Business Ethics, Responsibility, and Sustainability in Clothing Sector

This report delves into the critical aspects of business ethics, corporate responsibility, and sustainability within the United Kingdom's clothing industry. It begins by outlining the key challenges associated with corporate obligations and sustainability in the clothing sector, including human rights, social and ethical challenges, environmental concerns, legal compliance, technological advancements, and issues of forced and trafficked labor. The report then highlights best practices observed within the clothing sector, such as fair wages, environmentally friendly initiatives, fair labor practices, employee safety, and data protection. The report references examples of companies like Marks and Spencer, Burberry, Nike, and others, illustrating both ethical failures and positive steps toward sustainability. Finally, the report concludes with recommendations for clothing businesses, emphasizing the need to address global considerations and improve ethical and sustainable practices.

BUSINESS ETHICS,
RESPONSIBILITY AND
SUSTAINABILITY

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
TASK...............................................................................................................................................4
Key challenges associated to corporate obligation and sustainability link to clothing sector....4
The best practices within the clothing sectors with references to ethical and moral issues.......7
Making recommendations for businesses in the clothing sector to show they are being more
responsible by taking into account global considerations...........................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Business ethics are the set of code and conduct that every organisation need to follow to practice
their business activities in the market. The behaviors of the business are regulated through these
ethics. This ethics helps the business to identify the difference between the right and works parts
of business, these ethics also plays and major role in the life of an individual . Business ethics are
also known as the corporate ethics. The current report is based on the business ethics,
responsibilities and sustainability of clothing industry of United Kingdom. Fashion and clothing
industry is among the fastest growing industries in the world. The clothing industry is the most
famous industry to not follow the business ethics from the past decade. Some major clothing
companies of UK like Marks and Spencer, Burberry are criticized for not practicing their
business actives with business ethics This report will discuss about the major challenges related
to corporate responsibility and sustainability related to clothing sector. Along with this, the
report will also highlights the best practices that clothing industries can follow. At last this report
will highlight the recommendation for business in clothing sector(Crane and et.al., 2019).
TASK
Key challenges associated to corporate obligation and sustainability link to clothing sector
Industries face many challenges when incorporating the business and when the business is
running. Running an organization is not an easy task their are certain responsibilities that the
organization must follow, else can be a problem for the business. Their are certain problems that
is faced by clothing sector which are as follows:
HUMAN RIGHTS
Human Right are basically those rights that sets an individual free. These right belongs to every
human being in the world. These basic rights were given to the individual from their birth till the
death. The human rights are applied regardless of from where the person belongs to, what they
believe or how the person choose to spend their lives. These rights can not be taken away,
although there are some restrictions such as if the person breaks any kind of law that belongs to
national security's point of view. These rights are the values which an human has and is protected
by law. In UK, the Human Rights Act was passed by the Parliament in 1998 and largely became
applicable from October 2000. The aim was to bring into UK law the rights mentioned in the
European Convention on Human Rights(Desore and Narula, 2018). The Convention Rights that

are given to the general public in UK are the right to life, freedom of thoughts and religion,
freedom of expression, right to respect privacy, prohibition of torture or inhuman treatment,
freedom from discrimination, right to liberty etc. For example: The Gap, an clothing retail store
was accused of child labour practices in the factories. Although the company denied that they
were aware of such happening at the factories.
SOCIAL AND ETHICAL CHALLENGES
Social responsibility is the duty of every organization. This laws are passed to create a balance
between economic growth and the benefit of the society. Every individual should fulfill their
duties to maintain this balance. In 2006 Marks and Spencer analyzed that they facing certain
social issues as the company was bias towards one culture followed by the people of UK. They
consider the premium class people, leaving the lower class. The training held in Marks and
Spencer was against the values and beliefs of the employees their and due to this company has
suffered many loses and many lawsuits were cased against the company. The employee's
opposed to these training's but their opinions were ignored and as a result the organization
undergone too much mental pressure(Dey and Islam,2015).
ENVIRONMENT
Environment Laws is also called as Natural Resources Law. In UK, the act came into force in
1995 passed by the Parliament and that set some standards for managing environmental issues.
For example:Burberry clothing company has faced many problems related to the environment
issues. In the manufacturing plant of the Burberry, the company was using such toxic gases that
affected the environment as well as the workers of Burberry. The carbon dioxide gases were so
harmful for the environment that some workers suffered through health issues, they even tell to
make some changes in the materials and gases but the company rejected their decisions. The
waste management of the company was not proper that affected the near by areas and they
suffered some health problems so they file a lawsuit against the Burberry(Fong, and et.al., 2019).
LAWS
Laws are the rules and regulations that are formed by the legislation. The member of Parliament
proposed these laws. They have the power to make the laws in the favor of general public. Laws
for discrimination, health and safety, human rights, equality etc. Companies need to adhere to
each and every law enforced by the government as these prevent the employees of the
organization for any mishappening. Violation of any law will result in major problems for the

companies. This happened with Marks and Spencer when the employee's their feel
discrimination on the basis of color. The company considered black people inferior to the white
people, they were biased towards the white people. And even the employee's faced health and
safety issues as the hazardous objects were not marked properly and their were no suitable
wearable for working on those hazardous machinery.
USE OF TECHNOLOGY
The technology is upgrading in today's modern world. Every clothing organization is adopting
new technologies, they all work for innovation and fashion. Upgrading technology helps them to
produce new innovative products that even decrease the cost of manufacturing. But some
companies still use old method of manufacturing as there is cheap labors available and they
forget that this will increase the cost in the long run. For example Marks and Spencer is using old
technology method in manufacturing the clothes and that has eventually make them suffer losses
as compared to the other textile industries(Hasanbeigi and Price 2015). Today's customers are
technology focused and favor mobile commerce and e-retailing purchases, Marks and Spencer
lacks these technological advancements and that made the company suffer many losses. The
company struggled to adapt it.
FORCED AND TRAFFICKED LABOR
Forcing children to work against their will is something happening in the developing countries.
But due to cheap labor the companies find it suitable to force the children to work for them. For
example: In the manufacturing plant of H&M children work that are below the age of 16 years.
The companies should have code of conduct, like Nike has a code that they didn't allow children
below the age of 16 years to be employed or work at their premises.
If the companies comply with every legal, social and ethical responsibilities they can
reduce the impact they create on the growth and development of the particular organization. By
providing equal opportunities to the employee's at the firm, let employee's freely enjoy their
human rights, involving the workers in decision making will motivate them and by implying all
the environmental laws and bring measures to improve the health of the people employed in the
company will help the organization in reducing all the issues and problems created by them. By
complying the laws and proper code of conduct will enhance the growth and success of the
organizations(Horrocks and Anand 2015).

The best practices within the clothing sectors with references to ethical and moral issues.
The clothing industry is famous for not practising the business operation with considering
the business ethics in recent years the clothing and the fashion industry has perform some good
and positive practices. One of clothing industry has generated in 250 billion pounds world wild
and around 32 billion pound in United Kingdom. Following are the best practices within the
clothing sector
Fair wages : the amount of wages which is fair according to the work which is done by the
labour. The workers has faced the issue of low wages from a long time. The increase in
globalization had played and important part in promoting the fair wages for labors. Now most of
the countries like United Kingdom has strict laws which promote the fair wages(Powell, 2015).
Employer need to pay sustainable amount of the labour according to the work and market rate.
By paying adequate wages to the labors company can increase the effectiveness of the workers
as well as it help the company to practice their business activities without any government
interference. Nike is among those company which are famous for paying their employees and
labour fair payment, that has increased the loyalty of the of their employees as well as increase
the productivity of their employees.
Going green: The fashion and clothing industry is the second most polluting industry in the
work. The fashion industry need to implementing the concept of going green because for dying
the synthetic fibers the company has to add toxic compounds and heavy metals into the water,
later the water full of toxic compounds is released in the rivers, lakes and oceans. Using only
natural fibers will decrease lot of pollution along with that the clothing industry is responsible for
the 25 percent of chemical pollution on earth. Some companies of United Kingdom has
implemented the idea of going green in their business activities such as Alternative Apparel the
company is using recycled material, organic fabric as well as the non toxic dyes in their clothing
product. The company has stated that their motive is to make a clean impact on the environment.
The company is operating it business successfully even after not using harmful materials and
totally going green. This has create a good and unique reputation of the company(Tomé and
et.al., 2015).
Fair labour practices : The European clothing companies and manufacturers are guided by the
international labour organisation that organisation only practice their business activities with
using the fair labour practices, the guidelines of ILO includes no illegal immigrants, The wages

of the worker should be according the local standards, no child labour and many more. The
government of United Kingdom has imposed laws that focused on the safety of worker. Pact is
the clothing company of UK which has practices the fair labour practice from a long time. The
company believe that their workers are there most important resources and they do not practice
any thing wrong related to them. The fair practices of labour has helps the company to stay out
of controversies related to the exploitation of labour. These controversies ultimately create a bad
reputation of the company.
Employee safety : The clothing and Fashion industry has provided a guideline by the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration that workers of the organisation must be treated
in moral ethical manner(Toms and Zhang, 2016). In which the clothing industries must analysis
take safety measure against the factors that can affect the health and safety of the employees such
as the operation of machines, hazardous substances, heat, dye safety and many more. The
company Atika is UK based fashion and clothing company the company has followed every
rules and regulation regarding the health and safety of their worker. The company regularly
check all the factors that can affect the health and safety of the employees. The reason behind
their low employee turn over ratio is the safe environment that company provide for the workers.
Data protection : The fashion and clothing industry must practice the data protection in their
business operation. In this the company must have a policy which states that no one is allowed to
reveal the data of customers or the employees to any one. This increase the locality of the
customer's as well the job satisfaction of the employees. If any one violent this policy he/she
must be terminated from the company can should face lawsuit. Marks and Spencer is among the
leading clothing and fashion company based on UK, the company has a strict data protection
policy . The company takes strict actions if any employee violent this policy such as termination
of employee, legal charges against the employees and many more . This policy of the company
help them to win the trust of their employees and their customers(Trevino and Nelson, 2016).
Making recommendations for businesses in the clothing sector to show they are being more
responsible by taking into account global considerations
Fashion and clothing industry is among the fastest growing industries in the world but
with this the textile industry is also ranked as the second most pollution causing industry. This
business sector was involve in many controversial topics like child labour, pollution, labour
trafficking, labour exploitation and many more. Even afters some many negative factors there is

scope for improvement in the industry. Many companies like Alternative Apparel, Nike, Marks
and Spencer and many more has adopted the practice of business activities with considering all
the business ethics related to the employees, sustainability and many more. Following are some
recommendation on the ethical and environment policies that company should implement in their
business practices to create a better surrounding.
Going green : According to the condition of environment the fashion and clothing industry need
to adopt the concept of going green because the fashion industries is second most population
creating industry after oil industry. Just to create polyester there are more than 70 million trees
are cut down every year as well as about 25 percent of world chemical waste is produce by the
textile industry. Therefore the it is very important for the fashion industry to adopt the new
methods which can help them to decrease the amount of pollution the industry is creating. Many
fashion and clothing companies in United Kingdom has adopted methods which are more Eco-
friendly(Tumula and Burch, 2016). The textile company name people tree has adopted a rare
way of production of their cloths which is certificated by The Global organic textile standard.
The company use organic cotton as their fabric moreover the company uses azo-free dyes for
dying their products. The company has an improve their shipping methods and the quality of
organic cotton sourcing which helped the company to leave minimum carbon footprints on the
environment. The company also make sure all of their products can be recycled easily.
Healthy working environment : This recommendation is among the most important one. The
fashion and Clothing industry should implement in their workplace. As the daily worker in this
industry are suffering form many problems because of the unsafe working environment in the
workplace. The industry should provide them a healthy and safe environment as it will help the
company in increasing the productivity of their works and decrease the change of accident that
happens tin the factors due to lack of safety measure. The company should provide facilities like
clean drinking water, clean toilets, emergency escape in buildings, proper regular checking of
operational machines and things which can affect the safety of the workers. Ecovibe apparel is a
company from United kingdom. The company is well know for its Eco-friendly clothing and
healthy and safe working environment for the workers. These helped the company to create a
positive impact on the environment and a positive image in the market.
Use of Technology : The companies should use such promotional strategies that are growing and
developing in modern world that is online shopping. Firms should make use of these modern

strategies to promote the product and increase the sales. New machinery should be implanted in
the company that reduce the cost of manufacturing and increases the profit margin. As the
customers are technology focused, the organization should work according to that to enhance
their business. Recommending technological advancements is the crucial factors company
should focus. The companies should provide training's to the employee's about the new
technologies. They should be trained to be more creative in performing their tasks. They should
be motivated to adopt change. Like H&M has developed their online shopping app that helped
them to enhance their sales and profits as now people who were not able to reach to the stores
can now buy the products and make their customers happy(Underhill, 2016).
Human Rights : Letting the employees enjoy their rights freely is the most important thing as
this motivates them and bring confidence in them to work. Having comfortable work
environment, and giving people their freedom is necessary for them to survive in the company.
No child labor practices should be adopted by the companies, as this will bring issues and
conflicts. The companies should make such policies to strictly follow all the rights. Firms should
make rules of their own to imply with laws and if any right is violated strict actions such as
punishment and penalties are taken against the person. As if the companies stick with these rights
that help them to retain the employee's. Like Burberry consider the opinions of their employee's,
and the employee's there are satisfied.
Social and Ethical Challenges : Companies should imply with social laws that creates the
balance between economy and the society. Giving equal opportunities to every individual and no
discrimination among employees should be implicated in the organizations. The firms should
have proper code of conduct that each and every employee and worker must implement. Like
Nike is following the code of conduct that restrict them to employ people below the age of 16
years. Every company should make their code of conduct and must stand by them. Complying to
every social and ethical laws will prevent companies from lawsuits and cases.
CONCLUSION
From the above study it is analysed that the companies should comply with all the legal,
social and ethical responsibilities to avoid all the conflicts and issues that can affect the growth
and development of the organisation. Giving equal opportunities to their workers and providing
human rights to each one of them will help them to prevent them from any problem. Companies
should comply with social and legal rules, giving equal wages, follow environmental laws,

protecting environment from pollution that is produced by the industries. It can be simply said
that the organizations should comply with all moral and ethical issues to keep by away from any
kind of problem.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
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1459.
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Woodhead Publishing.
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Tumula, C.S.R. and Burch, L.L., NetIQ Corp, 2016. Techniques for protecting mobile
applications. U.S. Patent 9,240,977.
Underhill, G., 2016. Industrial crisis and the open economy: politics, global trade and the textile
industry in the advanced economies. Springer.