Primark- Between Affordability and Ethics Essay

Primark- Between Affordability and Ethics - Essay Example Primark’s name has also come to be associated with the employment of child labour and illegal immigrants. The company has a good ethical record in the sphere of environment and animal rights. However, the corporate practices of Primark do leave scope for ethical scrutiny. The top management of the company does need to formally recognize these ethical lacunas and take immediate steps to arrest its dwindling ethical credentials. Executive Summary Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction 4 2.0 Discussion 4 2.1 Labour Practices 4 2.2 Environmental Concern 6 2.3 Ethical Corporate Practices 6 2.4 Animal Rights 6 3.0 Conclusion 6 4.0 Recommendations 7 Reference List 8 1.0 Introduction Primark is a clothing retailer of Irish origins that has its stores in United Kingdom, Austria, Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Portugal and Ireland. Primark primarily tends to sell clothing items that affiliate to the budget segment of the market. Thereby it has to face an immense competition from vari ed other budget segment clothing retailers. Ostensibly speaking Primark commits allegiance to a code of ethics and the company expects its suppliers to follow the principles inherent in this code of ethics and strictly requires the suppliers and factories dealing with Primark to make it certain that the products supplied to the Primark are made by workers employed in good working conditions, and that these workers are treated in a humane and decent manner and are paid fair and wages (Primark 2013). However, in the recent times Primark has been in the eye of the storm owing to a range of issues that happen to go starkly contrary to the company’s professed code of conduct. This report intends to analyze the fact as to how Primark lives up to its ethical claims by considering the performance of Primark over a range of ethical parameters like the international codes of labour practice, complying with environmental norms, affiliating to corporate ethics and animal testing of produ cts. The report in the light of the conclusions drawn from this analysis also intends to facilitate some recommendations. 2.0 Discussion A careful perusal of the official website of Primark testifies to the fact that formally speaking the company has a code of ethics in place that claims allegiance to a range of imperatives pertaining to labour practices, environment, animal rights and ethical corporate practices. However, an extensive research into the media reports tells a different story. In the light of the available facts, it will be utterly insightful to analyze the ethical claims of Primark over a range of parameters. 2.1 Labour Practices The official code of ethics promulgated by Primark expects its suppliers to assure that the products supplied to Primark are made in working conditions that are good, safe, hygienic and humane (Primark 2013). The company also expects the suppliers and factories manufacturing Primark products to make it certain that at no time and in no way t hey violate internationally recognized codes of labour practice and abstain from practices like child labour, forced labour, paying unfair wages, excessive working hours, and meting inhuman and illegal treatment to workers (Primark 2013). Moreover, Primark joined Ethical Trading Initiative in 2006, an organization that tends to solicit the support and cooperation of a range of stakeholders like Non-government Organizations, corporations and trade