Overview Aldo Group

Welcome to a day in the life of David Bensadoun, president and CEO of Aldo Group, the fashion footwear, and accessories company in Canada. As CEO, everyday David faces ethical dilemma as he tries to make decisions in the best interest of Aldos and its various stakeholders.

Much of the appeal of Aldos products is based on their association with famous athletes but paying these celebrities to endorse your products adds millions of dollars a year to the cost of doing business. Youre also in a ferociously competitive, trend-driven industry, where you can drop off the public radar practically overnight if you dont invest heavily in constant promotion. Plus, many of your products are technically innovative, which requires ongoing research and development. Finally, consumers want to be able to buy your products from thousands of retail outlets, at a moments notice, wherever they like to shop, so you must keep a vast distribution network supplied with inventory.

In addition to all these costs, you still have to pay to make the products. You could make your products in Canada, with its comparatively high labor costs, but this would force you to raise prices to sustain the profit margin your investors expect in return for the money they have entrusted to you. Of course, if you raise prices too high, consumers will decide that, as cool as your products are, they can get a better deal from your competitors. Or you could move production to a country with significantly lower labor costs, taking the pressure off your prices and profit margins and allowing you to maintain high levels of investments in other areas.

Looks great on paper, but you know that every decision in business involves trade-offs. Moving production overseas can be problematic and you are fully aware that people are going to hold you accountable for the performance and behavior of these business partners, even if they are independent.

PLEASE ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS IN YOUR OWN WORDS

1 The outsourcing and offshoring controversy continues. As the CEO of Aldo explain three reasons why you would consider a) outsourcing some functions and b) offshoring some of your functions c) is there a difference between outsourcing and offshoring?

2. Aldo must balance the competing demands of shareholders, employees, suppliers, advocacy groups, and government as it charts a path for strong growth. a) Please explain two responsibilities that Aldo has to each of the five stakeholders listed b) Is there a difference between stakeholders and shareholders, explain.

3. Total Quality Management (TQM) is an approach to quality assurance that encompasses every aspect of a companys operations. Explain how Aldo could use TQM to continuously improve five systems/processes within the company.