Target: Green for the Environment

A retail brand that I personally believe to be socially and ethically responsible is Target. Target takes a lot of responsibility for their stance on human rights and how important it is for their brand to put the rights of humans at the forefront for different groups within their operations: their customers, their team members, their supply chain, and their community. In 2022, Target partnered with Article One, an expert business and human rights consultancy, to conduct an updated Human Rights Impact assessment to enhance their operations and identify issues and find ways to improve their human rights due diligence.

When it comes to ethics and the environment, Target is committed to goals that protect the environment and improve areas relevant to climate change, waters, chemicals, plastics, and more. They have created a strategy called “Target: Forward”, a vision to create a regenerative future with their team and consumers through teaming up with sustainable brands, eliminate waste, and accelerate equity.

• In 2019, Target set science-based targets for emissions reductions, becoming a leader in U.S. retail.
• In 2018, they accelerated their commitments to sustainable packaging by partnering with New Plastics Economy.
• in 2020, Target established the Racial Equity Action and Change Committee, to create racial equity for black team members, guests, and communities.

The unethical humiliation of a Target employee

According to an article by Chris Spargo for the DailyMail.com (January 24, 2015), “A target employee committed suicide just days after he was accused of stealing at the store. Graham Gentles, a 22-year-old from Pasadena, California who suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome, was ‘paraded, around the store in handcuffs as a punishment for stealing, even though police and store management never found anything and he was never charged. Three days after the incident, on July 18 of last year [2014], he jumped to his death from the roof of the Courtyard Marriott in Monrovia.”

Green for profit or green for the environment?

Is it possible to believe that Target possesses both qualities for business in favor of profit and the environment? I believe if the Target company was not already success and a huge retail location, they would not be as ethical as they claim to be in their operations. I think a lot of it does have to do with winning over the likes of those that are ethically conscious, because if the brand was not trying to win the side of those that are ethical in their practices, who would they be trying to win over? Of course there probably are ethically conscious people from the Target team who want to raise more awareness for environmentally ethical practices, which may be the reason for the rise in ethical practices within the Target brand, however Target is a retail brand and profit for the company is always at the forefront of operations.

References:

A Bullseye View. Sustainability and ESG. (2022). corporate.target.com. https://corporate.target.com/sustainability-esg

Gallagher, C. (2015). Target Sued: The Ethical Price for Humiliating an Employee. Chuck Gallagher. https://www.chuckgallagher.com/2015/02/03/target-sued-ethical-price-humiliating-employee/