Assignment

Please read chapters 5 in text book (International Business - Competing in the Global Marketplace 9th ed. by Charles W. L. Hill) and present a 4 page paper on the case Knights Apparel and answer the following questions:

1. The case states that higher wage rates at the Alta Gracia factory have raised the cost per item by 20 percent. Can you see any in which the philosophy with regard to pay and conditions at Alta Gracia might lower costs in the long run?

2. Do you think Joseph Bozich would have been able to try the Alta Gracia experiment if Knights Apparel was a publicly traded enterprise?

3. What do you think might stand in the way of Alta Gracia becoming successful? What strategies might Bozich adopt to minimize the risk of failure while still adhering to his high ethical standards?

4. Alta Gracia serves a niche market, colleges, where there is higher awareness of ethical issues in apparel production. Do you think the strategy would work if the company tried to sell to the mass market through retailers such as Walmart?

5. Is it ethical for apparel companies to move production around the world in pursuit of the lowest possible labor costs, even if that means paying wage rate that are below a living wage? What if the alternative is not to produce at all?

6. To what extent does the Alta Gracia experiment suggest that good ethics are also good business practice?