Hiring on The Basis of Looks: Abercrombie & Fitch Case Study Part III
by Hiring on the basis of looks, appearance or physical attractiveness is nothing new and certain industries have been doing it for years. Although "The Gap" and other companies do it, they employ attractive people from different backgrounds, whereas a company such as A&F, employs only blond, blue-eyed preppies.
Different perspectives of various stakeholders including the company, the employees and potential employees are influenced by this decision and these perspectives must be compared, contrasted and analyzed. What type of actions could the company take to be fairer and meet these ethical obligations, and why must these ethical and public issues be considered in stakeholder relationships?
Is Hiring On Bases Of “Looks” Unfair Or Discriminatory?
Image by laverrue via Flickr
How To Become Less Controversial?
The easiest way to advise Abercrombie and Fitch to be less controversial (which seems like exactly what it does not want to do) is to tell them to do the exact opposite of everything they have been doing all this time. If they change some of their business practices, marketing agendas, and their most unfavorable “look policy” then they will no longer be as controversial as they are now. If they do that then fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your stance) I believe they will not be in business for too much longer. Being controversial in my opinion makes them who they are. The raging mothers, the media focus, and the half naked models that they employee are all a part of Abercrombie and Fitch’s appeal. And without the appeal there will be no company.
The practices that Abercrombie and Fitch need to focus on are not just particularly the controversial ones, but more so the illegal, immoral, and unethical ones. I do understand though that something being considered controversial can be correlated to unethical. For our purposes we will keep them separate. Abercrombie and Fitch, along with a sincere and a long thought out apology, needs to immediately renounce the racist hiring practices right off the bat. This will at least give them a head start in the immoral and unethical practices. Furthermore lawsuits will begin to decrease and the company will be able to protect itself better from future similar lawsuits.
The “A&F look” desperately needs to be rewritten immediately. Though it is understandable that Abercrombie and Fitch are selling a certain image and a certain lifestyle, it needs to understand that people have rights and the company needs to adhere to those rights. For example, they need to understand Muslims wearing headscarves, honor disabled persons and respect people of different races. Finally they need to conduct their practices ethically. Ethical practices include such things as, like the first two practices discussed not being racist, and controlling the “A&F look”. Furthermore, ethical practices include employee treatment, regard for the customer, and finally regard for society. Though difficult with this company due to controversy being the appeal, I believe given the right circumstances and marketing plan Abercrombie is one of the few companies that could pull this off pretty well.
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Post CommentJ.I. Smith
On March 12, 2011 at 9:18 pm
Good article on an interesting topic. It’s obviously a bad thing that they discriminate, but, like you say, they’re selling and image and a lifestyle, so it’s always going to happen nonetheless.
James