Ch. 3 - Ethics and Social Responsibility

So, how well does Coach USA live up to the question of Ethics and Social Responsibility?   
Not great, but not that bad either. It depends, I suppose on what your personal thoughts are on ethics and social responsibility, and how high of a standard you place on a company brand you enjoy having around.

I will start first with my findings on "Social Responsibility".

The textbook defines "Corporate Social Responsibility" as being a business's concern for society's welfare. Is the company a good corporate citizen? Does it give back to the community to improve quality of life?

Well, Coach USA has The Coach Foundation; a foundation created to support different organizations that empower, educate and support women and children around the world. Coach's Women's Initiative supports programs that encourage personal and economic empowerment such as Dress for Success, Girl Scouts of Greater New York, Girls on the Run, and B Peace for Jobs. Their education initiative supports educational programs such as Free Arts NYC, Autism Speaks, Youth Build Philly and Promise Project. These organizations ultimately focus on serving the community with outreach programs geared toward the success and well being of women and children.

Coach sporadically teams up with celebrities who lend their name to benefit their favorite charity. Sandra Bullock picked her two favorite stunning Coach bags; the Madison Leather Hippie and the Kristin Leather Tote and had a portion of the sales donated to the Beauty Bus Foundation - an organization that helps to care for terminally ill men, women and children.

Rachel Bilson picked her favorite Coach bag from the Poppy Line and had a portion of the sales donated to The Art of Elysium - a not for profit organization that connects actors and musicians with children fighting serious illnesses.

Shortly after the devastation from Hurricane Sandy in 2012 The Coach Foundation announced a $2 million dollar gift to the American Red Cross for the Disaster Relief Fund to help in rebuilding those areas hardest hit by the storm. Living in Queens and having visited Coney Island many times as a child it was nice to see a number of large organizations step in and give at such an important time for New York.



So, we know that Coach USA probably contributes millions yearly to charitable organizations - which is a good thing since those organizations in return, provide so many wonderful services to so many people in need.

But where do they stand when it comes to issues like creating products that are environmentally friendly. Today, so many consumers are more aware of what their buying and what effects those products have on our environment. I know that I personally try to contribute by using cloth bags when I go shopping and limiting the amount of water bottles I buy (I drink allot of water and I'm always on the run so this is a hard one...for most people I think.)

So what does Coach think about making products that are environmentally friendly?

NOT MUCH - from what I found.

In early 2012 Coach introduced a recycled wallet for men made from old baseball gloves; each wallet was hand-made and didn't require the typical manufacturing process. Each wallet sells for about $350, however, not many were made and you can only purchase them at specialty stores.



Coach should not overlook the possibility of creating a line of products that are environmentally friendly. Consumers today are ever-more concerned about the environment and it seems like their competitors are catching on too. Take Big Buddha for instance, they carry a beautiful line of designer bags called the Vegan Handbags. These bags are made of V-Leather - an animal friendly, cruelty free leather like material. Consumers have applauded the company for providing another alternative to the typical leather bag manufacturing process which effects our animals, forest and environment.   

Big Buddha V-Leather Purse

On the matter of Ethics - Our textbook defines Ethics as the standard of behavior by which conduct is judged.

I think it's hard to say if a company is behaving ethically...how would we know for sure that they are? We can only judge them on what we see and know about them. 

We've all heard the stories of big, well known corporations believed to have been performing ethically crashing down in a pile of lies and unethical behavior. I don't think the public knows for sure until something disastrous happens.

I will say that I don't think it's "ethical" for Coach to outsource their manufacturing business to China. I don't think it ok for them to have their products assembled in China and then shipped to the US to sell.

After all....didn't they get their BIG START here in the US? Didn't the US support them and their products and make them into the big company they are today?

                                     

The cheap labor does not equal consumer savings...it only benefits Coach itself. And for that I would say that Coach does not live up to performing ethically. Bring the work back to the US!

Overall, I would say that Coach has succeeded in making quality products that people like and they seem to understand the need to give back to the community. But I have to admit....I don't like the "made in China" label inside my Coach bag - definitely something to think about.