Business Ethics, Responsibility, Sustainability in the Clothing Sector

This report delves into the business ethics, responsibilities, and sustainability of the UK clothing sector. It begins with an introduction to ethics, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability within the industry, setting the stage for an in-depth analysis. The report then identifies and discusses key challenges faced by businesses, including enhanced costs, the purchasing behavior of millennials, the impact of global recession, and the limitations of industrial infrastructure and policy. It subsequently explores best practices within the sector, such as investment in recycling, the implementation of industrial guidelines, the promotion of natural fibers, and collaboration with workers’ organizations. Finally, the report offers strategic recommendations for businesses to enhance their responsibilities and contribute to a more sustainable and ethical industry, concluding with a summary of the findings and a list of references.

BUSINESS ETHICS,
RESPONSIBILITY
AND
SUSTAINABILITY

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Key challenges relating to Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability in Clothing sector..1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
Analysis and Explanation of Best practices within the sector................................................3
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
Recommendations for businesses within the sector to enhance their responsibilities...........6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Ethics refer to the moral code, values and belief systems of organisations within a sector
which undertakes several disciplines, as well as policies derived by the company in relation to
addressing several professional issues within the firm. This might include their corporate
governance, stakeholder expectations, as well as contribution towards social issues, which is
imperative to be performed by organisations in regards to fulfilling their responsibilities towards
their stakeholders and extended community. With respect to business ethics and several
responsibilities, one of the most important consideration for a business organisation is
sustainability, which could be understood in terms of the firm’s life scale, as well as that
provided to the environment (Lock and Seele, 2015).
Hence, in regards to the above discussion, the report below is based on business ethics,
responsibilities and sustainability of Clothing Sector of the United Kingdom. The assignment
would be including a detailed examination and discussion of key challenges relating to corporate
responsibility and sustainability within the industry. Moreover, the report would be addressing
analysis and explanation of what is considered as best practice within the sector, along with
recommendations to enhance responsibilities.
TASK 1
Key challenges relating to Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability in Clothing sector
Clothing Sector within the United Kingdom is one of the largest industries in the country
with several national, as well as international companies, such as Marks & Spencer, Burberry,
Primark and so forth, operating at high scale. Hence, with such advanced coverage, it becomes
crucial for the overall sector to function effectively on the grounds of Corporate Social
Responsibilities and Sustainability. The former refers to a combination of several actions and
practices that is required by the companies to abide by as a responsibility towards all the
stakeholders and communities associated with the company. On the other hand, sustainability
refers to taking actions that promote the welfare of natural and human resources within the
company (Ha-Brookshire, 2017).
However, there are several challenges that are faced by businesses within these sectors
when it comes to accomplishing desired standards related to these elements. Therefore, some of
these challenges with respect to the clothing sector of the UK are explained below:
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 Enhanced Cost:
One of the major challenges faced by the organisations in clothing sector towards
sustainability is associated with enhanced cost. The reason for this is because with being
sustainable, companies within the clothing sector would be required to acquire better and
technologically advanced equipments which would help them in limiting the waste. Furthermore,
it is also crucial for players like Marks & Spencer to indulge themselves in a range of different
audits which would be subjected upon their sustainable practices. All these alternatives drive the
cost of manufacturing and distribution very high (Fernandez-Feijoo, Romero and Ruiz, 2014).
However, this challenge is further fuelled by customers who are not willing to pay extra for
the clothes and hence, there is limited scope of added income and revenue with the businesses of
clothing sectors. This restricts the clothing industry towards adopting a range of different
techniques and methods that would prevent the firm to engage in more waste and contribute
towards their sustainability.
 Purchasing Behaviour of Millennials:
Another prominent challenge for the clothing sector in regards to ensuring appropriate and
effective CSR is regarding anticipation of the purchasing behaviour of millennials. This is
because in a highly social and digitalised environment in which these individuals live, there are
ample chances that they would be influenced by different practices and products that are not
necessary to be anticipated by companies in the sector and hence, might fail to satisfy demands
of these stakeholders.
Another challenge which this stakeholder group exerts on the sector is upon the working
conditions of suppliers. There are times when trends change so drastically that millions of stock
leads to wastage. In addition to this, such events also cause major shifts in working condition of
suppliers which does not contribute towards sustainability, as well as corporate social
responsibilities. Moreover, since the cost of such changes are high, businesses like Marks &
Spencer within the clothing sector would be forced to keep their prices at a higher notch to match
the demand of the market and recover their investment in an appropriate manner, therefore,
restricting its actions towards responsibility and sustainability (Strand, 2014). Global Recession:
In context of the clothing industry within the UK, there has been an evident complaint from
several of its employees in regards to lower wages and inappropriate working conditions.
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Furthermore, the UK is suffering a major skill shortage currently as bulk of people are moving
out of the country to earn better and more effective growth opportunities for themselves (Bansal
and Song, 2017).
All these conditions cause several problems for the clothing sector and its businesses to deal
with. However, one key challenge which is restricting the companies like Marks & Spencer and
H&M to enhance and improve their working condition is associated with events like Brexit and
global recession. Whole the latter has been ongoing from quite some time which caused lower
wages of workers and other employees the former has been a major setback for the big
companies that have been working under this sector. Reason regarding the same is the reduction
in value of pound, as well as high inflation, which has made it harder for the sector to acquire
raw materials from its suppliers in the United Kingdom. This challenged the sector towards
adhering to its CSR policies and pays their workers as per the work and their performances.
 Industrial Infrastructure and Policy:
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges towards attaining sustainability and fulfilling
responsibility, the infrastructure of the overall clothing sector is yet to transformed to drive
sustainable practices and better means of working. United Kingdom is one of the most
progressed nations when it comes to digitalisation and technology and yet, there is a lot of
growth that is to be achieved when it comes to sustainable practices. This is because better and
sustainable equipments are yet to be made accessible within the sector which would be removing
these challenges and drive the whole sector towards sustainability and CSR.
Apart from this, the government policies as well are flexible and does not pose standards in
regards to low wage individuals and payment schemes. This does not give certain guidelines in
context of adopting effective practices towards better Corporate Social Responsibilities, along
with adoption of sustainable practices by its businesses (Schaltegger and Burritt, 2018).
TASK 2
Analysis and Explanation of Best practices within the sector
Each sector is expected to follow a certain code and practice that enhances its viability and
approach towards being responsible and sustainable. Moreover, each stakeholder of businesses
like Marks & Spencer, H&M and Burberry expects them to be socially more active and work in a
manner which contributes towards enhancing the positive impacts on environment.
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Thus, in relation to these expectations, as well as certain issues mentioned above, there are
several best practices which are necessary for the overall sector and its businesses to follow so
that the issues could be solved and the targets in relation to CSR and sustainability are achieved
effectively. Hence, some of these practices are explained below: Investment in Recycling:
One of the most prominent good practices in relation to the clothing sector is related to
investment in recycling. The reason for this is because of several ethical and moral issues. Few
of these include harmful environmental impacts from wastage from the sector, high usage of
energy and resources, ineffective infrastructure for sustainability and so forth.
There are several studies that have been undertaken in context of determining the impact of
the overall clothing sector on the environment. It is denoted that almost 75% of the textile which
turns waste are either incinerated or proceed to landfills. This incurs a cost of more than £82
million for the government of UK each year. On the other hand, another shocking fact which
leads to these moral and ethical issues is that out of all the wastes generated from the sector, only
1% is fully recycled (Sustainability of the UK fashion industry — 3 takeaways from parliament,
2020).
Therefore, it is a dire need for the industry to invest heavily on recycling of these wastes to
ensure that these issues are solved and the businesses within the sector contributes towards
sustainability. The practices within recycling would be including adoption of new and advanced
technology and technique which enhances the capacity of this sector to recycle its waste and
reuse the same in further production. Another practice in this regard is related to take-back
schemes that are only being adopted by Primark and Marks & Spencer out of all the companies
within the clothing sector.
Organisations like Evrnu and Worn Again are working towards innovating the whole
recycling process with their new chemical procedures, which would allow organisations within
this industry to perfectly manage their waste and adopt the culture of recycling (Klettner, Clark
and Boersma, 2014).
 Industrial Guidelines:
Another imperative best practice which the sector should undertake is regarding formation
of several guidelines that are associated with demand anticipation and waste management. The
ethical and moral issues which this practice would be considering is associated with waste
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management. With the major issue of climate change and a heavy contribution of clothing sector
within the same, as mentioned above, it becomes imperative to perform appropriate waste
management so that the harmful events taking place within the environment could be minimised.
Moreover, another moral issue that the industrial guidelines would be addressing is associated
with regulating the demand within the industry (Zsolnai, 2014). While the trends and other social
elements are still very much complex to be anticipated beforehand, the guidelines within the
sector would act as stepping stones for businesses to function in case a demand change is
experienced within the sector.
In addition to this, this will also be helping firms such as Primark to adhere to certain
policies which safeguard the interests of all individuals working, as well as each stakeholder that
is already associated with the businesses within the sector. Industrial guidelines will be having
guidance and pathways for each and every stakeholders and how best to deal with them to ensure
fulfilment of CSR, as well as sustainability.
 Natural Fibres:
The clothing industry of the UK is responsible for CO2 emissions. The reason for this is
because the fibre which the companies emits carbon once they are washed. Hence, in this
relation, the industry must promote the utilisation of natural fibres in case the ones that are
currently being used in the sector. The reason to opt for this alternative is to ensure decrease in
the micro-plastic elements within marine environments that are segregated from synthetic
clothing. Natural fibres would be helping the sector in protecting these environments through
usage of materials and fabrics that are naturally grown, as well as does not leave any harmful
impact upon the marine lives, as well as the lives of individual making and wearing it.
Another reason for opting out natural fibres within manufacturing processes is that it adds to
the sustainability of clothing. While the synthetic fibres require effective use of crude oil and
high energy to be intact for the time period, natural fibres gives more stability and comfort to the
customers. Moreover, it also has a benefit towards environment. Due to its nature of being
produced through plant materials, natural fibres decompose very quickly, which does not leave
any carbon footprint, or plastic materials that could harm the environment within the country
(Amran, Lee and Devi, 2014).
 Collaboration with Workers’ Organisations:
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One of the major ethical and moral issues within the clothing sector is in regards to the
treatments that are given to the staff working for businesses in the industry. As mentioned above,
the major causes of concerns for the workers are their working conditions, as well as the
remuneration which they acquire for their contribution in making businesses within the sector
such as Burberry and Marks & Spencer a success.
Employees are the lifeblood of the clothing sector and hence, it is necessary for the sector to
adopt several best practices in their favour. This would be ensuring their compliance with the
Corporate Social Responsibilities. One such practice for businesses within the sector is
associated with indulging in partnerships and collaborations with Workers’ Associations, as well
as trade unions. These organisations work for the rights of employees and with companies to
decide upon the fair wages, hours of work, working conditions and so forth. Basically, these are
formed to support the workers in any given industry. Hence, in this regard, clothing sector within
the UK must collaborate with these organisations with regards to ensure safeguarding of
employees with any unfair practices within the sector. this would allow them to solve this issue,
as well as address their CSR requirements in a very prominent and progressive manner (Wymer
and Rundle-Thiele, 2017).
TASK 3
Recommendations for businesses within the sector to enhance their responsibilities
As mentioned throughout the report, UK’s clothing sector has many prominent businesses,
such as Primark, Burberry, Marks & Spencer, H&M and so forth. All these organisations must
take into account several global considerations, such as climate change, sustainability, corporate
responsibilities, stakeholder expectations and so forth and must be more responsible towards
addressing these global issues to ensure more benefits to the sector and its stakeholders.
Therefore, below are certain recommendations for these businesses towards addressing the above
considerations: Shift in Suppliers:
In order to address the global issues, it is very much required from the businesses operating
in this sector to acquire the raw materials and other essential equipments related to clothing from
certified suppliers who have been indulged in sustainable practices. In addition to this, to save up
cost and ensure long term acquisitions, businesses within their supply networks must also start
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working on contractual basis, in order to ensure that a fixed rate could be prevalent within the
marketplace, which would help them in acquiring better equipments for sustainable production
(Quarshie, Salmi and Leuschner, 2016).
 Infrastructural Development:
Another crucial recommendation in this regard is associated with the development of
infrastructures within these businesses which contributes towards addressing these global
considerations (Crane and et. al., 2019). This could be performed by these businesses by
ensuring that the organisations are full of techniques that could renew the energy that is being
used to manufacture the clothing items. Furthermore, all the types of fuels at each level must also
be checked, tapped and renewed in order to avoid any sort of wastage. In addition to this, the
whole infrastructure must be built to ensure energy efficiency by using natural and reusable
resources, solar power, heat energy, along with coal and biomass, which could be used through
effective recycling. This would allow minimal wastage of natural resources, which would be
contributing towards better sustainability.
 Market Research:
This recommendation is associated with the corporate social responsibility of the businesses
mentioned above. Moreover, it is directed towards employees and customers both. Within this,
the firms must denote the gap between the required wages, as well as the actual ones that are
being given to the employees, which would allow the companies to treat them on fair basis and
ensure appropriate adherence to these stakeholders.
In context of customers, the demand must be anticipated by taking detailed and periodic
reviews from customer groups like millennials, which would allow them to appropriately
structure their working and modify effectively according to their requirements. This would lead
to optimisation of resources and efficient working. Lean Production:
Lean production is a method that is subjected towards minimisation of waste, cost and other
complex features from the manufacturing processes of the company. Moreover, the notion on
which this method works is associated with contribution towards the product life, as well as
viability of the overall procedure. Hence, these businesses must ensure that the processes which
they use to manufacture their clothing products are in adherence to these lean principles.
Furthermore, it is also necessary for these companies to ensure adoption of waste management
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techniques and resources that would further contribute towards dealing with issue of climate
change. Furthermore, consistent inductions, training and development programmes must be
organised within these businesses, so that the employees remain educated, knowledgeable and
competent enough to deal with the major issues within the clothing sector of the country, which
enhances business ethics, responsibilities and sustainability (Reinecke, Arnold and Palazzo,
2016).
 Investments over Sustainability:
All these businesses must adopt the practice of investing in acquiring processes,
technologies and equipments which contribute towards better environmental sustainability and
guarantees the safety of workers, customers and environment. Moreover, within this aspect, they
could also use performance testing, which would be measuring the effectiveness of all the new
alternatives on criteria set by these businesses. This would further drive of economic level of
these businesses as far as sustainability and environmental concerns are in question (Setó-Pamies
and Papaoikonomou, 2016).
CONCLUSION
Thus, it could be concluded from the information above that business ethics,
responsibilities and sustainability are crucial considerations for a business sector to enhance
effective practices and contribute more towards the people and other factors of business
environment. Thus, in this context, it becomes necessary to examine several key challenges
related to the firm’s Corporate Social Responsibilities and sustainability to determine the
constraints that is refraining the sector to work accordingly. Furthermore, it is also very
important that best practices within the sectors are analysed, as well as explained in light to the
ethical and moral issues pertaining within the sector, which would promote effective and
essential work and approaches within the overall sector. Lastly, certain recommendations are
very necessary to be given to businesses within the sector in order to enhance their
responsibilities of these companies by promoting their focus and emphasis on the global
considerations.
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REFERENCES
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pp.105-149.
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in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press, USA.
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transparency of sustainability reports within the GRI framework. Journal of business
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pp.241-259.
Setó-Pamies, D. and Papaoikonomou, E., 2016. A multi-level perspective for the integration of
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Strand, R., 2014. Strategic leadership of corporate sustainability. Journal of Business
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Online
Sustainability of the UK fashion industry — 3 takeaways from parliament. 2020. [Online]
Available Through: <https://medium.com/@danielnewton_58284/sustainability-of-uk-
fashion-industry-3-takeaways-from-parliament-7559d0dd0e69>
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