Companies have taken steps, but exploitation remains widespread. Big garment brands and retailers have their products made under exploitative and unhealthy conditions by girls in Tamil Nadu, South India. The girls, mostly younger than 18 and from a Dalit (‘outcaste’) background are employed under the Sumangali Scheme. In its worst form, this employment scheme stands [...]

Laggards of the past often turn into leaders of the present. The case of Wal-Mart perfectly illustrates this paradoxical tendency, states a report published today by Geneva-based ethical reputation research firm Covalence – Covalence Retail Industry Report 2008. A year ago Wal-Mart was still last in Covalence EthicalQuote ranking calculated for 27 companies in the [...]

Inditex se proclama a salvo de la crisis. El primer grupo textil del mundo mantiene sus planes de expansión internacional y descarta recortes de personal para hacer frente a una posible caída en el consumo, según confirmó ayer con rotundidad el consejero delegado de la firma gallega, Pablo Isla. El también vicepresidente primero de la [...]

Marks & Spencer and Wal-Mart are driving the ethical agenda for the retail sector, according to a report published by Covalence, a Switzerland-based company operating an ethical quotation system. The Covalence Retail Industry Report 2007 refers to Marks & Spencer as a “proactive leader, appearing in many positive news items.” Wal-Mart is said to be [...]

Marks & Spencer and Wal-Mart drive the ethical agenda of Retailers, which has been dominated by environmental issues in 2006-2007, states a report released by Geneva-based ethical reputation research firm Covalence, Covalence Retail Industry Report 2007. Marks & Spencer is a proactive leader: it appears in many positive news items and maintains a remarkably low [...]