INternational Management | Case Study 1 | Footwear International | | Brandon Hingtgen | 3/24/2013 |
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This case study of Footwear International demonstrates the cultural differences in society. It shows the consequences when a society, like Bangladesh, get interpreted the wrong way by the people. John Carlson from Footwear International experienced an innocent mishap within his company, which had disrespected many people. He needs to let the people know that it was an honest mistake and that Footwear International will do whatever it takes to correct the problem. Footwear International is a multinational manufacturer and marketer of footwear that has 83 companies in 70 different countries. One of these locations is
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At this time Carlson had contacted the designer who was of Bengali Moslem decent. The design was inspired by a Chinese temple bell, and was approved by many others who were also of Bangladeshi decent. Footwear Bangladesh was then being associated with Israel and their Jewish heritage, which was an enemy of earlier conflicts in the Muslim religion. The newspaper had printed false allegations on the religious backgrounds of Footwear Bangladesh. The university group of students wanted to add to the volatile situation, by calling for a demonstration that would take place at the mosque. A local lawyer had come into place to file a statement to light Section 295 of the Criminal Code. The lawyer was of Bangladesh decent and also an Islamist sought to accuse four people within Footwear Shoe Company, all of which were non-Bangladesh born. The statement was filed on the same exact day as the article was written, was written to accuse them of deliberately wanting to outrage the religion of Muslims by engraving the calligraphy of “Allah”. This was said to offend the religious feelings of the millions of Muslims, and were supposed to do whatever it takes to protect the sanctity of “Allah. After thoroughly reading this article and breaking down the actions in this case, it is to be said that external forces played a powerful role, and took the opportunity to exploit cultural awareness. The timeliness of the
The examination of the athletic shoe industry between U.S companies, consumers, and East Asian labors in the short article “Daughters and Generals in the Politics of Globalized Sneakers” bring out many good points. These points are made on International politics, offshore athletic shoe production, How sneakers been militarized, conception of a daughter, how the globalization of athletic shoe production gendered, how both modernization theory and dependency theory are used in this article.
On the 24th of April 2013, a tragedy occurred in Dhaka, Bangladesh, resulting in the deaths of more than 1000 people and the destruction of a nine-story garment factory “Rana Plaza” (Manik& Yardley, n.d.,). However, the unsatisfactory condition of the building was known to employees. The day before the tragedy, several cracks were noticed, yet the owner of the factory ignored the warning by police to suspend the factory. In addition, workers were physically intimidated which shows, illustrating the power of society and the desperation of financial condition as individuals (Hossain, 2013). 80% of the workers at the Rana Plaza were female; this was because their labor was the cheapest in the world, with the minimum income BDT being 3000 taka per month (the equivalent of 37 Australian dollars) (Burke, 2013). This industry represented the international fashion labels in Europe, America, cosmopolitanism and progressive brands such as Benetton etc. Most of the factory’s textile products were internationally exported, earning foreign currency and allowing it to become the largest industry in Bangladesh. The “Rana Plaza” was one of the main industry, which maintained the economy and society as individuals in Bangladesh. The power of capital at the Bangladesh level is the arrangement of dominance transnational businesses at the global level, which is a smaller rate of powerful
Doug Saunders’ article, “Are garment workers’ deaths on our hands? No” is about the sufferings that the Bangladesh garment workers have to experience in the hopes of meeting consumer needs in Europe and North America. According to the tone of the writer, this article presents an argument on ethical concern about the existing business relationship between the developed and the developing countries. Developed countries such as Europe and North America go for cheap markets in countries like Bangladesh but in the process they affect the welfare of these countries. Saunders uses the fire outbreak and a collapsed eight-storey building, as evidence for the suffering of Bangladesh workers. Conversely, Saunders claims that clothing agreements by developed
Size, color, and shape are never mentioned in John Freya’s description of his Converse Sneakers. He never mentions how long he has owned them, if the shoelaces are original or if there are scuffs on the sides. Instead, Freya describes his disappointment with Converse because after having filed for bankruptcy, they laid off their American and Mexican workforce and “the last American made shoe” will now be manufactured in China. He is both objective by stating the facts on the status of Converse’s new manufacturing location and subjective in relaying his feelings towards Converse’s disloyalty to the United States. Freya is reaching out to others who also feel disdain towards American corporations that outsource what was once “fairly paid
The main reason the author wrote this is because they wanted to explain the concept of the struggle in Muslim women and rebellion. In the graphic, in panel 5 the author states that she rebelled by wearing red socks. She ended up getting in trouble. She then had to stay on the committee for the whole day. Any little thing that can upset a man can be a penalty on you.
Dansko, founded in 1990 is a US-based comfort shoe company strongly attached to the Danish culture. The heritage of co-founder Peter Kjellerup and the affection for nature and sustainability is deeply rooted in the company’s way of doing business. From a comfortable barn shoe selling to friends and family, Dansko grew into a multinational company with production stretching from China to Italy and a global customer base. Over the years, the company has received numerous awards for its exceptional social responsibility and sustainable initiatives such as “Best for Workers” by non-profit organization B Lab, the prestigious LEED® Gold certification for it’s headquarter and distribution centre in Pennsylvania, or the American Podiatric Medical Association (AMPA) certification for companies promoting a healthy foot (Dansko LLC, 2015a). The following paper will in greater detail analyse how the Danish heritage influenced Dansko’s development, review advantages and disadvantages of the employee-ownership program and evaluate if production in China might be harmful to Dansko’s highly social responsible reputation.
From there on, the company faced ethical dilemmas e.g. associated to be under Jewish ownership, which is linked by the war between Israel and Palestine whereby International Footwear is originally under Christian ownership. Even the Prime Minister of Bangladesh said, using Allah’s sign of the insole is an unforgiveable crime. People from Bangladesh boycotted products of International Footwear. All of the company’s employers had a Bangladeshi
New Balance International was founded during the early 1990s specializing in orthopedic footware to improve the fit of their shoes. Today the company continues its founding values in a highly specialized niche business of providing athletic footware in a wide range of widths and sizes which distinguishes the product from its competitors. With the philosophy of “one size did not fit all,” New Balance expanded operation from the US and currently markets its product in 160 countries in six continents. New Balance Inc. first appeared in South Africa In 1976 when a Durban based company obtained a license to distribute the brand. Under this distribution plan the company held a very small percentage of
When you are a teen and have big aspirations of opening your own boutique one day, you know that you will need money and a lot of job experience. At the age of 17, Samantha Elauf was preparingg for her future, preparing to chase after her aspirations, when Abercrombie & Fitch, an upscale American retailer, decided that her scarf clashed with the company 's dress code. Samantha Elauf was born in the United States, was and still is a United States citizen, and she is of Muslim faith. The “scarf” that Abercrombie & Fitch said clashed was her hijab, a symbol of modesty in her faith. This became a major Supreme Court case and a United States Court of Appeals case between Abercrombie & Fitch and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission whom was working on behalf of Mrs. Elauf. This case and these arguments are an example of the religious aspect of social conflict theory.
The Pou Chen factory is located in a place where the minimum wage is far below the national average. It has 10,000 workers who make Converse sneakers. Most of the workers are women, and they earn only 50 cents an hour. The amount that they earn is not even enough to cover their food and very poor housing. In this factory, the women are both physically and verbally abused. Nike’s own investigations have proved these complaints to be true. The company made a statement saying that immediate actions would be taken to deal with the situation. It is interesting to note that, “an internal Nike report, released to the Associated Press after it inquired about the abuse, showed that nearly two-thirds of 168 factories making Converse products worldwide failed to meet Nike’s own standards for contract manufacturers. Twelve are in the most serious category, ranging from illegally long work hours to
A few politicians and media correspondents proposed for a ban on Islamic clothing; stressing the idea that the dress is foreign and threating. For example, recently liberal Bronwyn Bishop urge to ban Muslim women from wearing hijabs in public schools (Ritchie, 2017), pinpointing that Islamic wear is a symbol of alien within western countries, this unfamiliar culture is possibly viewed as threatening. Many, would assume the clothing to be a representation of ‘suppression, a religion of misogyny and a culture which denies women equality’ (Greenwood and Christian, 2008). The media are repeatedly promoting conflict between Muslims and Australian; creating assumptions that Muslims migrants should assimilate into the Australian culture. Woodlock
Slavery, shoes and society are all linked through the entrepreneur’s buzzword, Globalisation. Society is engrossed with unnecessary entropy, superfluous shoes and slavery. The prospects of globalisation drown out the screams of those stabbed with the short end of the stick; the workers. These impoverished people are forced to work in slave like conditions on products they could never afford. Society’s need for labels, combined with manufacturer’s need for money, drive the modern day slave ring. The multinational conglomerate that uses child labour and disadvantaged people to make a profit needs to be called out. These practices cannot continue, but we must act now.
These include sites such as go4worldbusiness.com, importers.com, and tradekey.com. Many of these portals offered search options that were used to locate potential footwear importers in international markets.
According to the investigation, the conflict started when the Hindu militant activists attacked a Muslim woman and pulling off her headscarf. This flashpoint between the two religious ideologies is believed to have triggered the Human Right Violation. Such disrespect by the Hindu activist is a violation of Article 5 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights due to the influence of religiosity, the norms and mores, and political
|Financially, a medium contributor within the Footwear organization. |Managers of production, marketing and sales were also not from |