In Shawn Wu’s blog post Sweatshops are unethical? He makes the point that “sweatshops are playing a positive roles by making the world a better place” and that “companies which are associated with sweatshops don’t hold a gun on their employees’ heads.”. I disagree with many of his points, just because working in a sweatshop is a better alternative then not working at all does not mean that it is okay to subject workers to terrible working conditions. While the people working in sweatshops are not forced to do so they have no alternative, profiting from another persons poor opportunities is not ethical. I also disagree that sweatshops are making the world a better place, capitalizing on human misery in order to reduce prices does not make the world a better place. I believe that if sweatshops were such a positive element of business procedures then corporations would be more open to divulging to the public what goes on behind the closed doors of their overseas factories. They keep this under wraps as they know that knowledge of this would create public outcry, and for good reason. Sweatshops are a good way for a corporation to cut costs, not to practice ethical business procedures.

In Anita Campbell’s article What is Branding? And Should Small Businesses Care? the author bring up crucial points about the importance of branding. She states that branding is about creating an identity and I agree, branding is one of the most important actions you can take. Positioning you brand according to Porter’s five forces will give you an edge into break into an industry, which is essential for small businesses trying to make their way and find their spot within an industry. She comments you can’t afford not to do branding”, a statement I find noteworthy as it build a solid foundation for your business, everything will go back to your brand. Small business in particular need to understand the importance of properly branding their business, it will differentiate them from their competitors and create reliability for their brand that they are not immediately accorded as if they were part of a chain corporation. Chain stores of often perceived as being more reliable as they are a part of a series of stores with consistent reliability. For a consumer to choose to purchase from a small business they will have to buy into the image they have created for themselves via careful branding.

Picture taken from article.

In her blog post Concerning Crocs trying to break into the high fashion footwear industry Amy Nixon makes some excellent points. She points out that no one will want to pay for a high fashion more expensive version of crocs when they can instead purchase a shoe with a brand image associated with being luxurious, expensive and fashionable. In order to break into this market segment crocs will need to reinvent their image. Many brands such as Apple, Target and Giant Tiger, have successfully done this in the past, so it is possible for Crocs. To do so Crocs will have to conduct expansive and well thought out marketing tactics. My suggestions for this are to create a secondary logo and perhaps a slightly altered brand name for this shoe line, which will distance itself from the perceived notion of the “tacky” croc shoe. Stirring up some hype around the release of the shoe will also be helpful people will want to see it as a novelty “crocs are trying to be fashionable now? If crocs want to be able to compete with big names in the high fashion shoe industry they have a lot of marketing ahead of them.

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In this 2012 article from the New York Times we see the decision of the United States Food and Drug Administration court to reject the proposed name change for has rejected a request from the Corn Refiners Association to change the name of high-fructose corn syrup. They would have liked to change the name of this corn-based sweetener from high-fructose corn syrup to corn sugar. From a business perspective this is a good plan, they are trying to change the name to reinvent the image of their most sold product. High-fructose corn syrup has attached stigma as many are shying away from the product due to health concerns. The question that must be asked is whether or not this is ethical. This change is not to be considered ethical, ingredients lists as easily viewable by the consumer for a reason; they have the right to know what they are consuming. The name change would cause unneeded confusion for those who are trying to avoid the product. The FDA ruling to reject the name change was proper as it served no other purpose then to trick consumers into consuming a product they would otherwise avoid.

Picture taken From Artice

Halloween is over and Christmas is right around the corner but for millions of Americans, the thanksgiving holidays are rapidly approaching. With thanksgiving comes the shopping event of the year, Black Friday, where thousands of shoppers line up for hours in an attempt to snag some incredible deals on items on their Christmas lists, Black Friday is the start of the holiday shopping rush. This night is insanely profitable for storeowners and corporations, who can turn a huge profit even with their products on discount. It is a night of inventory blowout, stores stockpile inventory and manage to sell it all in one evening. This racks in huge profit for the store, inventory that would often be idly collecting dust is being sold at rates that can not even be thought of on a normal shopping evening. The consumers often purchase products that they would never think to buy without the given incentive of huge savings, these additional customers lead to the liquidation of the stores inventory, only for them to have to restock for the customers who wish to peruse holiday shopping at a more leisurely pace.

Picture taken from here