Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) refers in broad terms to the need for businesses to be good corporate citizens and fulfill their economic, legal, philanthropic, ethical and environmental duties (see Carroll 1999).

“Socially responsible apparel and textile business involves:  

• An orientation encompassing the environment, its people, the apparel/textile products made and consumed, and the systematic impact that production, marketing, and consumption of these products and their component parts has on multiple stakeholders and the environment; 

• A philosophy that balances ethics/morality with profitability, which is achieved through accountability-based business decisions and strategies;  

• A desire for outcomes that positively affect, or do very little harm to, the world and its people”  (Dickson et al. 2006).

Due diligence

Increasingly, the idea of 'due diligence' is an important part of CSR.  To undertake due diligence, multinational corporations must assess their purchasing practices and disclose the labour and environmental risks across the full length of their supply chains. Adopted in 2017, the OECD Due Diligence Guidelines for Responsible Supply Chains in the Garment and Footwear Sector sets the framework for large brands and retailers to follow - you can view it here.

So how do brands and retailers work to ensure these issues are addressed in their supplier factories?

The next section looks at the organisations they partner with to work on addressing labour issues in their supply chains.