Business Ethics – TOMS Shoes

According to Dictionary.com, ethics are a system of moral principles. In the business world today, companies are pressured to become more “ethical” or “socially responsible” everyday. While most companies carry out their social action plans in a very public manner to merely improve brand reputation; few companies have been demonstrating social responsibility from the start. TOMS, a shoe company, base their business model on its slogan “One for One”, meaning that they are going to donate a pair of shoes to someone in need with every pair bought. The social entrepreneur and founder of TOMS, Blake Mycoskie, came up with the idea when he saw the need for adequate footwear in Argentina. Presently, TOMS shoes has given over 10 million kids shoes which is remarkable. Although this is a brilliant way to help people in need, is TOMS driven by economic gain and profit now? They have launched new products such as TOMS sunglasses that do not follow the same charitable “One for One” policy. Additionally, over the past few years, they have significantly raised their prices on their shoes. Are TOMS really raking in all the money for themselves and ignoring their “One for One” policy? Many critics say TOMS are using their brand reputation to gain dirty profit from neglecting their original charitable plan due to their “complex donation distribution” In my opinion,  I believe the TOMS scam is a hoax – I don’t think any strategic company in the right state of mind would risk their sole value and brand by not following up to their promise to the customers. In conclusion, I admire their business model and I believe that TOMS are further ahead than most shoe companies on the charitable scale. Sources: http://www.businessoffashion.com/2013/07/founder-stories-blake-mycoskie-of-toms-on-social-entrepreneurship-and-finding-his-business-soulmate.html http://www.toms.ca/one-for-one-en Photo Credit: http://plywoodpeople.com/3652