Shopping has consequences. Over the course of four lessons, you will discover:
- Shopping: pleasure and despairs?
- Ethics and shopping : the alternative?
You will have two tasks to perform
- Talk about the impact of over-consumption on consumers and the environment?
- Present an organisation which provides an ethical solution
What you have to know about management
TRANSPARENCY AND CONSIDERATION OF STAKEHOLDERS: THE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
The stakeholders of an organisation include all those who participate in its economic life (employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders in the case of a company), those who observe the company (trade unions, NGOs), and those whom it influences more or less directly (civil society, local authorities). Stakeholders are all those who have an interest in the company’s activities.
THE PRINCIPLES OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Corporate social responsibility is the responsibility of an organisation towards the impacts of its decisions and activities on society and the environment, resulting in transparent and ethical behaviour that contributes to sustainable development, including the health and well-being of society.
Indeed, CSR takes into account the expectations of stakeholders, complies with current legislation, and is compatible with international standards.
CSR is a voluntary approach by the organisation, but it cannot be separated from business strategy and operations: it is about integrating social and environmental concerns into its strategies and operations.
An important aspect of CSR is the way companies interact with their internal and external stakeholders (employees, customers, neighbourhood, NGOs, public authorities, etc). Socially responsible companies must be and are not only transparent towards their stakeholders, but also ensure that they serve all their interests. This is in contrast to companies for whom short-term profit is the only priority and who act only to satisfy their shareholders.
Lesson 1/Shopping: from pleasure to despairs
Black Friday
Black Friday is an informal name for the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, which is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. The day after Thanksgiving has been regarded as the beginning of America’s Christmas shopping season since 1952, although the term « Black Friday » didn’t become widely used until more recent decades.
Many stores offer highly promoted sales on Black Friday and open very early, such as at midnight, or may even start their sales at some time on Thanksgiving.
Cyber Monday
is a marketing term for the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. It was created by retailers in 2005 and its aim was to encourage people to shop online. Cyber Monday has become the online equivalent to Black Friday and offers a way for smaller retail websites to compete with larger chains.
Amazon even has a cutesy name for the five-day stretch from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday: « The Turkey 5. » It introduced this name in a press release last year and continued it this year.
Your task: In pairs, present and compare Black Friday to Cyber-Monday.
In your opinion, why do companies organise these huge promotions?
Companies organise these huge promotions to increase their sales and meet consumer expectations for cheaper products.
Homework
Learn the new vocabulary and expressions
| bénéfices | profits |
| biens | goods |
| chiffre d’affaires | sales incomes |
| commerce | trade |
| Consommateurs | consumers |
| croissance | growth |
| durable | sustainable |
| économique | economic |
| Finalité | goal |
| founisseurs | suppliers |
| fourniture | supply |
| Lucratif | lucrative |
| non lucratif | non lucrative |
| produits | products |
| services | services |
| Soldes | promotions |
Lesson 2/So near yet so far
- Using the text and the computer graphics, identify the location of each part of the t-shirt’s manufacturing process and answer this question: why does the manufacturing process take place in several different factories and countries?
- Study the two graphics below. Then compare and contrast them using linking words such as: on the one hand, on the other hand, whereas, unlike, similar to, in contrast to …
The Story of a 4 pound boohoo dress
Why does the manufacturing process take place in several different factories and countries?
Companies have divided the production process in several countries to reduce production costs and create more added value while answering a demand from consumers for cheaper products.
In your opinion, are companies responsible for global warming?
Homework
Your classmate was absent today. Next lesson, be ready to explain to him/her what you studied in class and the strategy applied by global companies to produce low cost products
Lesson 3/Bangladesh garment worker protest
Bangladesh garment worker protests halt production for top fashion brands
Levi’s and H&M are among top global clothing brands to suffer production halts in Bangladesh, a garment union leader said Friday, after days of violent protests by workers demanding a near-tripling of their wages.
Bangladesh’s 3,500 garment factories account for around 85 percent of the country’s $55 billion annual exports, supplying many of the world’s top names in fashion.
But conditions are dire for many of the sector’s four million workers, the vast majority of whom are women whose monthly wages start at 8,300 taka ($75).
Dozens of factories have been ransacked by striking workers, with several hundred others shuttered by their owners to avoid vandalism. Among them are « many of the country’s bigger factories, who make clothing for almost all major Western brands and retailers, » Kalpona Akter, president of the Bangladesh Garments and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF), told AFP. « They include Gap, Walmart, H&M, Zara, Inditex, Bestseller, Levi’s, Marks and Spencer, Primark and Aldi, » she added.
Garment workers say that a sharp increase in living costs has left them struggling to provide for their families.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), which represents factory owners, has offered workers a 25 percent pay raise.
That is significantly short of the 23,000 taka ($209) monthly wage that the protest campaign has called for.
Police said at least 300 factories had been shut down in the weeklong protests, which have so far left two workers dead and dozens more injured.
Your work
- Present the document
- Why did Bangladesh garment workers start a strike?
- True or False : Bangladesh garment industries represent $55 billion in exports
- T/F: 3500 people are working in bangladesh industries
- T/F: Four million people work in 3500 garment industries in Bangladesh
- T/F Most of the garment industry workers are men
- How much does a garment worker earn per month?
- Why did workers have to start a strike?
- What were their demands?
- What percentage wage rise did the employers offer?
- Translate : Police said at least 300 factories had been shut down in the weeklong protests, which have so far left two workers dead and dozens more injured.
Lesson 4/Are people eco hype?
Listen carefully and take notes, then complete the following grid
Fashion is now one of the most polluting industries in the world. T or F ?
2) The textile industry pollutes less than the aviation and shipping industry combined. T or F ?
3) The amount of clothes we consume accounts for more than a quarter of the textiles we use. T or F ?
4) This figure is expected to keep going up from …………… tonnes in 2015 to ………….. tonnes by 2030. At that rate the fashion industry will have to use …………. % more land and ……….. % more water.
5) Circle : How can you tell what colour next season’s fashion will be in China: by the colour of the sky/ by the colour of the water.
6) China makes more than half the world’s clothing in textiles : T or F ?
7) Listen and complete : How much money does the textile business make ? ………………..
8) The Chinese government has got serious about its high polluting industries. T or F ?
9) Circle and complete : They have opened/ closed down a lot of factories. They have pressured/ threatened a large number of factories to upgrade their equipment, to become more energy efficient and less polluting and to use less …………………………………
10) Circle : What is recycled in China ? Computers or textiles ?
Your homework
your classmate was absent from the lesson, explain to him what the ecological impact of fast fashion is
Lesson 4/The social responsibility of organizations 1/2
An organization will be assigned to you. In pairs, you will need to conduct a documentary research on this organization in order to answer the following question: What actions does this organization take that makes it ethical or responsible?
Task
- Problematic analysis/reformulation
- Search for keywords
- Search for information
- writing a structured argument using a collaborative tool
Your homework
Send your text to your teacher
Lesson 5/The social responsibility of organizations 2/2
create a slider using a collaborative tool
FINAL TASK
- Talk about the impact of overconsumption on consumers and on the environment
- Present an organisation which provides an ethical solution
ETLV FULGENCE BIENVENUE 