After reading the case study “Fast Fashion,” write a one-page memo articulating a prpblem noted in the article the decision to resolve the specific problem and providing reasons in defense of that decision.
Use 12-point Times New Roman font and 1-inch margins.
At one point in The Great Gatsby, Gatsby explained to Daisy and Nick that he had a man who sent him new clothes each season, spring and fall. He then started pulling shirts out of a cabinet and tossing them on a table, “shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel, which lost their folds as they fell and covered the table in many-colored disarray….[H]e brought more and the soft rich heap mounted higher—shirts with stripes and scrolls and plaids in coral and apple-green and lavender and faint orange, and monograms of Indian blue.” Daisy suddenly buried her face in the pile of shirts and sobbed, “They’re such beautiful shirts.”
This memorable scene captures a common fantasy about what unlimited wealth would mean: to have so many fine clothes, one couldn’t wear them all in a lifetime. Catering to this daydream the fast fashion industry seeks to make Daisy’s tearful swoon come true for many people of humbler means than Gatsby.
The approach to fashion called “fast fashion” has compressed the buying cycle for clothing by increasing the number of buying seasons from Gatsby’s two (spring and fall) to as many as eight or nine per year. At fast-fashion stores like Zara’s, Forever21, and H&M, one can expect a new line of clothing to appear every six weeks. And these new clothes are both trendy and affordable. With such rapid turnover of inventory, some retailers have cut costs by shifting advertising dollars away from media to in-store promotions. This has the added benefit of forcing customers to physically enter the stores more frequently to keep up with new lines of clothing as they arrive.
In order to compress the buying cycle, the fast-fashion concept requires producers to both compress the production cycle and to keep prices low. Accordingly, producers seek out the cheapest materials and labor as well as seeking the most efficient means of distribution.
The results seem to be a win for all players: manufacturers, retailers, and customers alike. Countries like China, Bangladesh, and India provide an enormous number of textiles as well as ready-made garments for export.
There are, of course, downsides to fast fashion. Retailers dispose of unsold inventories and customers clean out their closets. Fast fashions, however, are neither sturdy nor timeless, so they tend not to find their way into any secondhand markets. According to Elizabeth Cline, in an article in The Atlantic, “Where Does Discarded Clothing Go?
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/07/where-does-discarded-clothing-go/374613/
BLAW Ethics Outcomes Rubric
Criteria Ratings Pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome
LO 1: Define ethical problems
threshold: 3.0 pts
4 pts
Includes all parties directly and indirectly impacted; motives for all stakeholders defined and competing objectives identified; relevant laws, regulations & professional codes identified and integrated into decisions; all relevant constraints, including resource, financial and time limitations, are identified and integrated into decisions.
3 pts
Includes all parties directly and most parties indirectly impacted; motives for most stakeholders defined and conflicts identified; relevant laws, regulations & professional codes identified; all relevant constraints, including resource, financial and time limitations, are identified.
2 pts
Includes all parties directly impacted. Important externalities missing; motives for stakeholders defined. Conflicts insufficiently identified; relevant laws, regulations identified. Professional codes missing; relevant constraints, including resource, financial and time limitations, are insufficiently identified.
1 pts
Key stakeholders directly impacted missing; motives for stakeholders insufficiently identified; relevant laws, regulations & professional codes missing; relevant constraints, including resource, financial and time limitations, are missing.
4 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome
LO 2: Consider multiple perspectives
threshold: 3.0 pts
4 pts
Internal consistencies; information is relevant, accurate and used to substantiate the arguments; premise is clearly stated. Decisions follow logically from premise and are substantiated.
3 pts
No inconsistencies; most information is relevant, accurate and used to substantiate the arguments; premise is clearly stated; conclusions follow from premise but need further substantiation.
2 pts
Some subtle inconsistencies; information is relevant, still some confusion between opinion and facts; premise and conclusion present but logical links need development.
1 pts
Inconsistent statements present; arguments are not supported with data; opinion is confused with facts; logical structure poorly developed.
4 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome
LO 3: Articulate well-structured arguments
threshold: 3.0 pts
4 pts
Actual & foreseen, pecuniary & non-pecuniary consequences, compensating transfers considered; discusses (formal & informal) obligations and rights of stakeholders, what is permissible under the relationship, information asymmetries and consent of parties; identifies and discusses relevant virtues (e.g., integrity, trust, fairness, honesty, prudence, loyalty, respect, actualization, etc.) as they apply to individuals and corporate culture where applicable.
3 pts
Actual & foreseen, pecuniary & non-pecuniary consequences; discusses (formal & informal) obligations and rights of stakeholders, what is permissible under the relationship; identifies and discusses relevant (e.g., integrity, trust, fairness, honesty, prudence, loyalty, respect, actualization, etc.) as they apply (to individuals or corporate culture but not both).
2 pts
Actual & foreseen, pecuniary consequences; discusses (formal & informal) obligations and rights; discussion of some relevant virtues missing.
1 pts
Important consequences missing or poorly considered; fails to consider duty and rights of stakeholders; important virtues missing or poorly considered.
4 pts
Total Points: 12
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