It was great learning about the Social responsibility and ethics of a business. By watching the videos and the materials assigned for this unite so many ideas become more clear and some actions are more understood. Before this unit I couldn’t make the difference between the ethical and legal behavior. I had many issues explaining what is good and what is bad on my personal opinion to my previous boss.

Now lets return to the assignment. Honda’s Social Responsibility in term of Environment stand for four term:

1. Honda takes “Green Path”: Honda strives to find new ways to minimize the impact of it business on the environment. Every Honda product is designed and built with the goal of having the smallest environmental footprint possible. Honda strive every day to reduce the emissions of CO2. Honda launched a Green Dealer Program in 2012 to help independently owned and operated dealers in the U.S reduce their environmental impact. The program recognizes dealers who implement sustainable practices. The last target on the Green Path is the waste management. Honda continues to keep waste out of landfills using a variety of different recycling and re-purposing measures.        American Honda’s Total Green Process | Corporate Social Responsibility
2. Blue Skies for Our Children: More than 40 years ago, the Honda engineers who embraced the challenge of developing the revolutionary CVCC engine had simple vision- they wanted to ensure blue skies for our children. Today that vision continues to inspire the advancement of sustainability and reduce of CO2 emissions in their product and manufacturing plans.          Environmental Sustainability | Blue Skies For Our Children | Honda
3. Renewable Energy: Turning wind into energy, Honda became the first U.S automaker to drive a significant amount of power from wind turbines on its own property when two turbines began operation at their transmission plant in Russell’s Point, Ohio.    Renewable Energy, Solar Power & More | Honda

Reading Honda’s Corporate Social Responsibility via environment from the link: Environment | Honda Corporate Social Responsibility  was a good chance to know what this company stand for. I went over three subject only : The green path, Blue skies for our children and Renewable Energy. I invite the  readers to read  about other responsibility in the link : What We Believe | Honda Corporate Social Responsibility

Emirates Airline

Emirates’ “Fly Better” means the drive to innovate and be better.
This motto from Emirates has been incorporated into their daily operations to be able to deliver an air experience like no other.

I have traveled with Emirates since 2012 – and each time I fly with them my experience just gets better with each flight. They go above and beyond for their customers and their employees are just the friendliest. What they have been thriving on is having the youngest fleet in the industry. However, they also have a very diverse fleet and cater to passengers around the world.

Emirates has been taking up the social responsibility of making the most eco-friendly investments in their aircrafts by placing the most modern and eco-friendly technology in their planes. Also, on most flights, I have a donation envelope at my seat and any currency is accepted. This goes towards wildlife, environment, and other nonprofit organizations to help children around the world.

The company has found numerous ways which they are able to save fuel and be more efficient. When taking off for example, pilots use idle reverse thrust instead of using full reverse thrust. This means they switch off one engine while taxing. All these measures are put in place to help save fuel emission and cut down on noise.

Onboard long haul flights, Emirates blankets are made from 100% recyclable plastic and each blanket is made with 28 plastic bottles; this is an initiative to prevent plastic waste ending up in landfills. Emirates is based in Dubai and they practically have sun throughout the year, which gives them the opportunity to use sun energy at their hubs and energy saving products on top of that. Emirates has used 60% less energy electricity consumption each year.

I have some friends working for Emirates and I did some research. Other than being a globally recognized brand, Emirates gives their employees a range of discounted tickets to housing and even an accommodation allowance – but all of this depends on your seniority. So, the growth within the company is slow, based on time and performance. It makes it still very difficult to move up the ranks, which is something that needs to be changed. More of the young should be able to observe and to take on some of the senior position. Ethically, I think this is very old tradition that needs to change within business, since all seniors are seen as more capable or educated – the young should be more involved in these changes so the company can grow with the times.
https://www.emirates.com/us/english/about-us/our-planet/
https://www.emirates.com/us/english/about-us/our-planet/sustainability-in-operations/

For this topic, I will be talking about H&M’s corporate social responsibility. H&M’s social corporate responsibility is based on their participation in social activities which helps improve the quality of life of the communities that are around. They have a sustainability vision which means that they put effort into fixing the needs of the communities in which they are located. 

Water & Sanitation, Education & Environment, Empowerment and Livelihood are the activities the company mainly focuses on to make/create the most of their value. In India H&M focuses on water and sanitation because India is known as the most water stressed region. The way they help make this situation better is they raise awareness, they also provide access to clean water. 

H&M values the education of their employees as well as the environment. They make sure to use everything in their power to create projects that focus on environmental issues/education and their next level focus is on refusing, reducing, and recycling. As well as promoting quality education. 

Additionally, H&M is aware of unemployment being a major problem affecting our society, for that reason their focus is on livelihood enhancement as well as empowering the youth including women and girls. I find this to be very encouraging. 

H&M does not profit off of these corporate social responsibility activities/programs. They state, “Surplus arising out of the CSR projects or programs or activities shall not form part of the business profit of the Company.” In other words, H&M truly shows that they stand by what they care for and they won’t let money control their moves for their company.

All of H&M’s focuses are very good for their company because overtime it will make them grow/expand even more than how it is now. I believe H&M’s focus on Water & Sanitation, Education & Environment, Empowerment and Livelihood are amazing social corporate responsibility. I believe they should keep focusing on the environment because we are facing a climate crisis at the moment. Although H&M has some sustainable/conscious clothing/products, the majority of their clothing is still fast fashion and they have to change that part of their company. It will affect us majorly if they don’t find a solution.

Even though H&M promotes environmental issues, they need to come forward and be more truthful than how they think they are. This is the only way that they will be able to make an impactful change to our only home meaning our Earth.

And that will ultimately help improve their company as well as making an impact on other clothing companies. If H&M makes these moves and other companies see it, they will feel the need to change as well. H&M has to keep improving their corporate social responsibility. 

H&M has an animal welfare and material ethics policy. They care about animals because they don’t condone animal testing nor the use of animal skin/fur. This is an important ethical choice from H&M because there are still big companies that condone animal testing. H&M making this a priority is impactful to the rest of the clothing companies.

H&M should keep expanding their ethical policy of animal welfare. In other words they should promote animal welfare. This will make them a better company compared to a company that doesn’t have an animal welfare policy.

Sources:

https://www2.hm.com/en_in/customer-service/corporate-social-responsibility/corporate-social-responsibility-csr-policy.html

https://about.hm.com/content/dam/hmgroup/groupsite/documents/masterlanguage/CSR/Policies/HM%20Group%20Animal%20Welfare%20and%20Material%20Ethics%20policy%20-%20April%202019.pdf

Is H&M Ethical and Sustainable?

For this topic, I chose Apple as the company to do research for their social responsibility efforts and ethical principles.

Apple corporate social responsibility programs and initiatives are led by Lisa Jackson, Vice President of Environmental Initiatives, reporting directly to CEO Tim Cook. More than 1 million people work in Apple supplier facilities and as such, the company’s operations have considerable implications on the society.

In all its annual Supplier Code of Conduct reports, Apple states its social and ethical responsibilities. The company commits itself to the protection and conservation of the environment. The report states that “we take great care to design environmentally sound products”. Apple commits itself to ensure that all suppliers conserve the environment: ‘we work with suppliers to make sure they are using environmentally responsible manufacturing processes wherever those products are made’

Apple has also a set of standards that govern its suppliers’ ethical conduct. The company has set standards to safeguard its workers’ health and well being by establishing safety standards to improve workplace conditions. The company also empowers its workers technically and professionally.

 

In its responsibilities to protect its workers’ human rights, Apple has put measures to protect labor and human rights. In conformity to international standards on labor, the report limits a week’s work to 60 hours and voluntary overtime

 

Apple Supporting Local Communities

• In Oregon, USA, Apple partners with Bluestone Natural Farms to transform compostable materials generated onsite into rich organic material for use on the farm.
• The tech giant launched a 100-kilowatt rooftop solar project at an educational premise for disadvantaged children in Philippines.
• The company added 50-kilowatt solar power system and a 260-kilowatt-hour battery to supply clean electricity to off-grid fishing community in Thailand.

 

Labour and Human Rights at Apple

• Apple enforces The Supplier Code of Conduct that is claimed to be the toughest in the electronics industry. Apple educated more than 19.4 million employees of its suppliers on their rights since 2008.[2]
• In 2018, Apple removed five mineral suppliers from is supply chain for failing to pass or not being willing to participate in human rights audits[3]
• The multinational technology company interviewed more than 52000 supplier employees about their workplace experience

 

Energy Consumption by Apple

• Apple is often praised for its environmental records that include decrease of total power consumption of Apple products by 57%, introduction of Mac mini as the world’s most energy-efficient desktop computer and exceeding ENERGY STAR guidelines
• Apple emerges as the only company that has been awarded with a Clean Energy Index of 100%, according to Greenpeace’s Clicking Clean Report.
• The company currently powers 100% of its operations globally with 10% renewable energy

 

 

 

References:

 

https://www.apple.com/supplier-responsibility/pdf/Apple_SR_2013_Progress_Report.pdf

 

https://www.apple.com/supplier-responsibility/

 

https://macrumors.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/202084918-Apple-Support-for-Charity

 

https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-ditches-five-mineral-suppliers-over-failure-to-pass-human-rights-audits/

 

https://www.apple.com/supplier-responsibility/