Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility

On April 24 2013, 1134 people were killed and 2,500 were injured when the Rana Plaza building in Savar, Bangladesh collapsed on top of garment workers inside its factories. It would be known as the worst accident in the garment industry anywhere.

This happened only five months after a horrific fire at a similar facility prompted leading multinational brands to pledge to work to improve safety in the country’s booming but poorly regulated garment industry.

Labour groups, Western clothing companies, the Bangladeshi government and others have made some progress toward preventing similar tragedies, but more still needs to be done.

There was never any doubt that improving working conditions in Bangladesh, one of the world’s poorest countries, would be incredibly difficult. The collapse of Rana Plaza was just one, though by far the worst in a series of industrial accidents in Bangladesh’s garment industry, which has become one of the biggest exporters of clothes to the United States and Europe because of its low wages.

It was later discovered that 28 brands that sourced clothes from the plaza included

Primark, Bennetton, Mango, Matalan and Bonmache, prompting public concern
about the working conditions of garment factories around the world which contribute to western high street fashion stores.

Ethical consumerism encourages people to think about how the products they buy are sourced and produced which are not harmful to the environment and society. This can be evidenced through simply purchasing eggs that are free-range or boycotting goods/companies which promote child labour or unsavoury working conditions.

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Ethical consumerism is a growing market. A recent report from the Co-operative Bank showed a third of UK consumers claiming to be concerned about ethical consumption, with a large number of the public willing to challenge and boycott companies which do not comply with ethical standards.

You are required to write an analytical business report that covers the following tasks:

Task 1
• Discuss the ways in which companies, like the ones mentioned in the extract above, that sourced clothes from the Rana Plaza can help improve business practices to prevent recurrence of events of this nature.

Task 2
• Choose any company, research and evidence how they operate ethically, taking into account their approach to consumerism, values and environmental friendliness.