H&M. Ethics and social responsibility of the Swedish fashion giant
(case study)

Author: Maria Roszkowska-Śliż, Katedra Teorii Zarządzania, Kolegium Zarządzania i Finansów, Warsaw School of Economics

Source: “Style and Substance. Sustainability Repot 2009”, H&M 2010

Warsaw, 2011

H&M Ethics and social responsibility of the Swedish fashion giant

H&M is one of the world’s largest fashion company employing 76 thousand people. The company, established in Sweden in 1947, owes now around 2 200 stores in 35 different countries. It offers a varied selection of clothes for women, men, teens and children, as well as cosmetics, shoes and accessories.

H&M offers its customers fashion and quality at the best price, nevertheless still thinking …show more content…

Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) has coordinated a working group consisting of a number of companies that have developed an industry standard for wastewater quality.

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The company has its own team of 60 auditors. In 2009 the company conducted total number of more than 2200 audits. Their results are published on-line as a part of the company’s CSR report. The report presents major trends observed during FAP, and the total number of non-compliance cases (divided by regions and particular Code standards). The company does not present any information concerning factories, where the non-compliance took place, even in cases, when the relationship with the supplier was definitely terminated.

Independent monitoring

H&M has been a participating company since 2006. In 2008 H&M became an accredited member of the Fair Labor Association (FLA), a multi-stakeholder organisation that strives to improve labour conditions in factories around the world and conducts independent factory audits. The Full Audit Programme use by H&M and the process for addressing violations of the Code, have been assessed by FLA and are in line with their standards. FLA is conducting independent audits in all factories working for H&M in China and since 2009 in Turkey. Their results are published at www.fairlabor.org.

H&M participates also in Better Factories Cambodia, programme conducted by ILO and also audits in the Cambodian production