Introspective companies look out
Going solo has always had a certain appeal. Movie star Greta Garbo’s stock soared when she lamented that she wanted to be alone, while anyone who has watched new TV show Californication starring David Duchovny as the deliciously dysfunctional Hank Moody will find it hard to forget the twisted allure of his claim "I’m not a joiner". Is it modesty, arrogance, paranoia or mystique that motivates such an anti-social response to the world?
Meanwhile in the rarified arena of the school yard only "squares" sign up to be house leaders; the tall poppy syndrome germinates early on. But reluctance to participate can prove problematic in the long run. I started thinking about this following the launch of The Brotherhood of St Laurence (BSL)’s "Ethical Threads" report last month, covered in the September 21 issue of Ragtrader. BSL – which also runs ethical fashion label Hunter Gatherer – presented a far from ringing endorsement of this industry’s attitude to corporate and social responsibility (CSR), in the form of a yawning gap between fashion companies and their supply chains. Worse, it depicted a sector deeply divided by mutual suspicion. To quote from the overview of findings: “There was a lack of trust between workers, suppliers, labour rights organisations and principal companies, who do not work collaboratively and often fail to understand each other’s circumstances.”
The same issue of Ragtrader also featured a front page story on the outstanding work done by wholesaler Pacific Brands to enhance its relationships with independent retailers. I should say at this point that while it may appear I’m using this editorial to randomly flaunt my own bylines, bear with me; there’s method in my monomania.
My point is that while interviewing Pacific Brands general manager of independent retail sales Ian Everett, I was struck that he did not immediately see a relationship between his company and the wider industry. To repeat his comments: "We’ve been focusing on serving our own retailers and looking internally at how to improve our operations, but when you step back and take a wider view the story gains some weight; Pacific Brands is the number one supplier to David Jones for example. So from a market point of view this kind of total overhaul and re-think is very significant."
There, he said it; but what Everett's words did not convey was his modest surprise at the suggestion, made by me, which prompted them. My intention is certainly not to detract from Pacific Brands' achievements or to cast any shadow over its CSR (the latter was not even discussed during the interview) but to point out the importance of taking its weighty influence on industry into account.
I later experienced the same feeling while talking to the head of a major company who claimed it was implementing ethical supply chain and CSR measures as part of its own philosophy of integrity and internal staff promise. Amazingly, despite the growing consensus that consumers are increasingly demanding ethical brands, it seems promoting the move to the public ranked low as a priority.
Furthermore, the company (which operates multiple outlets across Australia) again only made the connection between its internal activities and its potential to influence wider industry and the community when prompted. It appears many Australian apparel companies would rather fly under the radar than lay themselves open to scrutiny, but when industry and the community are crying out for change on numerous issues including the environment and CSR, isn’t it time major employers recognised their privileged position as opinion shakers by taking the lead, or at least risked getting their hands dirty by joining in the debate?
"Reluctance to participate can prove problematic in the long run"