Analysis of H&M's Sustainable Operations and Projects Report

This report provides an analysis of H&M's sustainable operations and projects, focusing on key areas such as ethical sourcing, waste management, and the treatment of workers. It examines H&M's fast-fashion business model, highlighting instances of unethical outsourcing and the working conditions in factories across various countries, including Myanmar, Cambodia, and Bangladesh. The report also addresses H&M's approach to waste management, including its collaboration with I:CO for recycling programs and the processes involved in sorting and repurposing collected clothing. The report further investigates the company's practices, including issues related to minimum wage, working hours, and gender inequality. Overall, the report offers a comprehensive overview of H&M's sustainability efforts, its challenges, and areas for improvement within its global operations.

Running head: MANAGING SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS AND PROJECTS
Managing Sustainable Operations and Projects
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1MANAGING SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS AND PROJECTS
Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................2
H&M Unethically Outsourcing..................................................................................................2
Treatment of the H&M Workers in Asian and Other Countries................................................2
How H&M Deal with Waste Management................................................................................3
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................3
References:.................................................................................................................................4

2MANAGING SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS AND PROJECTS
Introduction:
The report aims at focusing on managing the sustainable operations and projects in
the context of H&M (hm.com 2018). The H&M is a multinational fast-fashion clothing
retailer company from Sweden renowned for its fashion clothing for women, men, children
and teenagers.
H&M Unethically Outsourcing
. H&M is one such fast fashion-clothing brand that borrows designs from richer
brands and gives it to the people who cannot afford such brands. They made it sure that the
person who cannot afford a $1000 for Chloe bag is able to afford its cheaper version. This led
to the over consumption of fast fashion and led to the creation of convoluted supply chains.
Treatment of the H&M Workers in Asian and Other Countries
In Myanmar, H&M, the Swedish fashion chain recruited children as young as
fourteen years old in the clothing factories and made them work for than twelve hours a day.
In Cambodia, the situation was even worse where eight thousand Cambodian workers
collapsed due to long hours, excessive heat, stiff targets and malnutrition. They were even
paid minimum wages of about US$140 per month that forced them for working overtime to
improve their earnings. They also experienced and witnessed termination from the
employment during the pregnancy that was also the similar case in India. The workers of
H&M in Bangladesh also worked under dangerous conditions in factories that lacked proper
fire exits, fire doors, sprinkler system and proper alarm system. In the European country of
Serbia, the minimum wage for the workers was below the subsistence level that was
sometimes not even paid. Serbia also had a huge gender gap and the women were paid 18 to
27 percent lesser than the women. The workers also experienced severe conditions like

3MANAGING SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS AND PROJECTS
working in intolerable temperatures without air-conditioning, receiving aggressive responses
and threatened of sacking.
How H&M Deal with Waste Management
To deal with the waste management H&M works with global recycling company
known as I: CO that picks donated clothes from the company store to the sorting plants across
the world (Turker and Altuntas 2014). The collected clothing then moves around in the bags
suspended from ceiling and sorted in close to 400 varied categories. Close to 60 percent goes
for down cycling into the lower grade products like insulation for cars and houses. It is also
five percent-recycled fibres are used for making newer clothes.
Conclusion:
The report provides an insight into how H&M, the renowned fast-clothing retailer of
Sweden undertakes unethical outsourcing, treatment of the employees in the UK and Asian
countries and finally its adoption of the waste management technology.

4MANAGING SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS AND PROJECTS
References:
hm.com 2018. [online] Available at: http://www.hm.com [Accessed 7 May 2018].
Turker, D. and Altuntas, C., 2014. Sustainable supply chain management in the fast fashion
industry: An analysis of corporate reports. European Management Journal, 32(5), pp.837-
849.