CSR of H&M on Bangladesh issues 1. Introduction of the issue On April 24 2013, a building housing several garment factories collapsed in the capital of Bangladesh, leading to the deaths of more than 1,100 textile workers. These factories supplied clothing for many western retailers, such as Walmart, H&M, Gap and others. Bangladesh is the world’s second largest garment exporter, depending on low wages. "Sweatshop" sometimes is not enough to describe the working conditions of labor in less developed areas. In Bangladesh, clothing enterprises are as frightening as ruins and fires. Garment factories in the collapsed building are not H&M’s suppliers. But H&M is one of the largest buyers of garments from Bangladesh, owning 166 suppliers. After the disaster, global retailors, especially H&M, joined the safety plan as well as government pledged to raise wages for garment workers and …show more content…
H&M should focus on its supply chain management, whether direct or indirect suppliers. As to Rana Plaza, H&M should do as follow to have more sustainable suppliers. 1. Supply chain management. H&M should identify new suppliers who can recognize sustainable values of the company. Certainly, H&M itself need to be good partners. (1) Choose responsible partners. H&M should ensure all of new suppliers in risk countries have reached its requirements and audits factories before placing the order. Basically, the suppliers are required to focus on business and human rights to achieve long-term and sustainable partnerships. (2) Assess partners periodically and provide feedback. To all suppliers, H&M assesses them periodically and gives them feedback to achieve better performance. H&M is supposed to check suppliers’ working conditions, salary and welfare systems, labor union and so on in high-risk countries to make clean supply chain. The company should share the assessment results to suppliers. (3) Award responsible
Look down at the clothes you're wearing right now, chances are almost every single thing you are currently wearing was made in a sweatshop. It is estimated that between 50-75% of all garments are made under sweatshop like conditions. Designers and companies get 2nd party contractors to hire people to work in these factories, this is a tool to make them not responsible for the horrendous conditions. They get away with it by saying they are providing jobs for people in 3rd world countries so its okay, but in reality they are making their lives even worse. These companies and designers only care about their bank accounts so if they can exploit poor, young people from poverty stricken countries they surely will, and they do. A sweatshop is a factory
What do we think of when we hear the word sweatshop? Many people associate that word with female immigrant workers, who receive very minimal pay. The work area is very dangerous to your health and is an extremely unsanitary work place. The work area is usually overcrowded. That is the general stereotype, in my eyes of a sweatshop. All if not more of these conditions were present in the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. This company was located in New York City at 23-29 Washington Place, in which 146 employees mainly women and girls lost their lives to a disastrous fire. “A superficial examination revealed that conditions in factories and manufacturing establishments that developed a daily menace to the lives of the thousands of working men, women, and children” (McClymer 29). Lack of precautions to prevent fire, inadequate fire-escape facilities, unsanitary conditions were undermining the health of the workers.
...ontinues to drive global capitalism, as capitalist continue to expand and accumulate more capital. However, the cost cuts to the clothes we wear come at a high price for garment workers of Bangladesh. The exploitation the vulnerable workers from a country plagued with structural problems and the unsatisfied global expansion of capitalists’, results in the catastrophes like Rana Plaza. The globalization of the capitalist system was written about by Marx and Engels. The flaws in the capitalist systems that would bring its eventual downfall seem to be true at post Rana Plaza. The resentment of those who profit from their suffering; the government, the factory owners and the western retail chains, have brought on riots and demands of compensation. However, until the system is overturned as a whole, the dire work conditions of the Bangladesh garment worker will remain.
Some companies have made strides in abolishing sweatshops in their business. Fruit of the Loom is one of those companies taking the strides. They are “the fourth college-logo apparel company to sign the Bangladesh Safety Accord, an agreement between unions and brands that will transform the Bangladesh garment industry from deathtraps to safe work places” (Fruit of the Loom). Adidas is another company who signed the same deal. Even though Fruit of the Loom is no Gucci or Prada, hopefully people will start to realize that some companies are taking the extra step to help people while others are merely taking advantage of those less fortunate.
Case Study of The Home Depot Preface This Essentials of Strategic Management assignment has been made by three persons which have been working together and individually to finish the assignment properly and in time. Secondly, we would like to thank the company whose websites we were able to visit and use, to get additional information that we could use for leading the assignment of Home Depot to a successful ending. We can say, that it was a pleasure to work on this assignment and would, in the third place, like to thank each other. The persons who worked on this assignment, for the effort and time that is put in the assignment, that brought us to this finished version.
In such situations, the buying industry often faces a high pressure on margins from their suppliers. The relationship to powerful suppliers can potentially reduce strategic options for the organization.
Linda Lim, a professor at the University of Michigan Business School, visited Vietnam and Indonesia in the summer of 2000 to obtain first-hand research on the impact of foreign-owned export factories (sweatshops) on the local economies. Lim found that in general, sweatshops pay above-average wages and conditions are no worse than the general alternatives: subsistence farming, domestic services, casual manual labor, prostitution, or unemployment. In the case of Vietnam in 1999, the minimum annual salary was 134 U.S. dollars while Nike workers in that country earned 670 U.S. dollars, the case is also the similar in Indonesia. Many times people in these countries are very surprised when they hear that American's boycott buying clothes that they make in the sweatshops. The simplest way to help many of these poor people that have to work in the sweatshops to support themselves and their families, would be to buy more products produced in the very sweatshops they detest.
Americans do not realize the amount of clothing we wear on a daily basis is actually made in Cambodia, such as Adidas and even the Gap. The women that work for these sweatshops in Cambodia sew for 50 cents an hour, which is what allows stores in America, such as H&M to sell inexpensive clothing (Winn, 2015). The conditions these Cambodian workers face are a noisy, loud, and extremely hot environment where people are known for having huge fainting attacks. When workers were on strike a year ago, authorities actually shot multiple people just because they were trying to raise their pay. There is plenty of evidence of abuse captured through many interviews of workers from different factories, and is not just a rarity these places see often or hear of. Factories hire children, fire pregnant women because they are slow and use the bathroom to much, scream at regular workers if they use the toilet more than two times a day, scam hard working employees with not paying them their money they worked for and more, and workers are sent home and replaced if 2,000 shirts are not stitched in one day. Expectations are unrealistic and not suitable for employees to be working each day for more than ten
H&M is the world’s second largest retailer, only behind its main rival Zara of Inditex (Petro, 2012). The company currently has 3006 stores in 53 countries. The company does not own any factories. H&M outsources production to network of 800 independent suppliers; 75% in Asia and 25% in Europe. In order to increase the efficiency and productivity of its supply chain, the company strategically locates its network of 20 to 30 production offices close to its suppliers. According to Stockholm Newsroom, the pretax profit of the company for the month of June to August of 2013 is $907 million, which indicates an 11 rise in turnover (Pollard, 2013). The company continuous development plan facilitates its goal for both brick and mortar, and online stores expansion worldwide. The target segments for H&M, a category specialist store, are trendsetters and fashion/money conscious males and females ranging from 16 to 40 years old with income ranging $15,000 to $60,000 annually.
In Bangladesh, Joe Fresh had the opportunity to have their merchandise manufactured for less, by doing so, they were capable of keeping prices in store lower (Watkins, 2013). Being cost effective keeps Joe Fresh in business and generating a profit which adds to our economy. In consequence of that choice, the latent function of Joe Fresh’s sweat shop is that the conditions their workers were in was inadequate (Canadian Press, 2013). Maclean’s reporters disclosed that there were deep visible cracks in the walls, very poor working conditions, and very low wage. Though unintended, by over looking the severity of the buildings damages, it cost over 200 people their lives (CTV, 2013).
This report will discuss about how external environment affects Harrods’s modus-operandi and the appropriate marketing strategies that they have to apply in the future.
Hennes and Mauritz AB should make sure to own at least 50% of its factories so that they can guarantee, the coherence in its products quality and sizes. And also they can be sure to continue their business once there is a problem with suppliers.
In conclusion, although fast fashion has become a rising trend because of consumer awareness the drawbacks of fast fashion is also on the rise because of augmented realization around climate change, resource deficiency, financial circumstances, the slow-fashion crusade, and ill-fated accidents like the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh that happened in October of 2013, as well as hard-hitting, visually awkward movements from organizations such as Greenpeace. The more people start to become more conscious about the disadvantages of Fast Fashion this is one trend that will soon
A company’s relationship with key suppliers is a vital part of any company’s success. A good supplier relation means better price, meeting company standards and a better service level. That 's why when Honda started working with Modine, Honda made sure that its relationship with Modine was
To achieve equilibrium, H&M encourages open communication and employee engagement within the company to satisfy both goal and needs. They came up with an “open book principle” granting every employee the right to express their thoughts on work related issues directly with management. They, too, reinforce the Human Resource Management system by having performance appraisal, a method to evaluate job performance. H&M has done it by using the method of providing feedback as they believe in learning through their own mistakes. Besides, to ensure workers’ work-life balance, the company strongly discourage overtime work and endorse flexible working hours. Everyone in the company is given the opportunity to schedule around their personal and working responsibility. The company also provide comprehensive fringe benefits for their worker which includes staff discounts, incentive bonuses, maternity leave and many more. This is because the Human Resources in H&M emphasise more on job satisfaction rather than title or pay structure. Analysis indicates that H&M has incorporated job enlargement into their business whereby they increase task variety by combining two or more task for more experience working. However, the volume of task to be done is too gruelling for employees causing their company to be listed as one of the highest employee turnover and lowest labour morale in 2008. This shows they have poor job