perceived that if given to choose between becoming green with expressivity or not to be green cheaply they would prefer not to be green. However, there being a strong interest in the green issue makes the economic choices of the consumer fail to be the solution. There have been various issues of the good job on ethics in the clothing industry. The good job on ethics in the clothing industry is considerably compared against activities that expose the ethical failures in the supply chain. In this way, it is possible to get a decent perception on the green issue. Newbery and Rani (2011) explains that, there have been evident of children as young as three years seen in the dumpsite of various garment industries collecting off cuts from the jeans material for burning in order to cook. This inappropriate dumping is unethical, and it pollutes the environment. Newbery and Rani (2011) explain that, there has also been the case of the factories, which makes the jeans for Gap and Levi being engaged in illegal dumping of chemical waste in the river. This poses hazards to the children in the society. The immensely valuable thing is to make a point of making all employees understand issues about ethics. They should comprehend the need of the ethics in justification of vital rules of conduct. Newbery and Rani (2011) propose that, they should understand the significance of fostering the shared morals and ethical values that are crucial even to other aspects of life. There should be rules that are to be complying by all employees in their daily operations. This would avoid the cases of dumping toxic waste into a stream, which shows a disregard for the rights of the society. This would lead to conflicts, and a portrait of an organization devoid of fundamental honesty and a failure in environment conservation. Grey imports The consumer considerers the grey imports being cheaper than the products being purchased currently in the local market. The products are different from the current. A product can be product can be retailed in one country and retailed in another country with the same name with different prices. The version of the product that was exported may result having a cheaper price than the product that is currently sold. The consumer seems to buy the products that are of cheaper price without considering that they may be counterfeits. It is considered unethical as a business to engage in the resale of counterfeit products. The resale of these products cans only the business short-term income, which eventually will be carried away by the court fines due to the law pursuits by other business and organization that focus on the consumer protection. Therefore, it should be discouraged that the retail business deals with the grey imports even though they attract customers due to their cheap prices. There have been various regulation imposed by the government against the counterfeit goods, since they are defective and they ruin the market for the other genuine goods. Therefore, the customers who have ever bought a product and ended up being frustrated due to its inefficiency cannot purchase in a retailer who is known to deal with the grey products. Thus, this dealing with the grey products ruins the reputation of the business. The organization should consider dealing with the goods from the known producer and preferably local producer since it contributes to the economy. Sourcing of products The consumers’ attitudes on ethics in the clothing industry are changing. There are those consumers that are choosing to avoid the products based on the company’s reputation. Ellis and Halo media (2009) explain that, other consumers have a feeling of guilt about unethical purchases. Therefore, there has been an awareness of various issues of the choices that are available to be made by the consumers. The aspects of ethics in the source of the product perspective are evident through the report on clothing boycotts. The boycotts involve the consumers’ evading the use of the company’s brands, which is perceived to be acting irresponsibly. Ellis and Halo media (2009) explain that, there is a likelihood that when a consumer has boycotted a product they may not return to it in the long term. Therefore, the retail business should be particularly keen on the companies where they are sourcing their products from since they may end up getting involved with a company that has a lousy reputation that would lead to the transmission of the effect. Therefore, the business should avoid the negative publicity in terms of their ethical credentials. Ellis and Halo media (2009) explain that, there have been numerous ethical sales of the organically sourced products than the fair trade. However, the organic cotton and the fair trade garments show an increase in consumption due to the availability of the product thus being convenient for the consumers. Therefore, the business should consider also sourcing their products from these materials or the companies that use these raw materials. Application of the ethical concepts There is a strong need for a business to consider being ethical as a way of achieving differentiation. However, being ethical as a business is a complex task. It requires the business to focus on various issues in various dimensions in order to meet the goal of being ethical. This provides a substantial response to the clothing industry to the growth of the ethical approaches. When the businesses have made the efforts of becoming ethical, they gain a sterling reputation and thus get the opportunity for achieving a competitive advantage. This is also achieved through the provision of ethical goods and services to customers. It is a complicated task though can be achieved. The products are turned into consumer appearing in terms of the ethical products and their fashion design preferences. An ethical chain supply facilitates the business competitive advantage. The competitive advantage should be considered sustainable. Therefore, the ethical supply chain is the appropriate way of facilitating the sustainability in the business. Therefore, the ethical supply chain is considered the effective source of a competitive advantage. The competitive advantage leads to the business success in the way in which it manages to attain the market share among other businesses. Conclusion The paper encompasses various issues that are involved in the ethics on retail clothing industry. Various issues are involved in order for the business to be ethical. The paper has reflected on various concepts that the business can use in order to become ethical. One of these issues is the corporate responsibility that involves the business minding about the well-being of the society in order to have a favorable environment for conducting operations. The other thing is the avoidance of the grey imports that can ruin the reputation of the organization. Various products are associated with the counterfeit products, which are illegal, and against the law. The safety of the consumer is also considered and significantly. There are certain issues that are involved in order to ensure that the consumer is protected against the harmful products. The paper also focuses on the way the organization can be involved in the green supply chain. The things that are discussed in the paper can assist to achieve the organization goals. Therefore, the business should focus on these issues in order to ensure that it attains the competitive advantage derived from the state of being ethical. This also gives the organization a sterling reputation that will encourage the customers. References EUROCOMMERCE. (2010). How European retailers strive to provide their customers with safe and ethically responsible products. Retrieved on Feb 22 2012 from Malcolm Newbery and Rani Ghosh-Curling. (2011). The just-style green report. Retrieved on Feb 22 2012 from National Waste Management Strategies and Action Plans South Africa. (1999). Action Plan Development PHASE Action Plan for Waste Treatment and Disposal. Retrieved on 16 Feb 2012 from Nick Ellis and Halo media. (2009).Sustainable Fashion: Handbook for educators Ethical Issues in Fashion Marketing. 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