We are all familiar with the term dumping – which is essentially selling products in other countries at a price lower than what the good is being sold at, a price which the local producers find extremely difficult to adopt. It is an extremely invasive form of business as they threaten or often times do kick out local firms from their respective local markets. For example, EU States have been protesting against China steel dumping as their own steel manufacturers are unable to compete with their costs.
This is the reason for which I stand against the ‘one on one’ business model that firms like Toms, KNO clothing, Roma Boots etc. have adapted.
One on one can severely disrupt local small industries. For companies like Toms, it seems as if they are addressing a major social issue which can be solved by simply donating to them the things the poor the things they need. However, rooted below this act of kindness is the underlying implications it has for the local manufacturing industry of that item – the effects of donating free goods has an eerily similar effect that dumping has on the local business. In the example of Toms, local shoe manufacturers have been completely undermined as trucks come in on randomized occasions to give shoes out for free.
The one on one model makes recipients of such reliant on these donations as their local industries dwindle. They also serve as an easy feel good for people outside of these developing countries as it provides a way to easily overlook the institutionalized poverty that cant be solved by simple donations. Therefore,as long as it undermines local manufacturers in the same industry, I stand against the one on one business model.