Josie Kittrell
January 16, 2022
2-2 Journal
1) What is the name of the company you chose?
American Apparel
2) A company's mission is a statement that explains the purpose for the company's
existence. Based on the information provided in the case study, what is the mission of
your chosen company? Support your response with information from the case.
Their goal is to value workers by creating popular clothing pieces for consumers
without the use of cheap labor. The case study states, "American Apparel's mission
was to make great quality clothing without using cheap "sweatshop" labor and
exploiting workers... our goal is to make garments that people love to wear without
having to rely on cheap labor...".
3) A company's values inform the methods it uses to accomplish its mission. These are
often called the company's code of ethics or code of conduct. Based on the information
provided in the case study, what are your chosen company's values? Support your
response with information from the case.
According to the CEO Dov Charney and stated in the study,
'American Apparel is about vision, passion, intensity, brand-free, sustainable, fair
wages, solar power, recycling, creativity and the can-do spirit."
These are their values -- what the company is built off of and continues their success.
4) Discuss two or three of the biggest challenges your chosen company is facing. Support
your response with information from the case.
As mentioned in the case, one of the biggest challenges faced was the several
controversial sexual lawsuits faced by Charney. Although he was never found guilty of anything,
that is still detrimental to a company and career. Another challenge they faced was experiencing
their "worst financial year" ever in 2013. This left them drowning in a pool of debt. "The
company had difficulties transitioning to a new distribution center, which led to a significant
increase in operating costs, while deliveries were disrupted." (American Apparel: Drowning in
Debt) Debt's not easy to come back from. It takes a lot of work -- it can put a toll on any business
or individual person.
Reference:
American Apparel: Drowning in Debt? Harvard Business Publishing Education. (2016, April 14). Retrieved January 17, 2022, from https://hbsp.harvard.edu/