I am not an economist, I am just a consumer but for me I have the power to change the economy. Economists can predict, make nice models, advertising bureau's can make nice campaigns to try to convince a consumer to buy their product but eventually its the correctly informed consumer who decides if he/she will buy a certain product.
- Thread starter A.Hidalgo
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Capitalism with a heart.
Go here Alta Gracia and you can sign up to find out exactly when the clothes hits the shelves. I for one would be willing to buy for some of these T shirts. While some may have their minds set on how capitalism works others are trying to humanize it.
Market irony
These shirts will be marked to university students, who are willing to pay a bit more for green, organic, free-trade products.
Ironically, a significant number of these college students in the U.S. are going to school on government-guaranteed student loans, are attending state universities partially subsidized by state governments, or have parents paying part of their education and/or living expenses.
(I am unknowledgeable about university funding in other nations, I must admit.)
This is a product for a niche market, and I hope it is successful. And by making people aware of the conditions and payments of workers, perhaps the people behind this product can make a contribution in changing the world.
I am enjoying the debate / discussion regarding ecnomics on here.
These shirts will be marked to university students, who are willing to pay a bit more for green, organic, free-trade products.
Ironically, a significant number of these college students in the U.S. are going to school on government-guaranteed student loans, are attending state universities partially subsidized by state governments, or have parents paying part of their education and/or living expenses.
(I am unknowledgeable about university funding in other nations, I must admit.)
This is a product for a niche market, and I hope it is successful. And by making people aware of the conditions and payments of workers, perhaps the people behind this product can make a contribution in changing the world.
I am enjoying the debate / discussion regarding ecnomics on here.
With any consumer product, a given consumer's behavior usually lies somewhere on a bell-shaped curve based on price and perceived quality. Paying more for an item would bias toward the price component.
I would suspect Knight's niche is on the upper outlier, high price/high quality. But most consumers tend to be high quality/low price, or as close to that ratio as they can get. This would be especially true in a market with a dearth of cash.
The Big Box discount stores are huge for a reason: consumers vote with their pocket books with a bias toward lower price.
If Knight put $18 T-shirts in WallyWorld, I doubt they'd sell as many as in college bookstores. But WallyWorld sells a hell of a lot more T-shirts overall.
Keep in mind these are souvineer T-shirts, too. They are "officially licensed" teamwear. So the NCAA and college is getting a licensing fee also. Between that and the "social responsibility" they are marketing, much of the component of the price can be considered somewhat of a charitible contribution.
But the economic KEY for Knight will be incremental production efficiency for the incremental labor cost. If they don't get some scale on that, they may have problems.
And....
in addition to the incremental production efficiency you mention, Knights will also need increased sales to absorb that increased production.
Can it be done? The answer is yes. In fact, it has been done before. Henry Ford doubled wages when he began mass producing automobiles, the so called $5.00 day for workers. A capitalist, first and foremost, he not only recognized the need to raise wages for the social good, but he now needed buyers to afford all those autos he was producing.
While the circumstances here are very different, and I do believe the economic downside risk in the local economy is much greater, it will be interesting to see Knight's progress this time next year.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
in addition to the incremental production efficiency you mention, Knights will also need increased sales to absorb that increased production.
Can it be done? The answer is yes. In fact, it has been done before. Henry Ford doubled wages when he began mass producing automobiles, the so called $5.00 day for workers. A capitalist, first and foremost, he not only recognized the need to raise wages for the social good, but he now needed buyers to afford all those autos he was producing.
While the circumstances here are very different, and I do believe the economic downside risk in the local economy is much greater, it will be interesting to see Knight's progress this time next year.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
Assembly line......
That's funny, my friend brought up the Henry Ford point last night, that guy was WAY AHEAD OF HIS TIME.............in addition to the incremental production efficiency you mention, Knights will also need increased sales to absorb that increased production.
Can it be done? The answer is yes. In fact, it has been done before. Henry Ford doubled wages when he began mass producing automobiles, the so called $5.00 day for workers. A capitalist, first and foremost, he not only recognized the need to raise wages for the social good, but he now needed buyers to afford all those autos he was producing.
While the circumstances here are very different, and I do believe the economic downside risk in the local economy is much greater, it will be interesting to see Knight's progress this time next year.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
the idea of "fair trade" is not new - it has certainly worked wonders in the coffee market http://www.transfairusa.org/pdfs/fastfacts_coffee.pdf
So I do not think that Alta Gracia is cutting a road through a jungle but following a well travelled path-- one which (I hope) does become the "morally right" one--
So I do not think that Alta Gracia is cutting a road through a jungle but following a well travelled path-- one which (I hope) does become the "morally right" one--
And remember, Ford had a high margin product with few competitors, a sign of an early innovator in the product life cycle.Can it be done? The answer is yes. In fact, it has been done before. Henry Ford doubled wages when he began mass producing automobiles, the so called $5.00 day for workers. A capitalist, first and foremost, he not only recognized the need to raise wages for the social good, but he now needed buyers to afford all those autos he was producing.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
Even at the higer wages, I doubt many of Knight's workers would buy an $18 T-shirt.
It's an interesting efffort to bust a local economic paradigm...
in addition to the incremental production efficiency you mention, Knights will also need increased sales to absorb that increased production.
Can it be done? The answer is yes. In fact, it has been done before. Henry Ford doubled wages when he began mass producing automobiles, the so called $5.00 day for workers. A capitalist, first and foremost, he not only recognized the need to raise wages for the social good, but he now needed buyers to afford all those autos he was producing.
While the circumstances here are very different, and I do believe the economic downside risk in the local economy is much greater, it will be interesting to see Knight's progress this time next year.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
Can it be done? Yes, if Knights is willing to give up a bit more of its own profit and lower the prices of its products so that more people are willing to buy. Thats another way that works perfectly and the example can be found in the States where a high fashion designer has a very success full business with high profile t-shirts which he sells to classy shops at a very reasonable price. Hhe is paying his workers a very descent salary and due to the reasonable pricing of his design t-shirts who fly out of the shops, he is still making a lot of profit for himself.
speaking of coffee - has anyone seen this Dominican Fair Trade coffee for sale here?
Organic Dominican Republic Coffee - $1.99 Shipping or $10 Off - Fresh Roasted & Shipped Daily - CoffeeAM
I know that the Haitian Bleu has a great following in the US...
Organic Dominican Republic Coffee - $1.99 Shipping or $10 Off - Fresh Roasted & Shipped Daily - CoffeeAM
I know that the Haitian Bleu has a great following in the US...
They have agreed to triple workers salaries...
which will already negatively impact the bottom line....and then you suggest that they give up a bit more of their own profit and lower their prices....on an unbranded, non high fashion designer product. These are generic college T-shirts not Ralph Lauren, Vera Wang, etc. While I am not an expert in soft goods margins, I do understand the need to be profitable to stay in business.
You cannot command high prices on a T-shirt unless your brand is a) one that is already recognized as either high quality or b) is fashion trendy either by style, recognized social cause, or c) is an already recognized and sought after brand name. It would appear that Knight, as of yet, has not accomplished any of these things.
They do little good for their cause or their workers if they give too much away and are forced to close.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
which will already negatively impact the bottom line....and then you suggest that they give up a bit more of their own profit and lower their prices....on an unbranded, non high fashion designer product. These are generic college T-shirts not Ralph Lauren, Vera Wang, etc. While I am not an expert in soft goods margins, I do understand the need to be profitable to stay in business.
You cannot command high prices on a T-shirt unless your brand is a) one that is already recognized as either high quality or b) is fashion trendy either by style, recognized social cause, or c) is an already recognized and sought after brand name. It would appear that Knight, as of yet, has not accomplished any of these things.
They do little good for their cause or their workers if they give too much away and are forced to close.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
Well, its how you look upon it of course.
I, for myself would buy the t-shirts of Knights to support that initiative but on a long term basis, they will finish themselves of by demanding a too high price for their t-shirts and placing themselves in such a narrow niche market that their sales will not be enough to sustain the business at all.
I, for myself would buy the t-shirts of Knights to support that initiative but on a long term basis, they will finish themselves of by demanding a too high price for their t-shirts and placing themselves in such a narrow niche market that their sales will not be enough to sustain the business at all.
I will buy the T-shirts too. It is nice to see somebody different instead of the usual "let's profit exploiting someone else, they will do it for that chump change, why would I want to pay more even if they are getting food with that money" rethoric which drives me crazy. Instead of wanting a 50% profit, the company may well take a 40% profit and help their employees in the process.
That's why unions are important (Yeah I know there are lots of them which help themselves and not the worker), because if it wasn't for them the employer would always strive to reduce payroll related costs to the minimum in order to "maximize" profits.
That's why unions are important (Yeah I know there are lots of them which help themselves and not the worker), because if it wasn't for them the employer would always strive to reduce payroll related costs to the minimum in order to "maximize" profits.
You think they see their employees as their main market? Give me a break. Those people are struggling to get ahead, to get out of that zinc house.
They are still pulling up a profit, why hate on that? because it goes against the principles that you belief in? Which is to exploit the people in order to reduce cost (maximize profits), without caring if that person is going forward or is just stuck on a treadmill? Payroll costs can't get out of control but if you are pulling a humongous profit there is nothing wrong on raising the wages to your employees. Keep in mind they are still paying less of what they would be paying in the US Job Market, so they are still saving money, so why keep insisting on hiring people to the bare minimum??
I don't believe CB has ever advocated either directly or indirectly exploiting people. I will not presume to know what CB's overall principles that you assume you know, but I believe they are not like this. The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality by Ludwig von Mises, Section 1 - - Mises Institute It seems like you are the anti-capitalist without understanding the principles.
Don't you know what they say about assumptions?
I totally understand and support capitalism. What I don't support is extreme capitalism or "maximize profits" at all costs. But anyhow with you extreme right wing guys anything a little bit different is automatically "communism".
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I never called you a communist or anything such. I just noticed a trend in your posts that seems to equate capitalism with expoitation. I am anything but extreme right wing. I'm sure I've belonged to several unions more than you.
euhmmm... anybody consider the success of Ikea??? Their policy is to make their employees profit from their success... so they pay wages slightly over the market rate... but do demand high dedication of their employees...
They have several policies, variating from country to country, in which employees benefit from the year-end result...
I know they stunted in Belgium, 2 years ago, by telling their employees, that all profits, generated on the 24th of December, would be divided between the employees (80%), and charitable causes (20%)....
They only asked that the employees worked for free that day, and that their pay would depend on the profits made... It was a huge success... Each employee took, on average, more than 20-fold, on what they would make on an average working day...
Ikea, in my opinion, is a huge company, making lousy furniture, which you have to assemble yourself with a manual which makes no sense at all, at high prices.... nevertheless they are hugely successful, and no, not all of this success can be due to their fabulous meatballs...
In my opinion Knights has kind of the right idea... personally, I would prefer to let the personnel profit from the profits made by the company, instead of paying higher wages immediately, and I would like to see the company doing this without charging higher prices for their end-products...
By this they will not be creating a potentially "dangerous" imbalance in the market, and they will give their people an incentive to perform well...
If that scheme works, and because of this the afore-mentioned companies B &C (which btw is the largest company in the world of producing cheap publicity t-shirts... lol, and has nothing to do with this thread), get into trouble... so be it... and they will not go bankrupt if they, in turn, adapt...
They have several policies, variating from country to country, in which employees benefit from the year-end result...
I know they stunted in Belgium, 2 years ago, by telling their employees, that all profits, generated on the 24th of December, would be divided between the employees (80%), and charitable causes (20%)....
They only asked that the employees worked for free that day, and that their pay would depend on the profits made... It was a huge success... Each employee took, on average, more than 20-fold, on what they would make on an average working day...
Ikea, in my opinion, is a huge company, making lousy furniture, which you have to assemble yourself with a manual which makes no sense at all, at high prices.... nevertheless they are hugely successful, and no, not all of this success can be due to their fabulous meatballs...
In my opinion Knights has kind of the right idea... personally, I would prefer to let the personnel profit from the profits made by the company, instead of paying higher wages immediately, and I would like to see the company doing this without charging higher prices for their end-products...
By this they will not be creating a potentially "dangerous" imbalance in the market, and they will give their people an incentive to perform well...
If that scheme works, and because of this the afore-mentioned companies B &C (which btw is the largest company in the world of producing cheap publicity t-shirts... lol, and has nothing to do with this thread), get into trouble... so be it... and they will not go bankrupt if they, in turn, adapt...