AU H&M Company Case Study The research topic has to be in the form of a question “Does H&M company practice fair trade? What is the concept behind sustaina

AU H&M Company Case Study The research topic has to be in the form of a question
“Does H&M company practice fair trade? What is the concept behind sustainable fashion and ethical clothing?
Do we have to trust the H&M Company? Is it part of promoting? Dose the H&M Company misleading consumers?
The paper should not be more than 8-10 pages long, 1.5 lines spaced and 11-point font. These sources should be either books or an academic journal article. 
I will attach work-related to this research paper, you should change some of sources but still use the other sources that have been addressed. Running Head: Literature Review
International Political Economy
Background
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Running Head: Literature Review
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The fashion industry is a leading contributor of environmental pollution
in different places across the world. This challenge has been fuelled by lack of a
new global business model that addresses sustainability issues like social
responsibility and environmental issues and ethical behavior (Pal & Gander,
2018). However, Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M Group) has come out strongly as
one of the few business in the fashion industry to adopt an innovative business
model based on sustainable practices. H&M Group is a multinational dealing with
fast fashion for children, women and men. The Group has achieved considerable
financial success in part due to resilience and commitment to sustainable
business behavior. This paper is a literature review of H&M Group sustainable
business practices with focus on social, environmental and ethical issues.
Literature Review
One of the central themes in literature is that business sustainability is
mainly about corporate social responsibility and good environmental
management practices. In the study by Ortiz & Bansal (2016), a sustainable
company can be identified and assessed based on social and the environmental
practices (SEPs), which allow the firm to bounce back and survive a volatile
situation. The study showed that businesses that adopt SEP tend to have higher
sales growth, increased chances of survival and reduced financial risks. These
findings can help explain the role of SEP programs adopted by H&M Company,
which is to improve sales and allow strategic survival from adverse outcomes. In
2018, the company came under fire for an advert of a young black male wearing
a hoodie written: “Coolest Monkey in the jungle” (Beyer, Bierling & Ojerbrant,
2018). The advert brought public decry for what appeared to be a racist advert.
To prevent damage of public image that could potentially hurt sales, H&M
adopted strategic social practices, by removing the ad from offline and online
sales and issuing a public apology. The management admitted to living below its
otherwise high standards of sustainability. Besides, the company created a
diversity leader position to oversee cultural issues.
Ortiz & Bansal (2016) insist that for many companies, business
sustainability is all about social and environmental practices. This argument is
Running Head: Literature Review
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strikingly remarkable because it makes it easy to define a sustainable company
based on the criteria of social responsibility and environmental practices (SEP).
Companies that engage in SEP benefit from positive short-term outcomes and
resilience. The authors define resilience as the ability of the business to be
flexible, adjust to maladaptive events, and positively cope with negative
situations. Because resilience is a path-dependent term, the authors assess it
using long-term outcomes, such as sales increase, survival, and financial
volatility. However, results did not support these hypotheses. The Group also
engages in fair trade and socially acceptable practices to appeal to its global
audience. Otherwise, the Group risks public decry from unsustainable social and
economic practices (Lou & Cao (20019). H&M Group appears to be a sustainable
company in part due to the presence of a strong corporate culture that focuses
on sustainable supply chain management practices, corporate social
responsibility, and consideration of environmental issues.
H&M Group claims to be a sustainable global company concerned about
the current and future generations. The Group presents itself as a leader for
economically, socially and environmentally sustainable business practices with
ambitious goals and objectives (H&M Group, 2020). However, research has
shown that businesses in the fashion industry are some of the greatest
contributors to environmental pollution. These businesses, H&M Group included,
pollute the planet through the disposal of unsold stock in landfills and through
incineration, chemical pollution and use of large amounts of water (Pal & Gander,
2018). Thus, innovation is needed to spearhead sustainable practices and
dialogue for social and environmental sustainability (Thomas, S. (2008).
Currently, the H&M group appears to be leading the change towards sustainable
practices through climate positive, reward and recognition of sustainable
actions, promotion of scale innovation and the use of recycled sourced raw
materials. In terms of socially sustainable practices, H&M has a strong corporate
culture that empathizes fairness and equality, provision of jobs to all regardless
of gender, race, creed, nationality or race, as well as championing diversity and
inclusion.
Running Head: Literature Review
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Several studies have investigated the relationship among innovation,
organizational values and corporate sustainability (Pedersen, Gwozdz & Hvass,
2018; Neutzling et al., 2018). In the study by Pedersen, Gwozdz & Hvass (2018),
findings showed that companies with innovative models tend to have programs
for corporate sustainability. Thus, innovation and sustainability are the driving
principles for the majority of these organizations. The study also revealed a
positive relationship between performance and organizational values. In the case
of the H&M Group, there is an indication that a culture of sustainable fashion is a
key driver of financial performance. Today, H&M Group has an active
sustainability program that covers both environmental and social issues (H&M
Group, 2020). By the end of 2025, the group intends to reduce electrical
intensity per hour by 25 percent and achieve zero emissions from
transportation. There is an ambitious plan to achieve 100 percent renewable
electricity by 2030, reduce GHG emissions by 40 percent and reduce 3 GHG
emissions form raw materials and garments by 59 percent per item. Other
sustainable programs include the realization of zero discharge of harmful
materials and chemicals form supply chain by the end of 2020, and sourcing 100
percent sustainable cotton. The group expects to collect more than 25 000 tons
of garments annually using collection initiatives. Stakeholders and customers
expect the group to only source virgin wool from firms approved by the
Responsible Wool Standard.
Sustainability is an ethical issue that spans social, environmental and
economic elements of development. According to Choi, Cai & Shen (2018),
sustainability is “development that meets the needs current generation without
risking the ability of the future generations to achieve their needs” (pg. 2). Social
elements include issues such as equality, workplace diversity, gender issues, and
personal development while environmental issues involve the wellbeing of the
environment. Economic issues related to the future of the economy. According to
Thomas (2008), any discussion of sustainability must pay attention to the ethics.
Managers concerned with sustainable practices translate this effort into the
company’s objectives, goals, mission, and vision. Thus, it is probable likely, that
sustainable practice is concerned with actions that are good or wrong, although
this has no legal obligation. This relationship is evident in the H&M Group’s
Running Head: Literature Review
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commitment to ethical practice. The Group demands high standards of integrity,
openness, and accountability from employees, managers, suppliers and other
stakeholders. The Group has placed strict measures to prevent mischiefs that
may cause by employees although there is no guarantee malpractices in any part
of the business may occur.
In conclusion
H&M Group claims to be committed to sustainable business
practices. Research has shown the fashion industry is a leading global polluter
largely due to dependence on moot and dominant business models that is not
flexible to innovative sustainability practices. To be effectively sustainable,
businesses must have a strong corporate culture that emphasizes high levels of
integrity, accountability, ethical environmental practices, and social
responsibility. H&M Group has developed programs to ensure inclusiveness,
equality, use of clean energy, equal job and environmental management. Thus,
there is evidence that the H&M Group is truly committed to sustainable and fair
trade practices.
References
Running Head: Literature Review
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Beyer, J., Bierling, K., & Ojerbrant, F. (2018). Case H&M-(Un) coolest Monkey in
the Jungle-When Ads Turn against Their Creators. LBMG Corporate Brand
Management and Reputation-Masters Case Series.
Choi, T. M., Cai, Y. J., & Shen, B. (2018). Sustainable fashion supply chain
management: a system of systems analysis. IEEE Transactions on
Engineering Management, 66(4), 730-745.
H&M Group (2020). Leading the change. Retrieved from:
https://hmgroup.com/sustainability/leading-the-change.html
Lou, X., & Cao, H. (2019). A comparison between consumer and industry
perspectives on sustainable practices throughout the apparel product
lifecycle. International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology, and
Education
Neutzling, D. M., Land, A., Seuring, S., & do Nescient, L. F. M. (2018). Linking
sustainability-oriented innovation to supply chain relationship
integration. Journal of Cleaner Production, 172, 3448-3458.
Ortiz‐de‐Mandojana, N., & Bansal, P. (2016). The long‐term benefits of
organizational resilience through sustainable business practices. Strategic
Management Journal, 37(8), 1615-1631.
Pedersen, E. R. G., Gwozdz, W., & Hvass, K. K. (2018). Exploring the relationship
between business model innovation, corporate sustainability, and
organizational values within the fashion industry. Journal of Business
Ethics.
Pal, R., & Gander, J. (2018). Modeling environmental value: An examination of
sustainable business models within the fashion industry. Journal of
Cleaner Production, 184, 251-263.
Thomas, S. (2008). From “green blur” to eco-fashion: Fashioning an eco-lexicon.
Fashion Theory, 12(4), 525-539.
Course: International Political Economy
Research Topic and Background
Does H&M company practice fair trade? What is the concept behind sustainable
fashion and ethical clothing?
Background
In the fashion industry, Distinctive brands center on combating different issues,
some companies come up with an idea as advertising “eco-friendly clothing” to represent
practice fair trade. These brands indicate to the ideas, which are a trending concern of
society. In this regard, companies became promoting the notion of sustainable fashion
and ethical clothing. To simplify the concept it takes into consideration the total lifecycle
of the item from the designing, sourcing, and production forms. Moreover, it looks at
everybody and everything being influenced by it, from the environment to the laborers
and communities where it’s delivered, to the buyers who buy it.
This paper will concentrate on the H&M Company, which claims that each
product in the Conscious collection has an aspect that reduces the environmental
effect such as organic cotton or recycled polyester. More importantly, H&M attracts
customers by addressing that the styles start at fair $10 so as a customer should not
spend a fortune on sustainable fashion. Also, the consumer can recycle undesirable
clothing at H&M stores for a rebate to purchase something new. Do we have to trust
the H&M Company? Is it part of promoting? Dose the H&M Company misleading
consumers? This paper will highlight all the issues and do an investigative analysis
of the company.

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