More handpicked essays just for you.
The Impact Of Corporate Social Responsibility On Business Performance – Can It Be Measured, And If So, How
Kaufmann, M
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The Vancouver based company has created a unique identity in the retail industry, they were able to become the number one women's fitness apparel retailer, maximising all aspects of health and fitness.
There are numerous ways Lululemon has proven socially responsible with regards to their business practices. The core values Lululemon possess is a belief that individuals will ultimately be successful when working in a healthy environment while perfectly balancing their work and family life. The company's mission is to fuse the disconnection between work and life, combining the two in a healthy manner. Another key point is the in-store yoga sessions provided by educators and ran by yogis. In a community sense, the organization strives to create
…show more content…
Firstly, is the Is the organization’s economic responsibility met? Under the circumstances, I would consider this criterion met.To enumerate that point the company is valued at over $200 million, strong financial results have been achieved in less than 10 years. With the company's plans to increase the number of operations to 200 new stores, this will continually be met. By offering a product that is desirable for people living an active lifestyle Lululemon will continue to thrive. Legal responsibility is public addressed by the belief that “every person we hire, garment we create, store we open, customer, we educate and yoga class we attend contributes to building a legacy in our communities”. Lululemon works with different outlets to try and achieve a healthier and more informed community as to how the business is conducted. By introducing the new organic fiber line they demonstrate ethical responsibility. As a leader in the industry, Lululemon has set the bar high for community initiatives. Their discretionary responsibility is perceived by focusing charitable giving programs to the specific areas Lulu is located they have further connected themselves with the community. Not only is the money guaranteed to go back to the community, the citizens also have the opportunity to dictate which charity the funds should be applied too. An example of one of the activities is the Active Kids Movement program. Lululemon is a perfect example of social performance by meeting all the criteria. The social responsibility strategy Lululemon had implemented is a proactive strategy by taking a strong leadership role in the community focusing on social initiatives and meeting economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary
...esponsibly towards all its stakeholders. We believe that creating value for all our stakeholders is the only sustainable way for us to thrive as an independent, family-owned company. In our new framework and strategy for sustainability and responsibility we aim to integrate this mindset even further into the core operating model of the company (Welcome).”
Abercrombie and Fitch was initially started in 1892 by David T. Abercrombie. An outdoorsman himself, Abercrombie wanted to create a clothing line that was suitable for outdoor activities such as hiking, camping and hunting. Ezra Fitch, a lover of the Abercrombie clothing line, decided to become a partner in the company, this making what we know today as Abercrombie & Fitch. This partnership began in 1900 and subsequently ended in 1907 when David Abercrombie resigned from the company due to personal differences. The company proved to be a success and had much interest in expanding their company in order to draw in more business. The first major executive decision came shortly after Abercrombie’s resignation. The A&F catalogue was a cross between a clothing magazine and a guide to the outdoors. It gave information and advice to campers, hunters and fishers and also simultaneously provided a wardrobe for these activities. This catalogue increased both sales and notoriety. It brought Abercrombie and Fitch to people all around the world. Unfortunately, success was not everlasting. The company endured very tough financial times during the early 1960’s and 70’s and eventually declared bankruptcy in 1977. In 1988, success came again when The Limited Inc. bought Abercrombie and Fitch. Abercrombie is now a 223.0 million dollar corporation.
Kilpatrick, Marcus, Edward Hebert, and John Bartholomew. "College Students' Motivation for Physical Activity: Differentiating Men's and Women's Motives for Sport Participation and Exercise ." Journal of American College Health 54 (2005): 92. Mintel . Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
Lululemon was able to corner the market in a market driven business, which has strengthens and weaknesses to consider. This company could benefit from more aggressive advertising because they have such great brand recognition and consumer loyalty. With the retail market changing and more competitors entering the market, Lululemon needs to stay competitive and offer a broader spectrum of products and expand their markets into areas they already have great brand recognition. Lululemon takes pride is offering a high quality product and this company changed the way the world sees yoga appeal today. In very recent years yoga has become a popular sport and the consumers today want to look stylish while doing so and this company offers the rights products to do
Scanning the conforming, ephemeral trendy masses, a large percent of the attire donned by the populace is made by cheap labor under horrible conditions. Many of the stores that fill malls and line streets are stocked with morally tainted products. Various popular brand names and stores use sweat shops as a means of production to maintain a low manufacturing cost, and reap a higher profit. Not only do these socially irresponsible conglomerates exist, they thrive on the blinded, and complacent materialistic society. Outfitting popular sports teams, and celebrities, these businesses have immense control, and take a big part in not only the fashion industry, but foreign affairs, as well. Although providing labor to third world countries may at first seem acceptable, the circumstances under which these sweatshops run are not. There are lists of rules by the United Nations, that outline the requirements a corporation must meet to be a socially responsible company. There are many companies that are popular today, however, that don’t meet the criteria stipulated by the UN, and fall in the “sweatshop” category.
As this consumer group is very interconnected through their passion for fitness and yoga, they also have a shared passion for promoting a healthy, happy, active lifestyle. These consumers also heavily identify with the main point of Lululemon’s manifesto. Lululemon’s public declaration of its policy and aims consists of phrases such as: “The pursuit of happiness is the source of unhappiness”, “friends are more important than money”, and “sweat once a day to regenerate your skin.” (Lululemon Manifesto) Many of these “trendy urban” consumers would identify as a “yogi”, otherwise known as a, “person who is proficient in yoga.” (Google Definition) Their interests and values are consistent with Lululemon’s vision: “a place where people could get a sweat in, we wanted to create a community hub where people could learn and discuss the physical aspects of healthy living, mindfulness, and living a life of possibility.” (Lululemon
Tesco has strived hard enough to incorporate other disadvantaged groups in the society in their social responsibility initiatives. This includes volunteering charity to Marie curie cancer center to the tune of 2.6 million (Tesco plc, 2009). They also conduct regular engagement and partnerships; this is aimed at value addition and incorporates competitors, NGOs and activists not forgetting academic bodies. This has enabled the firm to maintain a close relationship with its stakeholders improving social responsibility with the stakeholder’s perspective in mind. The benefits accrued to this can never be underestimated. One can conclusively say that social responsibility has been effectively implemented in Tesco PLC. This has been done with the stakeholders at the center of the initiative interest (Tesco plc, 2009).
CSR currently has no universal definition, but it is commonly agreed that the strategy engages the business brand with a specific societal issue that relates to the company’s field of work. For example a car company might apply their brand with uses of green energy with the automobile. Businesses have noticed the benefits CSR can generate for their company. However, this strategy is most effective when the company commits their entire brand around the particular cause. The Whole Foods Market (WFM) is the perfect example of how the use of the CSR works for a company. To understand how stores like the WFM influence society’s move towards sustainability and healthy living, it is important to look at the stores CSR strategy portrayed through their advertising, such as their website. In my paper I hope to further the conversation about the use of the corporate responsibility strategy for businesses to ...
Under Armour is a leading athletic clothing line directed towards the overall athlete who is looking for the most comfort during extracurricular activities. The mission of the company is, "to provide the world with technically advanced products engineered with exclusive fabric construction, supreme moisture management, and proven innovation. In short, every Under Armour product is doing something for you; it's making you better."
The specialty retail and athletic apparel industry Lululemon is a part of is very competitive. The growth from competitors is increasing and Lululemon is in the midst of a global expansion and releasing a new product line in the hopes of gaining a competitive advantage. However, Lululemon has experienced hardships throughout the past year due to a lawsuit filed against the company in regards to their Luon yoga pant line and the fabric being see-through. This has caused many repercussions not only for the stock price, but also for consumers and management as a whole. As Christine Day has resigned, Laurent Potdevin has been announced as the new CEO of Lululemon. His past work experience, overall moral, and consumer approval demonstrate that he is the right fit for the position and someone who can turn Lululemon around.
To expand brand awareness, brand loyalty, and the appeal of its products the company implements a grassroots community-based marketing strategy. The company selects ambassadors that are local fitness professionals to proliferate word-of-mouth marketing among their students (Thompson, 2014, p.C86). Lululemon additionally engages social media, sponsors local athletic, fitness, and philanthropic events, and positions a community events bulletin board and chalkboards in its stores. The bulletin board displays announcements of future activities, presents fitness education and brochures, and promotes neighboring ambassadors’ yoga studios and fitness centers, while the dressing room chalkboards provide an outlet for customers to rely their comments (Thompson, 2014, p.C86). Lululemon’s yoga ambassadors lead a class every four to six weeks; whereas local professional yoga instructors conduct weekly classes at their local Lululemon location as the retail stores allocate the rearrangement of merchandising displays to provide ample floor space. These retail stores reflect the appearance of a simple, neighborhood boutique as they are situated in street locations, shopping centers, lifestyle centers, and malls as a means of integrating into the community (Thompson, 2014, p.C82). This is enhanced
Corporate social responsibility (CSR), was initiated as companies began look beyond making a profit as their sole purpose existence. Industry leaders understood that relationships are established between their corporations and society and each party has a responsibility towards the other. Therefore, the CSR concept was established over the years. “CSR is about the economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary issues that stakeholders view as directly related to the firm’s plans and actions” (Werther, Chandler 2001, p. 9). This review of the case study on “The Body Shop” will focus on organizational
Nowadays, it has been acknowledged that having an ethical business could determine the future business success. According to the 2015 Edelman Trust Barometer, consumers purchase a particular product because of their trust on the company produced it (Edelman Berland, 2015). Therefore, more company has instilled their ethical values to operate their business. Nike’s corporate as one of multinational enterprises (MNEs) has also implemented its code of conduct and code of leadership standard. The purpose of this policy is to ensure the ethical practices in their business. The company has revised these conducts since Herbert’s 1996 (cited in DeTienne & Lewis, p.361) criticized Nike as a giant pyramid which repress its labours. This critique was
...it can be quite challenging to monitor, adapt to, and respond to so many demands and obligations, but it is well worth for it. Not only is it ethical and helps you treat people and nature fairly and respectfully, but it is also just good business sense. Nowadays, customers are attracted to companies and brands that are socially responsible. Take, for instance, the green fashion movement. While it was once dismissed as a trend, its ability to stick around for so many years has proven that people want to do well and buy good.
Walmart, a conglomerate with global sites, has influenced its subsidiaries and co-operate in managing, addressing, enforcing and formalizing its foundation because of organizational structure and culture. For example, “Approximately 500,000 Wal-Mart associates throughout United States have participated in the Personal sustainability Project (PSP), a voluntary program encouraged by CEO Lee Scott (Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2011).” “Scott called also called for Congress to increase minimum wage and noted that Wal-Mart had increased spending on health insurance (Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2011).” They share values, disciplinary actions, standards of learning are the same with all their stores. They are leaders in their business and they lead by example. This category share corporate social responsibility which rate from zero to five is in richness according to the content analysis theory (Jizi et al2014) that is used to measure corporate social responsibility, will prove that Wal-Mart’s chains-stores: Sam’s Club, and other owners in the Wal-Mart company, value key stakeholders including the minority individuals. These are people who are interested in an “everyday low price.” It is used to measure the content of CSR disclosure of community involvement, environment, human resources, and social products and service quality according to (Jizi et al2014).Wal-Mart is quite aware that being socially responsible is very expensive. However, with the annual disclosure giving greater transparency in daily operations, I believe that more investors will become interested in its evolution and be able to benefit from its profit. For example, China is the largest supplier for Wal-Mart according to (Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell,