The concept of social responsibility is a fairly recent one in the business world. Awareness about the social responsibility of business organizations is rapidly on the rise and firms are also accepting this concept. The textile industry is no exception. Textile producing and trading firms are also realizing their responsibility towards the society and the environment. This article aims at analyzing the concept of social responsibility and the common ways in which textile firms try to fulfill it.

What is social responsibility?

Social responsibility is “an organization’s obligation to maximize its positive impact and minimize its negative impact on the society”. In other words, it is “the concept that businesses should be actively concerned with the welfare of the society at large”.

The concept of social responsibility is applicable to individuals and governments as well as organizations. The social responsibility of an organization is referred to as ‘corporate social responsibility’.

Social responsibility can be broadly divided into two parts: human responsibility and environmental responsibility.

Human responsibility refers to the responsibility of the organization towards the various parties associated with it, which are known as ‘stakeholders’ in business parlance. These parties include employees, shareholders, the government, customers, investors, suppliers, competitors and the society at large.

Environmental responsibility refers to the organization’s responsibility towards environment protection.

The concept of social responsibility holds that an organization should work in a manner in which the interests of the stakeholders are protected or, at the very least, they are not adversely affected. It holds that the organization should work in an ethical manner and work in the best interests of the various parties associated with it.

The realm of social responsibility extends beyond the legal responsibilities of an organization. It is voluntarily fulfilled by the organization.

The concept of corporate social responsibility has been criticized by certain experts, who believe that it is a cynical and selfish idea. They are of the opinion that corporates undertake projects for social welfare only because of the increase in reputation that they would get due to them.

Social responsibility in the textile industry

Like the firms in other industries, textiles firms are also realizing their responsibility towards the various parties associated with them and the environment. However, the ways by which different organizations choose to fulfill their social responsibility might be different.

The ways in which a textile firm can fulfill its responsibility towards various parties are similar to those of firms in other industries, as is evident from the points mentioned below:

Towards employees:

•By providing a competitive and challenging work environment to the employees.
•By having ethical recruitment, remuneration, promotion and other policies
•By providing opportunities to the employees to voice their opinion and complaints and have an effective policy for the solution of these complaints.
•Ensuring a safe working environment for the employees.
•Having fair policies for the solution of employee disputes.

Towards shareholders:

•By representing a fair picture of the company’s financial position and profit/loss to the shareholders
•By paying them a fair rate of dividend

Towards the government:

•By providing the necessary information to the government as and when required
•By making payment of the due taxes and duties at the proper time
•By abiding by the laws and regulations of the area in which the firm operates.
•Contributing to the economy through exports.

Towards customers:

•By providing quality products to the customers at reasonable prices
•By undertaking constant research and development and coming up with innovative and more useful products from time to time

Towards investors:

•By giving the investors a true and fair picture of the financial condition of the business.
•By giving them due returns on the investment made by them.

Towards suppliers

•Making competitive payment to the suppliers for the products purchased from them.
•Maintaining a good relationship with the suppliers.

Towards competitors:

•Indulging in ethical and healthy competition

Towards society:

•Undertaking community development and area development programmes.
•Undertaking charity work for the underprivileged sections of the society.
•By creating job opportunities.

Towards environment:

•Ensuring the purchase of environment-friendly supplies.
•Ensuring a pollution-free process of production
•Having an efficient system for the disposal of waste
•Making the product and the process of production as environment-friendly as possible.
•Adopting eco-friendly packaging.

The following are ways in which a few leading firms dispose of their social responsibility:

BURBERRY

Burberry is a leading manufacturer of apparel and other fashion accessories like perfumes and handbags since 1856. The checks pattern is the unique distinguishing feature of Burberry products. It is a well-known brand all over the globe.

Burberry is an organization that strives to fulfill its social responsibility. It provides its employees with safe working conditions, fair policies regarding appointment and remuneration and ethical workplace standards. There is no bias towards age, gender, color or marital status in its employee policies.

The staff of Burberry is specially trained in safety conditions at the workplace. It has specified health and safety standards, which are audited annually.

In its UK branch, Burberry has launched a free support cell for its employees. This cell offers medical and legal advice as well as counseling to employees and their family members, wherein complete confidentiality is maintained.

Burberry has donated money for various charitable causes such as fashion and textile education, medical research, support of orphaned children, support of hurricane victims, and for charitable artistic events.

It undertakes strict quality control and research and development to provide products of the best quality to its customers.

It undertakes environmental reviews of its operations periodically and ensures that the environment is not adversely affected by its activities. Measures have been taken in some of their outlets for energy conservation and reuse of packing material.

WELSPUN

Welspun is a group that is chiefly engaged in the production of textiles. It is also engaged in the production of other products such as electricity and cold storage. It carries on operations in 50 countries of the world. Welspun strongly believes in the fulfilling its social responsibility.

As part of its social responsibility campaign, Welspun has developed the concept of 5 Es – Enrichment of mind, enrichment of body, education, empathy, and empowerment of women. It undertakes several projects in each of these areas.

Welspun believes that enrichment of the mind leads to nurturing of the body. For enrichment of the mind, Welspun regularly conducts workshops on yoga and nutrition for the soul. These classes are generally conducted for the benefit of employees and their families.

For the purpose of enrichment of the body, Welspun undertakes several activities such as arranging regular visits by doctors and holding periodic medical camps for its employees. It provides the facility of a gym to all employees.

Welspun also makes a significant contribution towards the spread of education. Welspun contributes regularly for the education of children belonging to the underprivileged section of the society. Moreover, representatives from the organization communicate periodically with these children to get an idea of the progress made. In its endeavor to spread the light of education, Welspun has established two educational institutions – Welspun Vidhya Mandir and Welspun Anganwadi in Kutchh, Gujarat. Welspun Vidhya Mandir is a school for children upto Standard X, while Welspun Anganwadi is a pre-primary school. Both these educational institutions admit the students of their employees as well as children from the local community.

Keeping in view the concept of empathy, Welspun undertakes a number of projects in the interest of the society at large. The organization periodically makes contributions to schools for the visually impaired. It provides employment to the orphans and others associated with visually impaired people. Welspun gifts products made by such people to its employees on occasions such as birthdays. The firm has also undertaken an afforestation drive in the sandy area of Anjar in Gujarat. Welspun also organizes periodic blood donation camps. The blood collected in these camps is used for the benefit of people from the economically weaker section of the society and people suffering from critical diseases like cancer.

For the purpose of empowerment of women too, Welspun has initiated several activities like Project Kishori and Project Lijjat. Under Project Kishori, Welspun organizes computer classes for women who intend to take up government jobs. Under Project Lijjat, Welspun organizes training programmes for rural women in the making of Papads, with the view of providing employment to them and strengthening their financial condition.

ARVIND MILLS

Arvind Mills is a leading Indian producer of textiles since 1931. Founded by the Lalbhai Group, it is now a well-known firm all over the world. It is one of the top 3 denim manufacturers in the world. It is also known for its shirting, knits and khakhis.

Arvind strongly believes that in participating in the development of the society, which helps in its development. It has made valuable contributions to the society.

It helped in the establishment of the IIMA, ATIRA, and The Kasturbhai Lalbhai Textile Training Centre in Ahmedabad. It established the Narottambhai Lalbhai Rural Development Fund and The Lalbhai Group Rural Development Fund for the benefit of the weaker sections of the society. It also organizes nutritional programmes and food camps for rural people.

Arvind helped in the establishment of SHARDA Trust, i.e. Strategic Help Alliance for Relief to Distressed Areas. This organization works for providing a better quality of life to the people in urban areas. SHARDA works in co-ordination with the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to provide basic infrastructure and clean water to the society. It co-ordinates with a number of hospitals to provide basic medical facilities to the general public.

Arvind has developed an environmental policy with a view to protecting the environment from the negative effects of its operations. It strives for optimum utilization of energy, cotton and water. It takes steps to ensure minimum discharge of waste and for the recycling of waste as far as possible. It undertakes measures to ensure minimum pollution. It provides training to its employees on environmental issues and encourages its buyers and suppliers to be environmentally responsible. It takes measures for increasing the greenery cover.

Conclusion

The concept of social responsibility is gaining popularity in today’s times. Companies are becoming increasingly aware of their responsibilities towards the various stakeholders associated with them. More and more companies are trying to work in a way so as to protect the interests of the employees, customers, suppliers and other parties and the society at large. The concept of a business firm working only with the motive of earning profit is gradually becoming outdated.

References:
www.burberryplc.com
www.welspun.com
www.arvindmills.com

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