Contemporary Strategic Management: Social Sustainability Presentation

This presentation, developed for a business course, examines the critical issue of social sustainability within the clothing manufacturing industry, particularly focusing on the ethical implications for companies operating in developing countries. It delves into the complexities of child labor, the impact of customer demand on ethical sourcing, and the influence of government regulations. The presentation highlights how major corporations are navigating these challenges through corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and transparency policies. It also evaluates the currency, reliability, authority, and purpose of the sources used, applying the CRAP test to assess the credibility of the information presented. The analysis covers the shift in customer preferences towards ethically produced goods and the role of innovation in sustainable manufacturing practices, such as using alternative materials. The presentation also discusses the evolving legal landscape in developing nations, where governments are implementing stricter laws to enforce ethical compliance. It references various studies and reports to support the arguments and provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of social sustainability in the clothing industry. The presentation aims to provide a thorough understanding of the ethical challenges and the strategies companies are adopting to address them.

Contemporar
y Strategic
Management

Evaluation of ethical
implications
 The case study titled ‘Third-World Families at Work: Child
Labor or Child Care?’ highlighted role of the management in
avoid unethical practices.
 Ethical implications are imposed on clothing manufacturers to
ensure that they conduct their operations without adversely
affecting others.
 Clothing manufacturers situated in developed nations have to
comply with roles and responsibilities while establishing their
operations in developing nations (Harris, Roby & Dibb, 2016).
 Major corporations have to take into considered social
sustainability policies by becoming aware regarding current
regulations and practices to ensure that they manage their
operations in ethical manner.

Compliance with regulations
 Self-regulatory structures such as corporate social responsibility
(CSR) have gained popularity based on which corporations have to
maintain transparency in their operations (Perry, Wood & Fernie,
2015).
 Child labour is a major issue which is highlighted in this case study
which shows that corporations are misusing their position to abuse
people in developing countries.
 However, the case study also showed that this is a major source of
employment for people in developing countries without which they
cannot survive.
 This ethical dilemma has shaken the clothing brands from developed
countries and they are enforced to implement mandatory disclosure
and transparency policies in the company to avoid violation of
employment laws, unsafe working environment and sweatshop
production.

Change in customer demand
 The case study showed that customers cared about how the products
are manufactured based on which their perspective is changing and they
prefer to purchase products which are not manufactured ethically.
 Corporations are forced to rely on innovation to develop new practices
for manufacturing and materials to avoid unethical conduct.
 For example, corporations are using hemp fibres and stinging nettle
fibres rather than traditional materials to manufacture products without
wasting resources, causing pollution or killing animals (Lanzilao,
Goswami & Blackburn, 2016).
 A recent Unilever study found that 21 percent of people prefer to support
those brands who clearly convey sustainability aspects (Gilliland, 2017).
 Therefore, ethical major clothing manufacturers are marketing to
conscious customers through their manufacturing and packaging process
to increase their sales.

Government influence
 The government in most developing nations are becoming stricter and
they implement stricter laws to enforce ethical compliances on
clothing manufacturers (Nurhayati, Taylor, Rusmin, Tower &
Chatterjee, 2016).
 For example, India and Colombia along with other 12 nations have
made significant advancements in eliminating worst forms of child
labour in 2017 (Jha, 2018).
 Changes in the Child Labour Act have made to prohibit children about
18 years to work in hazardous occupations and processes.
 Although this also negatively affects those who rely on child labour to
earn a living, however, it is a necessary step to terminate the plague
of child labour from developing nations.
 Clothing manufacturers play a crucial role in ensuring that these
policies are followed to ensure that they avoid unethical practices
(Thomas & Johny, 2018).

Source evaluation
 Sources used in this presentation will be evaluated based on CRAP
test which focuses on currency, reliability, authority and purpose of
sources.
 The study of Harris, Roby & Dibb (2016) is current and it is reliable
example to understand the issue relating to unethical implications of
clothing brands.
 This study shows the ethical implications of misuse of powers by
clothing manufacturers which is adversely affecting people in
developing countries based on which this study shows authority and
purpose elements as well.
 The research of Perry, Wood & Fernie (2015) passes the CRAP test
since it shows how major clothing corporations are using CSR models
to fulfil their social responsibilities.
 This study shows that the purpose of corporations has changed with
the enforcement of mandatory disclosure and transparency policies.

Source evaluation
 The purpose of the recent study of Lanzilao, Goswami & Blackburn
(2016) shows that customers’ perspective is changing. This study is
reliable because data is collected from authorised sources.
 This study shows that social responsibility not only creates a positive
brand image of clothing manufacturers, but, it also influences their
profitability based on which they focus on fulfilling their social
responsibility.
 The research of Nurhayati, Taylor, Rusmin, Tower & Chatterjee (2016)
passes the CRAP test as well since it depicted the recent
development made by governments in developing nations to address
the issue of child labour.
 The study of Thomas & Johny (2018) also shows the recent
developments in ethical field and the role of government as an
authority to enforce social responsibility policies on major clothing
brands.

References
 Gilliland, N. (2017). How ethical fashion brands are marketing to conscious consumers. Retrieved
from https://econsultancy.com/how-ethical-fashion-brands-are-marketing-to-conscious-
consumers/
 Harris, F., Roby, H., & Dibb, S. (2016). Sustainable clothing: challenges, barriers and interventions
for encouraging more sustainable consumer behaviour. International Journal of Consumer
Studies, 40(3), 309-318.
 Jha, L.K. (2018). India made significant advancement to eliminate worst forms of child labour in
2017 US. Retrieved from https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/international/2018/09/22/fgn1-us-
child%20labour-india.html
 Lanzilao, G., Goswami, P., & Blackburn, R. S. (2016). Study of the morphological characteristics
and physical properties of Himalayan giant nettle (Girardinia diversifolia L.) fibre in comparison
with European nettle (Urtica dioica L.) fibre. Materials Letters, 181, 200-203.
 Nurhayati, R., Taylor, G., Rusmin, R., Tower, G., & Chatterjee, B. (2016). Factors determining social
and environmental reporting by Indian textile and apparel firms: a test of legitimacy
theory. Social Responsibility Journal, 12(1), 167-189.
 Perry, P., Wood, S., & Fernie, J. (2015). Corporate social responsibility in garment sourcing
networks: Factory management perspectives on ethical trade in Sri Lanka. Journal of Business
Ethics, 130(3), 737-752.
 Thomas, J., & Johny, C. (2018). Labour absorption in indian manufacturing: The case of the
garment industry. Centre for Sustainable Employment Working Paper, 15.