CSR Strategy of H&M: An International Fashion Company
Executive Summary
H&M was established in 1947 in Vasteras, Sweden. For half a century of its existence, the company has been able to adopt a number of CSR initiatives that boost its development. These days the company seeks to extend the list of CSR initiatives to ensure business sustainability. H&M was launched in Sweden, but now it operates in 57 countries across the globe. The company employs 132,000 people; however their number is constantly increasing and there are now 800 H&M factories in Europe and Asia.In it operation, H&M has adopted a number of CSR initiatives. The most important are ecological and social. Firstly the company has established 3-year cooperation with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) aimed at the rational use of clean fresh water. The company seeks to become the leading water steward in the industry. H&M has strict requirements for raw materials that ensure safe and ethical environmental management. Firstly, the company does not use genuine fur or leather. Secondly, it does not utilize feather sourced from live-plucked birds. Thirdly, no materials are sourced from forced-fed animals. Lastly, the company never tests its cosmetic products on animals. H&M promotes economic and social welfare of its employees through fair wage; adequate working conditions and ongoing improvement of HR strategies.
At an early data, H&M Company will extend the list of its CSR initiatives and consider three major goals: training programs and first job for college graduates; CSR in HR management and increasing ecological awareness of employees and the public.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Introduction
Characteristics of Corporate Social Responsibility
Theoretical Underpinnings of Corporate Social Responsibility
CSR Initiatives at H&M
Recommendations
H&M is a leader in environmental stewardship.
Maintaining social welfare is an opportunity
Use CSR initiatives in Human resource
Conclusion
References
Introduction
Modern companies operate under tough competition. In order to survive, they need to recognize their impact on “employees, customers, communities, the environment, business partners, investors, shareholders, governments, and others” (Hohnen& Potts, 2007, p. 1) through adopting corporate social responsibility (CSR). Although companies tend to invest different meaning in CSR (Dahlsrud, 2006), Frederick (2006) suggests that the major goal of CSR is “to identify the affairs of the enterprise continually and proper and reliable balance in requirement directly to the various interested groups, create a harmonious circumstance in the shareholders, employees, customers, and the public at large” (as cited in Smith, 2011, p. 1). Experts emphasize the relationship between CSR and business sustainability (Palazzi&Stracher, 2006; Weber, 2008; Samy et al., 2008); and this is explained by the fact that companies that are aware of their impact on the environment are more popular among stakeholders when compared to companies neglecting it. This assumption is tested in the context of H&M, a Swedish retail-clothing company.
The company is considered an excellent model to examine the relationship between CSR and business sustainability, since H&M started in …
