Ethical Crises

According to our book Crisis Management in the New Strategy Landscape, an ethical crisis is one that involves behavior by a company which is questionable, but does not necessarily violate the law. Typically, economic motives are linked to unethical and illegal behaviors. With factors like sales, profits and market share placing high amounts of stress on management and employees, it is not uncommon for companies to indulge in unethical behavior.

For a company like Kitson, the most common ethical crisis could result from how their products are manufactured. In a previous blog, I made reference to Camila Elves' handbag line called "Muxo." Elves' line is predominately a leather collection. Unfortunately, leather comes from animals, particularly cattle. I recently came across some unhappy bloggers on Extra.com that were questioning the manufacturing process of "Muxo" leather handbags. According to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) the slaughtering of cattle for leather has become a booming industry. PETA is an animal rights organization that claims to be the largest animal rights group in the world. Since Kitson sells "Muxo" handbags, this could result in a major crisis for the boutique.

Our book states that the best way to deal with an ethical crisis is to prevent it from happening in the first place. To an extent, the organizational culture has the final say on how ethical or unethical decision making will be in the company. In this particular case, PETA has a major role in deciding what practices, in regards to animals, are ethical or not. Kitson should research the manufacturing process of Elves' "Muxo" leather handbags in order to put a lid on cyber gossip. If in fact, Elves' handbags are created from slaughtered animals, I think it would be in Kitson's best interest to drop the line altogether. We discussed that the line isn't selling anyway. So I say, no harm, no foul!

Peace, love & fashion!!