Louis Vuitton Issues - Essay Example

Louis Vuitton Name Course Institution Date Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Company is a French company commonly abbreviated as LV. It has been in existence since 18th century. The company specializes in a wide range of products including shoes, sunglasses, watches, jewelry and other kinds of leather goods. The company is regarded as the world’s most valuable brand. The company has operations in all parts of the world. With improved profitability and revenue, the company has been expanding very fast. This is not meant to suggest that the company has not been facing challenges. LV being a famous brand around the globe, it is the most counterfeited brand in the fashion industry. The company has spent a substantial amount of money in the bid to prevent counterfeiting of its products. Over time, the company has entered into partnerships with different global leaders in fashion products as a channel of reinforcing its brand and strengthening its dominance in the international markets. The mere existence of organizations is to serve its stakeholders. This is through delivery of quality goods and services. At the same time, companies are also expected to meet the needs of other stakeholders who are not directly involved in the consumption of goods and services provided by the organization. Considering the fact that companies exist amongst people, there is a way in which they influence the people around (Kotler & Lee 2004, 21-48). This can be either positively or negatively. Organizations are urged to be socially responsible. This has been discovered to be one of the most possible, which means a company can use to gain publicity. This is through supporting activities that foster social, economic or environmental sustainability. In the same way, the activities undertaken by the company may end up affecting the community negatively. For instance, companies that are involved in some kind of manufacturing affect the community negatively through different forms of pollution. At the same time, companies whose goods are not up to the desired standards end up affecting the consumer (DeGeorge 2009, 191). LV may not have been ranked as the most socially responsible company, but it has done a lot to improve the welfare of humanity. The company has been proactively involved in supporting disadvantaged group of children around the world. Through a program termed as Partnership for Children Future, the company has been pursuing sponsorship of the education for these children around the world (Kapferer & Bastien 2009, 319). The program begun in 2010 and is specifically directed to SOS children’s villages. The decision for the company to sponsor these children is based on understanding the significance of education to the young generation. It is aimed to deal with life issues appropriately. It is simply giving hope to the weak currently in the society. This program is running in a number of countries including India. In 2011, the company took part in construction of a magnificent day-care center for children in Vietnam. This is not all that the company has been doing in relation to supporting disadvantaged people. During the same year, the company was again involved in renovation of SOS Mother and Training facility in Dominican Republic. In 2012, the company has also been very active in supporting les-privileged in Philippines. In line with this, the company raised $500,000 to support projects aimed at improving the welfare of the children in Philippines (SOS-Children Villages International 2012). Such plans are mainly meant to facilitate access to education by the disadvantaged children. At the same time, plans were underway as at 2012 to launch more projects in other countries. Disadvantaged children in South Korea were expected to benefit from such plans. The company had laid down strategies to finance educational facilities in the country. The new projects were to be opened in many other countries including Indonesia and Venezuela (SOS-Children Villages International 2012). The company has done all this to emphasize its commitment to ensuring the right of children to access education is protected. The company has set down some plans that will enable it to reach many other countries within a short period of time (SOS-Children Villages International 2012). This is indeed is expected to be achieved within a short period of time.（Could u pls indicate that where are these information u get?reference? ） Moreover, the company has been proactive not only to the outsiders, but also the employees. LV is amongst many companies whose working programs are very friendly. The company has put in place so many programs aimed at ensuring that employees are fully motivated. First, the company has ensured that there is no discrimination when it comes to employment (Hartman 2004, 72-88). The company ensures that people are employed based on professional qualifications and ethics. This affects all activities related to employment including remuneration, training, working condition, etc. One way which has been preferred for making working conditions is having flexible working hours. There are times where employees are allowed to handle their tasks far away from work as long as they can submit appropriately. At the same time, a lot has been put into place to ensure that all employees are in good working conditions. For instance, the company’s branch in the UK has a return program for the women from maternity leave. This is meant to ensure that they fit into the organization easily. Women returning from maternity leave are allowed to work for 3 days a week for a period of about 2 months. The company believes that doing it progressively will enable women to return to work easily. What has been discussed above is just part of what this company has been doing for quite some time to improve the welfare of different members of the society. The child sponsorship programis aimed at completely changing the course of the society. It clearly demonstrates how the company is able to go out of its usual business to support needy cases in the society (Luo & Bhattacharya 2006, 1-18). This has been found to be one the most effective approaches that the company can use to gain publicity. Louis Vuitton being a famous brand, sponsorship of such programs to the less-fortunate children works to strengthen the brand name and image of the company. At all means, the company wants to reflect a positive outlook to potential customers. This is perfectly reflected in the activities which the company has been taking part in. The same is when it comes to activities directed at the employees. They are all meant for the well-being of the company. It helps build better working relationships and conditions not just in the short-term, but in the long run as well. Negatives In spite of the contribution the company has been making towards the society, there are issues that remain to be of great concern relating to the company’s operations and products. One of the problems is that the company has been unsuccessful in curbing counterfeiting of its products (Waters 2012). Louis Vuitton has been found to be the most faked product in the world. It is worried to the genuine customers. Failure to take care of this issue may take company in a back process. Fake products have caused a lot of distress to many consumers all over the world (Waters 2012). So many cases were reported especially between 2001 and 2008 of customers who used counterfeit body products related to LV whose health was seriously affected. (Could u pls add the reference about the resource of these data ?) In the same way, the company has priced its products highly. The beauty and fashion products from LV cannot be bought by low-income consumers. The products are highly priced and therefore they target mostly the high-income consumers. For this reason, the company has struggled in its venture into some international market. For instance, the company’s success in developing countries has not been easy. This is because the brand is adjusted on quality and therefore high price. So far, the countries where the company has been counted as successful are mainly developed countries like the UK, USA, German, Japan, etc. This is disadvantaging the company in different ways. For instance, because of the perception of high quality, many fraudsters have taken advantage to come up with counterfeit products all over the world. When consumers buy these products, unknown consequences await them since the products have not been certified by relevant bodies. This is what the company must deal with to ensure that its products do not lose their authenticity. The discussions above relateto a number of issues that actually define the position of LV in the market. It shows that the company has actually done a lot in relation to supporting the society. Nevertheless, it is important for the company to adjust the issues that are tainting the name of the company. Top on the list is for the company to ensure that the company deals with the issue of counterfeit products. This has haunted the affairs of the business worldwide. Considering that Louis Vuitton is the top brand in the fashion industry, counterfeits are destroying the name of the company. Dealing with the menace of counterfeit will communicate the dedication of the company in ensuring quality products for the consumers. This is meant for the good of the society. The concern of the company to ensure only genuine products are sold in the market is part of the positive contributions to the society. It is upon the company to set aside enough funds for litigation fees meant to deal with counterfeit cases. This is the best the company can do to ensure safeguarding of the welfare of its consumers. The trend that is exhibited by LV is supposed to be emulated by other organization. Supporting the course of the society is indeed very important to society. The current business environment is very dynamic characterized by the ever-changing needs of consumers. Businesses are able to have a competitive advantage over other players through social responsibility activities. Effective social responsibility can help organizations attract investors to support the activities of the organization. It is the best way to express long term thinking on the side of the organization. It is believed that organizations which are active in supporting corporate social responsibility are seen to be having long term thinking. This explains why organizations are concerned about corporate social responsibility. References DeGeorge, Robert. 2009. Business Ethics, 7th Ed. New York: Pearson. 188-217. Ferrell, O. Chris, Fraedrich, James. & Ferrel, Carl. 2010. Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making & Cases, Mason: Cengage Learning. 318-347. Fionda, Antoinette. M., &Moore, Christopher. M. 2009. The Anatomy of a Luxury Fashion Brand. Journal of Brand Management, 16, 347‐363. Gray, R., Owen, D. and Maunders, K. 1987.Corporate Social Reporting: Accounting and Accountability. London: Prentice-Hall. Hartman, Lin. 2004.Perspectives in Business Ethics. New York: McGraw-Hill. 72-88. Kapferer , J . N .and Bastien, V . 2009.“The specificity of luxury management: Turning marketing upside down”, Journal of Brand Management. 16, 311 –322. Kotler, Philip and Lee, Nancy. 2004. 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The Age of Responsibility: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business. New Jersey: Wiley. Waters, C 2012, Smart Company, Louis Vuitton heads to Federal Court to take on alleged counterfeiters, accessed on 24th of March, 2014 from Read More