American Appareal
Michael Fleming
0715743
mflemi02@uoguelph.ca
Dr. Massecar
PHIL 2600
November 15th, 2013
The Good of Apparel;
(Chapter 7)
1) American Apparel is a multinational corporation at the crossroads of profitability and nationalism. The clothing industry is one of the biggest manufacturing sectors with respect to the exploitation of human rights. American Apparel has made numerous landmark moves to get away from the negative connotations of the clothing industry. There are 3 main ways that American Apparel has tried to combat these negative associations; utilization of Vertical Integration, Sweat Shop Free and 100% Made in USA. Vertical Integration allows for AA to know exactly who makes, and how they make it for every input in the manufacturing process. This means that the business is consolidated and every decision comes from the same place allowing for autonomy across business segments. “In the past decades, it has become the norm amongst the majority of US apparel companies to move their manufacturing operations abroad to third party vendors. American Apparel has kept it local. We are vertically integrated, and operate the largest apparel manufacturing facility in North America, right in Downtown LA. Though it 's not the easy road to travel, this has always been our business model.” ("Vertical Integration") As outlined on the website, American Apparel prides itself on not leveraging sweat-shops in efforts of higher profit margins. Instead of exploiting a poor country for its low cost labour, American Apparel utilizes thousands of American workers making a competitive wage with benefits. American Apparel believes that this is actually a competitive advantage because of the amount of people who would associate with the importance of USA made clothing. “Thousands of indutrial workers making our clothing at our state-of-the-art facility in Down Town LA earn an average
0715743
mflemi02@uoguelph.ca
Dr. Massecar
PHIL 2600
November 15th, 2013
The Good of Apparel;
(Chapter 7)
1) American Apparel is a multinational corporation at the crossroads of profitability and nationalism. The clothing industry is one of the biggest manufacturing sectors with respect to the exploitation of human rights. American Apparel has made numerous landmark moves to get away from the negative connotations of the clothing industry. There are 3 main ways that American Apparel has tried to combat these negative associations; utilization of Vertical Integration, Sweat Shop Free and 100% Made in USA. Vertical Integration allows for AA to know exactly who makes, and how they make it for every input in the manufacturing process. This means that the business is consolidated and every decision comes from the same place allowing for autonomy across business segments. “In the past decades, it has become the norm amongst the majority of US apparel companies to move their manufacturing operations abroad to third party vendors. American Apparel has kept it local. We are vertically integrated, and operate the largest apparel manufacturing facility in North America, right in Downtown LA. Though it 's not the easy road to travel, this has always been our business model.” ("Vertical Integration") As outlined on the website, American Apparel prides itself on not leveraging sweat-shops in efforts of higher profit margins. Instead of exploiting a poor country for its low cost labour, American Apparel utilizes thousands of American workers making a competitive wage with benefits. American Apparel believes that this is actually a competitive advantage because of the amount of people who would associate with the importance of USA made clothing. “Thousands of indutrial workers making our clothing at our state-of-the-art facility in Down Town LA earn an average
Bibliography: Simon, Michele. Corporate Accountability International, "Clowning Around with Charity: How McDonald 's Exploits Philanthropy and Targets Children." Last modified October 29, 2013. Accessed November 15, 2013. http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/blog/clowning-around-charity-how-mcdonalds-exploits- philanthropy-and-targets-children. American Apparel, "Vertical Integration." Accessed November 15, 2013. http://www.americanapparel.net/aboutus/verticalint/. American Apparel, "Sweat-Shop Free" Accessed November 15, 2013. http://www.americanapparel.net/aboutus/verticalint/.