EVALUATION OF FAIR-TRADE BUSINESS POLICIES AND PRACTICES IN GARMENT INDUSTRY: A COMPANY AND CONSUMER ORIENTED STUDY

Abstract

Purpose: This research article aims to evaluate the fairness of the textile industry policies and practices in a double way, by examining both companies and consumers dynamics. To find out how equitable the garment sector market is, official reports from the most prominent companies were studied, to determine what they claim to be doing to improve the situation with workers from developing countries, if they meet their self-stablished criteria or not, and the actions that have been consequently taken. Furthermore, this research reflects consumers’ dynamics and points out whether they are ethical and consequent with their opinions. Methodology: Two different approaches were used, one for each different path. The first one consisted of assessing the level of fairness in labor conditions of workers who belong to big supply chains contractors. To do so, this study applied a variation of Grey’s Approach and created some standards. The second one was designing a survey whose data was subsequently analyzed with the objective of finding out if buyers made a conscious and equitable consumption of clothes. Consequently, the survey was divided into questions about buyers’ knowledge of the situation and industry, common purchase practices, and their opinion. Findings: This paper proposes a quantitative way to evaluate how well are supply chains managing to provide a fair environment for workers coming from subcontracts in developing countries, as well as it allows some comparison between brands and give clues on how to improve. In addition, the perception and consumption pattern of common textile buyers was captured and appraised. These conclusions have helped to accurately describe the current situation of production chains in the garment sector. Originality: To the authors’ knowledge, there is no other research that describes how companies perceive the current situation of production chains and subcontracted workers in the garment sector using their own published data. In addition, this research also takes account of the point of view of the consumer, giving a full view of the industry situation. Keywords: supply chain, clothes, consumers, fair labour conditions, delocalization