Jake Witson Case

Jake Witson is the Operation Manager of AVANDA, a leading fashion brand with net revenue of $4.4 billion and more than 1,700 stores around the world. During his annual supplier assessment Jake founds out that 2 of their new suppliers in Bangladesh are using child labor. That discovery really saddens Jake and his assistant because these two contractors were actually performing very well in terms of working conditions. He immediately realizes that this situation is unacceptable, not only because it is illegal by international laws, but also because it goes against AVANDA’s internal code.

AVANDA was founded in 1853 by a Bavarian immigrant and since then has been growing steadily. Nowadays it is present in more than 180 countries, with headquarters in San Francisco, Brussels and Singapore, and employs more than 11,400 people worldwide. The key to their success has been, based on words said by the company’s directors, their commitment to their core values (and how they interact); empathy, originality, integrity and courage. In line with its values, AVANDA has 156-experience of corporate citizenship leaded by the motto “profits through principles”, with remarkable achievements, such as being the first Fortune 500 company to extend full medical benefits to domestic partners of employees. Perhaps, the most important one is the “Global Sourcing and Operating Guidelines”, a code of conduct that guides the decisions and behaviors of the company everywhere they do business. This code is divided in two parts: The Country Assessment Guidelines, which addresses large, external issues beyond the control of AVANDA’s individual partners, and The Business Partner Terms of Engagement (TOE), which deals with issues that are substantially controllable by individual business partners. These two sections cover several aspects-such as human rights, health and safety conditions, community involvement, etc.