KappAhls sociala ansvar. Hur ser det ut i verkligheten?

Abstract

With the globalization, companies in the West chose to shift production to developing countries to cut down costs. This had a major impact when child labor and very poor working conditions in these factories were discovered and led many companies to take responsibility for their suppliers and the employees by adopting voluntary so-called Codes of Conduct. There is a subtle balance to enforce improvement of working conditions for employees at suppliers´ factories and to keep costs down. On the one hand, companies would like to conduct extensive audits at their suppliers to ensure code of conduct compliance and thus protect their legitimacy. On the other hand, audits are expensive so companies would like to minimize audits to keep costs down. Companies thus have to strike a delicate balance in relation to how many and what suppliers they choose to audit. In this thesis, we study how companies handle this balance in practice. In particular, we study - based on a qualitative study - how KappAhl AB handles this balance. KappAhl is interesting to study since, they were one of the first major fashion chains in Sweden to establish a Code of Conduct. We show that KappAhl select the suppliers they inspect in accordance with its Code of Conduct based on two main reasons, namely efficiency and pre-established supplier categorizations and structures. Based on this, we argue that KappAhl is leaning towards the efficiency side, thus, potentially risking its legitimacy with its current practices. More generally, the thesis adds to our knowledge about what variables influence what suppliers companies audit by highlighting the importance of both the strive for efficiency and pre-established supplier categorizations and structures.