Conscious Supply Chain Management at H&M

A report in Sustainable Brands (http://tinyurl.com/qg5gtn7) titled “H&M Unveils Conscious Denim, Signs Agreement for More Conscious Supply Chain Management” describes initiatives with the International Labor Organization (ILO), Solidaridad and Jeanologia to audit its water use, energy consumption, working conditions, fair wages, “capacity development for social organizations and skill development across the supply chain”. Garments produced will also have a Clevercare label to urge consumers to save water and energy during use. Is H&M’s focus on the entire supply chain, from production to use, a harbinger of the future for apparel supply chains ? Will the company be able to get its customers to pay a premium to cover the costs for these initiatives ? How might H&M be able to maintain a competitive advantage for its garments developed with a conscious supply chain given that the capability is obtained by working with known nonprofit entities whose services are available to all ?

1 Response to Conscious Supply Chain Management at H&M

Tianqi Yu says:

October 10, 2014 at 4:37 pm

I really like this brand because of its relatively affordable price, the quality and style. I strongly support that H&M have some coordination with some non-profit entities and its propaganda tool with a label to urge consumers to save water and energy during use. I once saw an journal article about this and it said that it was a very useful to ask the customers to keep it in mind. As to the profit, maybe benefits may not be directly reflected in the price, if you make a higher price consumers may not be happy. But this idea will increase the number of sales from some soft benefits of the brand, like reputation and corporate image etc which might increase sales, thereby increasing profit.