You will be required to evaluate the social, environmental, ethical and economic responsibility and sustainability impact of a retailer of your choosing. Importantly, you will also need to identify opportunities for this retailer to improve its SEERS initiatives. You will need to engage in comprehensive research to capture a 360’ view of the firm.
Integrated Sustainability Assignment
Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) is a fast-fashion clothing multinational based in Sweden. The company specializes in fashion for men, women, teens, and children. The firm is well-known for supporting sustainability through its robust recycling. H&M works with a team of committed suppliers and customers who support the recycling model. The company allows customers to return old clothes at any store for recycling (Payne 103). The firm has garment-collection boxes where customers drop the clothes they resell second-hand, make textile fiber for isolation, or use them as cleaning cloths. While customers who return the clothes receive an H&M voucher, they are aware of the company’s approach to integrated sustainability practices and are comfortable engaging with and buying its products.
The figure below shows the upstream connections and downstream connections, revealing relationships with different H&M’s relationships.
LIBERTY MILLS LIMITED (UNIT- 2) (Environmental)
The company is one of the suppliers of cotton, which is the main raw material for the production of the fabric that H&M uses. The fibers come from Gossypium hirsutum, a highly pesticide-dependent crop. Its production accounts for 25% of pesticide use in the world. Besides, cotton production is a chemically-intensive process since farmers use hazardous and poisonous pesticides, like aldicarb, metan sodium, and endosulfan. Almost $3 billion worth of chemicals end up in farming and might increase in the future with demand. Synthetic fertilizers, defoliants, and soil additives used in cotton production damages water, air, and soil (Segran 2). Pollution from the process in the farming and production processes affects human and animal lives.
LARINOR SARL AU (Ethical)
The Moroccan company provides cotton for H&M yarn. The production process requires extensive labor to meet the demand for fiber in the company. Cotton and other fiber production processes in developing countries occur in unsafe environments because people lack protective measures against pesticides. Spills and poisonings are common challenges in the developing countries that produce cotton and other sources of fiber.
Persano Group A/S (Environmental)
The company is one of the many that obtained cotton from companies in other nations, such as developing world to make eco-friendly yarn for H&M usage. The company is integrated into the sustainability effort to ensure that the materials that H&M use are safe for the environment.
Better Cotton Initiative (Environmental and Economical)
Thus, to address the negative effect of inorganic production on the environment, an organic movement emerged that advocate for organic cotton production. The company uses natural methods and materials with no synthetically-produced pesticides. Manual crop rotation, integrated pest management, and organic fertilizers help reduce the environment’s negative impact (Segran 2). Increasing the use of organic and recycled cotton reflects the focus on sustainability at H&M. The company is on the track towards using 100% of safe cotton.
PT Kahatex (Environmental)
PT Kahatex suppliers yarn to H&M, one of the sources that the firm has included in its sustainability report. The management affirms that it ensures that the yarn production process is conducted in an environmentally and ethically sustainable environment. Suppliers should comply to continue working with H&M.
H&M Recycling Plants (Environmental)
H&M adopted the recycling approach in which they receive old clothes for resale or make textile fiber instead of using new fiber. Recycling also helps the company to prevent further environmental damage by minimizing dumping in landfills. They also recycle the materials and ensure that they continue to be used for other useful purposes, such as second-hand clothing or cleaning clothes (Payne 103). The decision to recycle helps the company to work with consumers to achieve sustainability objectives.
hm.com (Environmental and Ethical)
Ecommerce is one of the ways H&M is reducing the environmental impact of its operations. The company reports that online operations reduce dependence on energy. Unlike conventional brick and mortar, the company contributes to environmental protection through online operations. However, the company does not address how it caters for energy use involved in digital operations.
Cambodian Factory (Social and Ethical)
H&M needs to address labor problems affecting various production plants that supplies it around the world. A Cambodian factory is one of the affected locations where employees have been affected by chemical fumes, lack of proper ventilation, and mass hysteria. The minimum wage is another issue that the management needs to address. For example, in the Cambodian plant, $66 (£42) a month is inadequate to meet their basic needs (Khan). Similar issues are evident in plants in other countries.
Bangladesh Minimum Wages (Social and Economical)
H&M is the second-largest clothing company globally and aims at ensuring that it pays its employees well to support their lifestyle and families. The management committed to pay textile employees a “living wage” by 2018 (H&M Group Sustainability Report). One of the firms that the company was concerned about is Bangladesh due to issues relating to poor labor laws in the country. The company sources most of its garments from the Asian country, meaning that its negative labor practices affect its value chain. However, H&M has previously attempted to improve working conditions and living wages in the country and other regions.
H&M Stores
The company operates internationally in 74 countries with more than 5,000 stores as of November 2019 (Full Year Report 2019 Q4). The stores sell various H&M brands. The company promotes sustainability in the stores through its recycling and customer relationships efforts. H&M recognizes the need for customer engagement in the sustainability model. The company seeks to become socially responsible and deliver the goals for 2018, including improving working conditions. The management focuses on maintaining the stability of its production and supply chain to satisfy all its stakeholders. Thus, engaging customers has an economic benefit since the process will guarantee customer satisfaction and business sustainability. One example of commitment is the SAC and the Higg Index, which improves customer satisfaction (H&M Group Sustainability Report). Working with stakeholders is a crucial factor in achieving the integrated sustainability model.
What is H&M Doing Well?
Although H&M faces some sustainability issues, it is doing well in some areas related to SEERS. The company has created a transparent sustainability policy that adds value to its supply chain. The company seeks to ensure that all stakeholders in the value chain adopt sustainable practices (Bodegraven). The management has, over the years, promoted ethical practices, such as protecting consumers from contributing to environmental degradation through effective recycling. Besides, the company contributes to social wellbeing by engaging in philanthropic programs, such as garment donations (Bodegraven). The company also promotes green and organic farming to ensure that farmers supply sustainably produced materials. One of the approaches is refusing to work with factories that violate ethical practices. The company observes ethical practices and works with consumers to ensure sustainability, such as through recycling.
Recommendations for H&M
Although H&M has created a sustainable business model through recycling, it needs to improve some areas to increase sustainability. Environmental and ethical issues are the most critical for H&M’s management. For example, the current wage for various plants around the world is insufficient to meet basic needs. Thus, the management should create a compensation policy affecting all plants globally. Plants that fail to comply should face penalties to prevent further ethical violations. Another issue that the company should address is environmental damage. The company needs to ensure environmental protection throughout the supply chain. Thus, it should create a green supply chain and communicate the policy to all stakeholders, such as suppliers. The company should support the reduction of chemically-produced raw materials to protect the environment. For instance, the management can finance increased organic cotton production instead of inorganic processes, which are damaging the environment. Overall, H&M should commit to sustainability throughout the supply chain.
Works Cited
Bodegraven, Livia. To what extent does H&M accommodate sustainable consumerism? 2019. https://medium.com/sustainabilityreads/to-what-extent-does-h-m-accommodate-sustainable-consumerism-1fed9310fe2e Accessed on March 4, 2021
H&M Group Sustainability Report, 2017. https://medium.com/sustainabilityreads/to-what-extent-does-h-m-accommodate-sustainable-consumerism-1fed9310fe2e. Accessed March 4, 2021.
Khan, Mohd Raisul Islam, and Christa Wichterich. Safety and labour conditions: the accord and the national tripartite plan of action for the garment industry of Bangladesh. No. 38. Global Labour University Working Paper, 2015.
Payne, Alice. “Open-and closed-loop recycling of textile and apparel products.” Handbook of life cycle assessment (LCA) of textiles and clothing. Woodhead Publishing, 2015. 103-123.
Full Year Report 2019 Q4. H&M Group, 2019. Accessed on March 13, 2021 at: https://hmgroup.com/content/dam/hmgroup/groupsite/documents/masterlanguage/cision/2020/01/2629510.pdf
Segran, Elizabeth, “H & M, Zara, and other fashion brands are tricking shoppers with vague sustainability claims.” Fast Company 8 (2019).
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
