In our international tracking surveys on corporate social responsibility, we often ask our respondents to name an individual company that is fulfilling its responsibilities to society particularly well – or badly. They usually find it difficult to do so – often, nearly half can't name any standout company. In most countries, it's rare for any individual company to be mentioned by more than 10% of respondents, and revealingly, it's often the leading consumer brands that crop up at the top of both lists – their strengths and flaws are just more visible.
But occasionally, a new name emerges. This has happened in the UK this year, where budget clothes retailer Primark has shot to the top of the list of irresponsible companies in our latest survey. The six per cent who point the finger at Primark may not sound like many, but it's enough to move it ahead of controversial names such as McDonalds, Exxon and Nestle. It's clear that media coverage of some of its questionable business practices, notably the exploitative use of immigrant labour and child workers, has cut through the noise. And it's particularly notable given that Primark is part of a sector that – perhaps surprisingly – isn't seen as one of the more irresponsible industries out there.
Primark has since announced that it has sacked three of its Indian clothing suppliers, who it accuses of perpetrating 'wholesale deception' in their dealings with the retailer. This action might reassure some – Gap, for one, seems to have managed to shake off a reputation for using child labour thanks to a programme of factory monitoring and a high-profile PR campaign. (Whether it deserves to be off the hook is another matter.)
But others may conclude that if they can still buy a Primark t-shirt for less than the cost of the cappuccino they have afterwards, someone, somewhere, is bound to be losing out.
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