Kevin J. Pena

Bus 104-B050

Prof. Buckler

April 22,2022

Ethics & Social Responsibility 

Modern Companies have taken note of the power they hold to make a difference in our world today. This had brought most of them to develop ways to make their business models that aid in correcting some of these issues. This includes social justice, sustainability  and ecological, social equality and philanthropic practices implemented throughout these companies. Most companies publish these practices to show what they are doing to help. I will be looking at one specific international retail company’s practices and how they have ethically served their social responsibility.

Amongst the international retail giants, one affordable company is on the rise, that company is Uniqlo. Uniqlo is a Japanese clothing brand that started in 1949. It now has over 1000 stores worldwide.This puts the company in a position to affect many social situations in the countries that house their stores. Some of the social situations they address are refugee support efforts, economic development of Bangladesh, and supporting the special olympics and a children’s hospice in Tsurumi Japan. In Bangladesh they have opened 15 stores that produce and sell all products in Bangladesh. All profits made from those stores are reinvested in the stores and factories to boost the nation’s economy and help it grow. Along with their social responsibilities they address sustainability issues pertaining to clothing production as a retail company. They have implemented a clothing recycling program for their clothes to help reduce their carbon footprint. They also contribute to preserving the environment of coastal Japan while producing clothes with fabrics that have a longer life cycle. These are attempts to make a social impact on an international scale. Due to regulations in different countries they cannot have a singular model to implement across the countries. This is why they focus on their sustainable production practices and spreading knowledge on their clothing recycling programs as well as leading the front on new retail technology. 

Observing the positions this company focuses on, I do have some recommendations that would help further the impact they wish to make. Beginning with their recycling programs. I do believe they should include it more in their marketing. This can bring people to inquire about the programs. Such as their clothing recycling collection areas that exist in some of their stores. While the desire to sustain the environment of your home country is understandable, there is a large opportunity to do the same in other countries. Also, upon their support to the Tsurumi children’s hospice, It would be awesome if they can do that with other hospice or to build some in countries that could need them. As well as publishing the experience the children are having and the successful parts of the practices to share with other international children’s hospitals.They have done some great things in Bangladesh and it would be awesome to see other companies do the same with other countries. Even though it is difficult to do the same due to political situations in most of those nations. But if each major clothing company would follow this example there can be a greater impact made in developing nations. Though they do have great practices the main thing I would work on is sharing the information and spreading the word on how to do the same for many companies to follow. Such as their many refugee aiding programs are wonderful yet not known. Making these known, not just for the social impact points, but for the benefit of showing other companies options on how to ethically help the societies they are in. Through sharing the knowledge of how they have succeeded in some of these things, it teaches other companies the steps to follow or look into to do the same. Being a clothing company there is always room for improvement in sustainability practices. However there are several setbacks since they also cater to an international market that differs from country to country. Also though I can make these recommendations from an external perspective, I do understand that there can be setbacks due to political scenarios and not knowing how much of their profits can be allocated to these endeavors.

For this weekly assignment, I choose to use my coffee import and roasting business called Moonraker Coffee Roasters (moonrakercoffee.co)— I make most of the daily business decisions, and from the start, my partners and I were very concerned about our social responsibility—this purpose was two-fold: so  we could feel like we were staying true to our personal values, and because this is good business this day and age among Gen Z and millennial customer base!  Consumers are truly paying attention and directing their hard-earned money to brands they feel embody upright values and who examine their social impact.

From the very start, when we were brainstorming and fleshing out our strategy and differentiating factors and features in the coffee, we began forming up our business plan which encompassed our corporate vision and mission statement.  In this process, we realized that by partnering with coffee farmers directly we could not only obtain access to some very high-grade coffee that customers would probably enjoy more over other beans, but furthermore, we could actually ensure more money went to the farmers instead of big corporate coffee brokers who act as middle-men in the supply chain.  This is pretty rad!  Basically, it means thousands of dollars more per hectarea of coffee planted for the farmers, all of whom are what are known as “small holder” farmers meaning they own about 10 acres of land or less.  So this is a major improvement for the farmer and family, and several farmers have now circled back to us showing us some of the new drying and de-pulping machinery they have been able to purchase thanks for receiving a small premium in the coffee price!  

We are working on trademarking the term “Beyond Fair Trade” right now as we work to partner with farmers, as we are now working to determine how each farm partner is actually paying the coffee harvesting staff.  Typically the coffee harvesters are seasonal workers who come from economically marginalized communities.  For instance, in Panama, the coffee is almost exclusively harvested by an indigenous group known as the Ngobe-Bugle, and what our farm partners there told us was that instead of paying the workers more per pound of coffee harvested, what the workers actually really needed was some adequate housing with child care so that men and women could work during the day and have a safe and dry place to sleep during the “cosecha” or harvest season.  This was very interesting to hear and we are now working with one farm to create a fund to create child care options for the workers!  

All in all, there is so much need in the world, both at home and aboard, and I think businesses are waking up to the impact they can have for good—and as consumers, if we demand and reward those who examine social impact, we can create better outcomes for communities.  In Pennsylvania, where we incorporated Moonraker, there is even a default option with the PA Secretary of State to form a “B Corp,” which states that in addition to making a profit, the purpose of the business to is to create a positive benefit to the community!  We are actually working on our first annual social impact report for Pennsylvania’s legal requirement, but it was so wonderful to see the state making it one of several default choices to incorporate as a B Corp.  Our next goal is to work towards B Corp certification from B Lab (https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/), but this is an expensive and time-consuming process and a goal we have set for the next year and a half.  Overall, going forward, in addition to paying fair wages here in the US for our employees, Moonraker has set a goal to partner with farmers who “get it” in terms of long term social impact and using business as a force for good.  This “conscious capitalism” approach is entirely mutually beneficial, as it helps differentiate our coffee brand from other cut-rate, commodity grade coffee roasters out there, and I am going to recommend that we double down on really interrogating our farm partners on how we can ensure the marginalized workers can receive education, training, or increased wages so that the premiums paid for coffee do in fact have positive social impact.