Business Ethics Gap Inc. - 2329 Words

Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Case Study: GAP Inc. Business ethics can be described as the ethical dilemmas that arise within a business setting. GAP Inc., similar to most other multinational corporations (MNCs), has faced numerous ethical issues in the past. Since 1995, GAP’s image has been continuously tarnished through allegations of exploitive working conditions, cheap labour, and hostile environments overseas. One ethical issue surrounding GAP Inc. emerged from the â€Å"Made in U.S.A.† labels, resulting in the deception of American customers. This is an ethical issue because all of the clothing was made in Saipan. While Saipan is technically part of the U.S., it does not have to follow the same†¦show more content†¦The moral principle of providing deceptive labels would be universalized without contradiction. Therefore, it does not pass the universalization test and the act is not morally just. For the second ethical issue, GAP’s failed attempt to implement the â€Å"Code of Conduct† r esulted in discrimination, child labour, harassment, and low minimum wages, among other things. From a utilitarian perspective, it is important to see whether the negative consequences outweigh the positive consequences. In this case, the failure to enforce the â€Å"Code of Conduct† resulted not only in a hostile work environment for all the workers but also bad publicity for GAP. One of the drawbacks of using a utilitarian perspective is that one cannot quantify a single unit of utility. GAP’s positive consequences may be a little difficult to estimate, but it seems that in the long run the scrutiny GAP is faced with will become negative. As the workers have more to lose, their total negative consequences outweigh the positive. From a utilitarian diagnostic, this issue would be ethically unjust. From a deontological perspective, duties, commitments and obligations are stressed. GAP’s â€Å"Code of Conduct† was created in order to protect workers and imp rove the company’s overall image. Its failure to enforce the Code resulted in a hostile work environment for most, if not all, the workers overseas. GAP denied theShow MoreRelatedEssay about Business Ethics at Gap Inc.2147 Words   |  9 Pages------------------------------------------------- Company Report: Gap Inc. and Business Ethics Depestel Caroline Milijana Zlatic s0101027 s0100470 Professor S. Hughes Year: 2012-2013 3th Bachelor Applied Economics 1. Executive Summary The topic of this paper is business ethics within Gap Inc., a multinational retail – clothing company. The foundation of its corporate ethical approach is summarized in the Code of Conduct . This paper outlines the ethical problems Gap Inc. faced in the lastRead MoreEthics And Its Impact On Business Ethics1339 Words   |  6 PagesBehind every successful company there is a strong foundation of ethics. 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