Victoria Rip
Name of the Instructor
Business and Management
10 January 2020
Essay
There are billions of things being manufactured in factories in a single day. Each product being manufactured is related to human consumption in one way or another. People make use of these things, and there comes a time, when these consumption products are of no benefit to humans. As an end product, these belongings becomes part of the waste. These waste products along with other stuff becomes part of the residual, which threatens the environment of Earth. One such aspect in the waste material is related to clothing. This waste material released from clothing industry threaten the environment as well. Around ninety seven percent of the clothes, being consumed in the US, are being manufactured overseas. The world garment industry employs more than forty million people throughout the world. Half of these workers associated with the garment manufacturing industry have no privileges like related to sound health and safety environment, as people in the West have. This worst conditions is enough to get an idea, how worst the conditions in clothing industry are.
The human factor in the clotting industry is also worse. The employees working there are paid less, and are subject to inhumane conditions. These workers work for long hours, and have to face the worst health conditions of the working places as well. Employee’s rights violation is also a norm in these industries and the worst of all is the child labor which the owners of small garment factories employee. Since the world has now been introduced with a new world called globalization which has knitted each aspect to the things happening outside a particular spectrum. This globalization has benefitted the fashion industry, manly the clothing sector in number of ways. People have started recognizing the fact that fashion industry is not just related to sewed clothes, rather it encompasses the workers working in the field, a washman, a sales person and the consumer as well. Each of this person adds a diverse aspect to this market, which signifies the importance of a globalized world.
The success of each person can be gauged from the fact the fashion industry has become one of the leading industry and now generates a profit of $3 trillion in a year, in the US alone. This trillion dollar industry employs very different ways of working, for example, it has introduced a brand system, which has been a massive success in getting consumer attention. But despite all these good things it has done for the people of this world, there are some negative aspects attached to it as well which have been highlighted by the True Cost documentary. The proceeding paragraphs will now include the social, economic, ethical and philosophical issues attached to this industry which have been highlighted by this documentary. This documentary is about the ready wears, which is one of the largest consuming item in the world. It also highlights the negative social, ethical and philosophical impact this industry has on the environment.
Social Issues
The film has highlighted both the production and the consumption side of the clothing industry. It portrays an idea that since humans have started using clothing items more regularly, therefore, some disposable items have been introduced in the market. This disposable industry has eliminated the concept of two or three season wears. Interestingly, a study suggest that based on the new fashion trends being introduced every week, around seventy six seasons are being considered when introducing a new trend in the market. This season wise distribution along with new trends being introduced, suggest that around eighty billion pieces of new clothes are manufactured each year, which is four hundred times more than the previous decade ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"dZ6wEd51","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Ozdamar-Ertekin)","plainCitation":"(Ozdamar-Ertekin)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":356,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/8reWiRZH/items/J83XA8JF"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/8reWiRZH/items/J83XA8JF"],"itemData":{"id":356,"type":"article-journal","container-title":"Markets, Globalization & Development Review","issue":"3","source":"Google Scholar","title":"The True Cost: The Bitter Truth behind Fast Fashion","title-short":"The True Cost","volume":"2","author":[{"family":"Ozdamar-Ertekin","given":"Zeynep"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Ozdamar-Ertekin). As each day, millions of new clothes are being manufactured therefore, the rate of dumping is gradually becoming proportional to manufacturing, which shows a serious negative trend ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"1lz2SNt7","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Ozdamar-Ertekin)","plainCitation":"(Ozdamar-Ertekin)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":356,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/8reWiRZH/items/J83XA8JF"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/8reWiRZH/items/J83XA8JF"],"itemData":{"id":356,"type":"article-journal","container-title":"Markets, Globalization & Development Review","issue":"3","source":"Google Scholar","title":"The True Cost: The Bitter Truth behind Fast Fashion","title-short":"The True Cost","volume":"2","author":[{"family":"Ozdamar-Ertekin","given":"Zeynep"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Ozdamar-Ertekin). True Cost suggest that this increasing trend of consumption is related with the economic system and is based on consumer capitalism which is strengthening materialism. .
Ethical Issues
As mentioned earlier, there is a large number of workers of different ages, associated with the garment industry. These workers had been working in inhumane conditions, which are against many international conventions ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"WyVTGnTE","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Banerjee and Munshi)","plainCitation":"(Banerjee and Munshi)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":348,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/8reWiRZH/items/65RGPPGS"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/8reWiRZH/items/65RGPPGS"],"itemData":{"id":348,"type":"article-journal","container-title":"The Review of Economic Studies","issue":"1","page":"19–42","source":"Google Scholar","title":"How efficiently is capital allocated? Evidence from the knitted garment industry in Tirupur","title-short":"How efficiently is capital allocated?","volume":"71","author":[{"family":"Banerjee","given":"Abhijit"},{"family":"Munshi","given":"Kaivan"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2004"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Banerjee and Munshi). Though, the employers care about the health environment there, but most of these workers die for the health complexities attached to the working places. In addition to this, these workers earn a few dollars which are lowest compared to many different professions ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"byoSwl16","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Banerjee and Munshi)","plainCitation":"(Banerjee and Munshi)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":348,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/8reWiRZH/items/65RGPPGS"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/8reWiRZH/items/65RGPPGS"],"itemData":{"id":348,"type":"article-journal","container-title":"The Review of Economic Studies","issue":"1","page":"19–42","source":"Google Scholar","title":"How efficiently is capital allocated? Evidence from the knitted garment industry in Tirupur","title-short":"How efficiently is capital allocated?","volume":"71","author":[{"family":"Banerjee","given":"Abhijit"},{"family":"Munshi","given":"Kaivan"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2004"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Banerjee and Munshi). Resultantly, these workers are forced to live under impoverished conditions. Such a case has been highlighted by the True Cost documentary ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"gSCUNj3e","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Ozdamar-Ertekin)","plainCitation":"(Ozdamar-Ertekin)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":356,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/8reWiRZH/items/J83XA8JF"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/8reWiRZH/items/J83XA8JF"],"itemData":{"id":356,"type":"article-journal","container-title":"Markets, Globalization & Development Review","issue":"3","source":"Google Scholar","title":"The True Cost: The Bitter Truth behind Fast Fashion","title-short":"The True Cost","volume":"2","author":[{"family":"Ozdamar-Ertekin","given":"Zeynep"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Ozdamar-Ertekin). This case was about 1200 factory workers who were killed in a garment factory blast in Bangladesh. This blast raises many ethical issues, for example, the narrator tells that it was a small area, compared to the number of workers working inside. This ethical dilemma, raise serious questions for the humanitarian organizations working inside Bangladesh and internationally. Though Human Rights Watch had been working against the inhumane working conditions for factory workers, but yet there remains a lot of different things to sort out ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"gDkhRK2N","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Hussain and Javed)","plainCitation":"(Hussain and Javed)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":353,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/8reWiRZH/items/Q47QIX2T"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/8reWiRZH/items/Q47QIX2T"],"itemData":{"id":353,"type":"paper-conference","container-title":"Advances in Manufacturing Technology XXX: Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Manufacturing Research, Incorporating the 31st National Conference on Manufacturing Research, September 6–8, 2016, Loughborough University, UK","page":"237","publisher":"IOS Press","source":"Google Scholar","title":"Ergonomic risk assessment–a case study of a garment manufacturing industry","volume":"3","author":[{"family":"Hussain","given":"Amjad"},{"family":"Javed","given":"Iqra"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2016"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Hussain and Javed).
Economic Issues
Economically, the garment industry is one of the most profiting industry. For less developed countries, the garment industry had been producing large profits, which are estimated to be around $665 billion ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"UnewLmM2","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Toyne et al.)","plainCitation":"(Toyne et al.)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":350,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/8reWiRZH/items/Q8Q3VZ5D"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/8reWiRZH/items/Q8Q3VZ5D"],"itemData":{"id":350,"type":"article-journal","source":"Google Scholar","title":"The global textile industry","author":[{"family":"Toyne","given":"Brian"},{"family":"Arpan","given":"Jeffrey S."},{"family":"Barnett","given":"Andy H."},{"family":"Ricks","given":"David A."},{"family":"Shimp","given":"Terence A."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1984"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Toyne et al.). But the unfortunate fact attached to this industry is its inability to profit an ordinary person. This issue had been highlighted in the True Cost documentary as well in many other publications. The economic experts believe that, since this industry is consumer oriented, therefore it focuses more on the cosmetic changes and not on the real changes. The developers of the True Cost documentary had travelled more than thirteen countries to analyze the influencers and actors involve in making it the most profitable industry. Their results show that since the stake holders in this area has become wide spread, including the marketing expenditures therefore, the end worker has to suffer. The only economic issue in this area is the unequal distribution of the profit.
Philosophical Issues
There is an entire different philosophy of each business around the world. Since marketing is an important aspect attached to the garment business, therefore, a complete philosophy of this business is associated with marketing ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"ouLhGs2f","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Brooks)","plainCitation":"(Brooks)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":352,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/8reWiRZH/items/J53WLKL6"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/8reWiRZH/items/J53WLKL6"],"itemData":{"id":352,"type":"book","publisher":"U of Minnesota Press","source":"Google Scholar","title":"Unraveling the garment industry: Transnational organizing and women's work","title-short":"Unraveling the garment industry","author":[{"family":"Brooks","given":"Ethel Carolyn"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2007"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Brooks). The True Cost has viewed this business with each aspect, which denotes that the general and more traditional business philosophies have less space for the ill attitudes, this business had been passing through. As the latest business philosophies tends to be more consumer oriented, but they have very less space for such unethical dilemmas being followed by the garment factory owners.
Conclusion
The True Cost documentary has presented a general overview of the garment business, throughout the world. It has raised different issues attached to this business, and has suggested that the issue attached is related to the humanitarian aspect, since the humans the end worker is being hurt. This industry calls for immediate attention of the international humanitarian organizations and those who work for bettering health conditions at the work places. Since it is a wide industry, and millions of people are associated with it, therefore, an immediate attention by the requisite organizations or regional intuitions must be called for. As millions of people are related to this beneficial business, that’s why, the general population is tolerating this system. The True Cost documentary is based on real events, therefore, it prioritizes the resolution of basic issues related to human population.
Works Cited:
ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Banerjee, Abhijit, and Kaivan Munshi. “How Efficiently Is Capital Allocated? Evidence from the Knitted Garment Industry in Tirupur.” The Review of Economic Studies, vol. 71, no. 1, 2004, pp. 19–42.
Brooks, Ethel Carolyn. Unraveling the Garment Industry: Transnational Organizing and Women’s Work. U of Minnesota Press, 2007.
Hussain, Amjad, and Iqra Javed. “Ergonomic Risk Assessment–a Case Study of a Garment Manufacturing Industry.” Advances in Manufacturing Technology XXX: Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Manufacturing Research, Incorporating the 31st National Conference on Manufacturing Research, September 6–8, 2016, Loughborough University, UK, vol. 3, IOS Press, 2016, p. 237.
Ozdamar-Ertekin, Zeynep. “The True Cost: The Bitter Truth behind Fast Fashion.” Markets, Globalization & Development Review, vol. 2, no. 3, 2017.
Toyne, Brian, et al. The Global Textile Industry. 1984.
