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  • Geebo 8:00 am on April 1, 2019 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: assault rifle, Businessethics, Dick's Sporting Goods, firearms, , ,   

    What a company with a conscience looks like 

    What a company with a conscience looks like

    A lot of companies will try to fool you into believing that they’re socially conscious. They’ll tell consumers that if they buy a certain product the company will donate a certain percentage to a charity. That puts the onus on the consumer rather than the company especially since the company has probably marked up the price on the product in order to not lose profits. Very rarely do you see a company saying that they donated X amount of dollars to a charity just because it was something they actually believed in. Dick’s Sporting Goods is not one of those companies as they actually put their money where their mouth is.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_OgkpF4P7Y%5D

    Before we get started, let’s get the semantic arguments out of the way. An ‘assault rifle’ is not a fully automatic machine gun. One pull of the trigger equals one bullet being fired from the gun. However, with many assault rifles, a 30-round high-capacity magazine can be emptied in a matter of seconds rendering the distinction virtually moot.

    With that out of the way, Dick’s Sporting Goods announced last year in the wake of the Parkland School Shooting that they would no longer be selling assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines, and would no longer sell firearms to anybody under the age of 21. Dick’s CEO Ed Stack said the following…

    “The system does not work,” Stack said. “It’s important that when you know there’s something that’s not working, and it’s to the detriment of the public, you have to stand up.”

    And stand up they did as the removal of these firearms from their shelves cost the company $150 million in profits. Now, the 2nd Amendment crowd may be declaring the end of Dick’s Sporting Goods as many gun rights groups like the NRA have boycotted Dick’s. However, Dick’s overall financial standing couldn’t be better as their stock price has increased since the assault rifle removal.

    Many critic’s of Dick’s have said that their stance has not stopped mass shootings in this country, but they forget that at least Dick’s isn’t contributing to the problem. Meanwhile, The NRA is in trouble of shutting down if their hyperbolic rhetoric is to be believed.

    Times are changing in America and you could either change with them or be left behind.

     
    • John 4:43 pm on April 19, 2020 Permalink

      Get lost DICK’S. Ever hear of the 2nd Amendment? And btw you DID just lose a customer. Hopefully, you’ll lose a lot more and you have to file BK. Good riddance!

    • Geebo 8:29 am on April 20, 2020 Permalink

      While you’re free to vote with your consumer dollars as you see fit, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that Dick’s business has been on the rise since discontinuing these items.

  • Greg Collier 5:13 pm on March 11, 2012 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Businessethics, Causebasedmarketing, Ethics, Socialmedia   

    Social responsibility: Yes, supporting a cause can be good for business 

    Sometimes, change can be good. And I’m starting to understand that advocating for change can also be good for business.

    As the founder and CEO of Geebo, I’ve made some business decisions in the past that tie more to my ethical and moral beliefs than they do to a bottom line. I’ve written in the past about how being an investor-free company allows me to make decisions that sometimes aren’t necessarily in-line with boosting the bottom line. 

    It wasn’t until I attended a Business Insider Social Summit last month that I came across a group of people who not only advocated for “doing good” as part of a business strategy but noted how those efforts can also be good for the bottom line. 

    Call it cause-based marketing, if you will. The panelists at the summit spoke of the large consumer market that not only supports companies that are committed to good causes but also may be willing to punish companies that don’t actively support good causes. How do they punish those companies? Carol Cone, a panelist representing Edelman Business and Social Purpose, said that more than one-third of American consumers openly criticize companies that don’t support good causes, refuse to buy their products or services or share negative opinions and experiences with others. 

    Through today’s active social media channels, such as Facebook and Twitter and even Yelp., consumers are empowered more than ever to share thoughts and feelings about specific businesses and products. 

    Supporting good causes and – more importantly – making business decisions with those good causes in mind has long been a part of what drives Geebo into some areas and keeps it out of others. From our early partnerships with the Boys and Girls Clubs in the Sacramento area to a more recent partnership with WeGoLook, an online service committed to protecting online shoppers from being victims of scams. 

    Today, Geebo’s big push – on the site and beyond – is to promote a safe online marketplace for all. Specifically, that includes elimination of personals ads where human trafficking and prostitution can often be solicited, as well as being an advocate for the cause. I was alone on that limb when I killed personals ads and again when I called on my industry counter parts to follow my lead. None did – and some wondered how the business decision would impact my bottom line. 

    Frankly, I’d do it all over again. 

    You see, success can be measured in many ways, such as the ability to sleep with your own moral conscience or to bask in the positive feedback that comes from people who support your efforts. True business success is not always measured in dollars and cents.

     It’s nice to know that I’m not alone in that sort of thinking.

     
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