Good Business Bad Business and Sustainability
The coursework is to complete a discussion of an organisation, policy, or product and evaluate the ways in which the object could be regarded as ‘good’, and ‘bad’. You may choose a specific case to evaluate; or build a hypothetical case using suitable real world examples.

A competitor firm has outsourced its production abroad. You could do the same. You are the major employer in the town where you are located. You have to decide whether also to outsource your production.

Introduction

The industry that my firm operates within is the winter clothing industry. The company supplies clothing to multiple clothing retailers across the U.K and selected areas of Europe mostly around the French and Swiss Alps. The company’s factory is based in Brackley and employs 2500 local employees. Our company has a strong ethical and moral feel and image due to a strong involvement in charity fund raising and organising events for under privileged children to get involved in sports and activities they wouldn’t usually have the opportunity to do. We are seen locally as an incremental part of the local infrastructure and through feedback sheets its apparent that on the whole our employees are happy and our staff turnover and productivity reflects this. The main issue we have recently encountered is that in October 2011 the minimum wage went up 15p to £6.08 an hour therefore increasing the cost of labour and due to the rise in oil prices to £61 has increased the cost of production due to 80% of our clothing being made for gore-tex and other heat insulating plastic based materials. In a move to decrease labour costs our main competitor has decided to outsource its labour to Taiwan. This has created a major issue for us as a company as it creates the problem that if we cannot stay competitive we could get pushed out of the market.