British retailer Marks & Spencer has made Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies list for 2014 {under the general retail section}, followed by H&M, Levi’s and Gap in the apparel section.
While M&S, H&M and Levi’s “wins” are more believable, it’s the third taker that we are having a problem digesting. H&M after all is the world’s largest purchaser of organic cotton and have launched both a Conscious and Conscious Exclusive sustainable fashion collections as well as a recycled denim range. Levi’s has pioneered several better-for-the-planet innovations, including its “Water<Less” jeans, the triple-bottom-line and a new way of manufacturing denim using 100 percent recycled water.
H&M’s CEO, Karl-Johan Persson, said he was “proud” to have the company recognised, adding: “It is a great recognition of H&M’s strong ethical approach.”
Mind the Gap
Gap on the other hand {which also owns the Old Navy, Banana Republic, Athleta, and Intermix brands} was named the worst corporation of 2013 by the Public Eye Awards jury for its “steadfast [refusal] to contribute to effective reforms in the textile industry.” One of the top purchasers of clothing in Bangladesh, the American retailer has frequently come under fire for its refusal to sign the legally binding Accord on Fire and Building Safety, choosing instead to align itself with an alternative plan, one that trade unions and labor advocates have largely denounced as a “corporate-controlled sham agreement.”
Gap has also aroused the wrath of Greenpeace, not only for its alleged role in toxic water scandals from China to Mexico, but also for its failure to “credibly commit” to eliminating hazardous chemicals from its products and supply chain. Meanwhile, the company scored a middling 42 points (out of a possible 100) in the Responsible Sourcing Network’s recent evaluation of companies’ efforts toward eliminating forced labor from their supply chains.
But Ethisphere, which has listed the company in its rankings for the eighth consecutive year, is firmly Team Gap.
“The entire community of World’s Most Ethical Companies believe that customers, employees, investors and regulators place a high premium on trust and that ethics and good governance are key in earning it,” Timothy Erblich, Ethisphere’s CEO, says in a statement. “Gap Inc. joins an exclusive community committed to driving performance through leading business practices. We congratulate everyone at Gap Inc. for this extraordinary achievement.”
New York-based research institute Ethisphere has an advisory panel formed of leading professors, government officials and attorneys keenly interested in ethical business practices. Ethisphere bases its World’s Most Ethical Companies assessment on scores generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (25 percent); reputation, leadership, and innovation (20 percent); governance (10 percent); corporate citizenship and responsibility (25 percent), and culture of ethics (20 percent).
via Ecouterre
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