La Senza Corporation is a Canadian fashion retailer based in Dorval, Quebec, Canada, selling lingerie and intimate apparel. Their primary objective is to maintain the quality of their products and identify what their customer needs in order to maintain their competitive advantage. Their goal is high integrity and ethical performance and establishing a positive relationship in the communities in which they are located. La Senza was bought by Limited Brands an American company in 2006. Currently all of its lingerie products are imported through MAST (a Limited Brands ‘network of suppliers located primarily outside of Canada). Since the buyout, it has experienced decreasing sales in Canada and now has fewer than half its original stores count. The challenge for La Senza is to be a good corporate citizen by maintaining and creating positive social relationship, as well as ethical practices, while still achieving their economic and financial responsibilities to their shareholders.
Since the change of ownership, La Senza’s annual sales have dropped for more than a year since 2008. In 20013, La Senza made $72.8 million in the first quarter down $ 3.5 million from 2012 and a failing stock value from $52.12 per share to a stock value is currently at $49.79 per share. In 2010 it closed the Canadian La Senza Girl stores due to poor productivity. At the beginning of 2013 La Senza had 158 stores operating in Canada but as today they have 157 stores and it is on the verge of closing another store to help boost its productivity. Competition from other intimate apparel companies had led to the need for rapid response and shorter led time. Currently La Senza “produces and sells a wide range of private-label products using upwards of 150 regular suppliers (with another 500 to 600 on file), all located in different parts of the world”. (La Senza Inc.) . Although La Senza designs are done in-house, the manufacturing is however outsources and the challenge is to find suppliers with best price that can maintain the quality while trying to maximize their profit. According to the Canadian Apparel Industry, “…It could cost them about 39% less to import a finished garment than to produce the same item locally”. ("Apparel industry profile," 2011). Importing their products works to allocate goods and services efficiently and increase productivity providing overall benefit both domestically and internationally, among all participating players. Their argument is the benefit achieved is lower prices for their customers, direct or indirect creation of jobs in sectors like service, retail and wholesale sector, transportation and indirect services that involve importing such as bankers and better economic growth for their suppliers while still meeting their shareholders’ obligation. Since the foreign products remain cheaper than local ones even with the cost of transportation it shows a huge differences in production efficiency and create a more economical avenue. This overall benefit is greater than the decrease in local producer welfare. The alternative point of view is that buying imported goods hurts Canada’s local industries, communities and can lead to a high unemployment rate and that contracting results in wasting fossil fuels due to transporting goods halfway across the world having a huge impact on the environment there by contributing to greenhouse gases and greater environmental degradation than other sources of carbon emissions.
The concerns of La Senza are on the quality of the final product and the safety of the materials used. Suppliers, who are under pressure from them to achieve certain standards, and production quotas, may outsource to factories where conditions and wages are often worse, without unions to protect workers, health and safety standards, long working hours, lack of overtime pay intimidation, and violence. Workers making the item are worried about adequate working conditions and wages. Employees in Canada are concern about job security and wages if most of the jobs are outsourced it may lead to layoffs. Opposition may be that it destroys jobs in our economy and affects our local communities. Customers are concern with the use of safe materials for the bras and panties they buy and that they do not come from sweatshop or by child labour.
The strategic goal of this essay while understanding a company’s need to generate profits and look for cost saving measures, is to have the Fair Trademark label on every brand product imported into Canada in a bid to stop the use of sweatshop labour by suppliers to branded Canada manufacturing companies in order to safe guard the Canadian consumer, foreign workers, the environment and investments of all interested stakeholders.
The objective is to increase the use of Fair Trademark label on fashion and intimate apparels imported into Canada by 25% over the next five years while promoting the idea of free Canada market economy but protecting the rights of foreign workers, health and safety of the Canada consumers, the environment, the rights of companies to generate profit and also creating jobs in different sectors.
The Philanthropic model holds that businesses although free to contribute to social causes however do not have a strict obligation to do so (DesJardins, 2011). The decision is solely up to La Senza and other similar brands and if their responsibility is to their shareholders then they may continue to exploit less developed countries in their bid to find even cheaper cost saving measures the end product may be unsafe products. Some of their customers have reported developing a rash after wearing their bras. Therefore it is highly beneficial for them to adopt the Fair Trademark label in order to assure their customers that their safety is their number one priority. while the Economic model holds that their role as a business is to maximize profit (DesJardins, 2011) and adopting a policy to avoid supplier not conforming to the Fair Trade standard may be costly for them in the short run, La Senza in the long run stand to maximize is profit with the increase of customer base this will bring because of the transparency, trust and loyalty it builds. From a stakeholders’ perspective, one way to help workers is for customers to send a message to retailers that they would not buy products made under equitable conditions by buying only goods with the words "Fair Trade" or "Fairly Traded". As consumers we can make the company accountable by reporting breaches in the company’s code of conduct through correspondence urging it to live up to its stated commitments. Although consumers typically do not associate sustainability with fashion, they are however open to environmental issues but need to be educated about the need for sustainability in order to alter their perceptions and attitudes. If the company decides to take its business back into Canada, the workers in host countries will lose jobs. Consumers purchasing preferences also have an impact on workers. Consumers identify the country-of-origin from the brand names and consumer perceptions of quality and product evaluations. While some consumers, are unaware of how their consumption impacts the society at large others are aware that personal consumption nurtures an organization production habit maintaining this cycle. It is also important to recognize that every time customers buy imported goods, they are indirectly supporting all practices associated with importing the products into Canada.
Some may argue that the best step is to promote Canada made goods by providing government subsidy not only to support the Canadian economy and create self-sufficiency and sustainability, reduce environmental concerns and the health and safety of you and your family. Others may decide on the imposition of heavy import tax to deter imports for goods that are luxury items that can be locally produced. Deciding what goods to consider may not always be easy. What may be considered by one customer as a luxury good may not be for another. Suppose that, even with appropriate taxes or subsidies, imported goods are still be cheaper than local produce, should La Senza continue to produce locally or customers buy local, just to reduce the environmental impacts? Cheap price item indicates better efficiency. To reduce the environmental impacts, Canada should invest its limited resources in areas in which they would have a greater effect. Companies should import goods that are cheaper for them and customers should buy these cheap goods and the money saved used to make a much bigger difference elsewhere. The difficulty arises in deciding if benefits for the greater number exceed costs to the lesser few.
In order to help maintain CSR through all levels of the supply chain, individual and companies should have access to information on the workers, trade unions, human right groups, etc. in the supplier home countries. Also companies using the same suppliers can collaborate in order to achieve change. Companies can insist on the suppliers implementing a code of conduct similar to their own. Consumers have the responsibility of asking if profits are used to develop more ethical sourcing practices and the media can play a key role in informing the public on both the realities of the industry and what actions are being taken to improve all practices associated with importing foreign goods into Canada. It is the responsibility of every Canadian to join in and work together in solving the problems.
The debate still continues on the ethics of importing or outsourcing production. I for one do not think that as a consumer purchasing and using the item makes me unethical or a company looking to maximize its profit by reducing cost is unethical. We must remember the business of any business is itself the business of profit. Where the question of ethics comes in is if as a consumer I continue to purchase from companies not leaving up to their code of conduct or as a company I continually patronize suppliers or conduct businesses with supplier I know are in violation of human rights, use harmful products or are unethical in their practices. While all stakeholders’ views must be considered, it is also important to consider the customer’s right to choose and La Senza’s right to achieve its bottom line (profit).

REFERENCES
Canada's state of trade: Trade and investment update 2012. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.international.gc.ca/economist-economiste/performance/state-point/state_2012_point/2012_7.aspx?lang=eng
DesJardins, J. (2011). An introduction to business ethics. (Fourth ed ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages.

Industry Canada. (2011). Apparel industry profile. Retrieved from website: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/026.nsf/eng/h_00070.html La Senza inc.. Retrieved from http://www.http://www.momentis.com/la-senza-inc/