The concept of social responsibility is a fairly recent one in the business world. Awareness about the social responsibility of business organizations is rapidly on the rise and firms are also accepting this concept. The textile industry is no exception. Textile producing and trading firms are also realizing their responsibility towards the society and the environment. This article aims at analyzing the concept of social responsibility and the common ways in which textile firms try to fulfill it.

What is social responsibility?

Social responsibility is “an organization’s obligation to maximize its positive impact and minimize its negative impact on the society”. In other words, it is “the concept that businesses should be actively concerned with the welfare of the society at large”.

The concept of social responsibility is applicable to individuals and governments as well as organizations. The social responsibility of an organization is referred to as ‘corporate social responsibility’.

Social responsibility can be broadly divided into two parts: human responsibility and environmental responsibility.

Human responsibility refers to the responsibility of the organization towards the various parties associated with it, which are known as ‘stakeholders’ in business parlance. These parties include employees, shareholders, the government, customers, investors, suppliers, competitors and the society at large.

Environmental responsibility refers to the organization’s responsibility towards environment protection.

The concept of social responsibility holds that an organization should work in a manner in which the interests of the stakeholders are protected or, at the very least, they are not adversely affected. It holds that the organization should work in an ethical manner and work in the best interests of the various parties associated with it.

The realm of social responsibility extends beyond the legal responsibilities of an organization. It is voluntarily fulfilled by the organization.

The concept of corporate social responsibility has been criticized by certain experts, who believe that it is a cynical and selfish idea. They are of the opinion that corporates undertake projects for social welfare only because of the increase in reputation that they would get due to them.

Social responsibility in the textile industry

Like the firms in other industries, textiles firms are also realizing their responsibility towards the various parties associated with them and the environment. However, the ways by which different organizations choose to fulfill their social responsibility might be different.

The ways in which a textile firm can fulfill its responsibility towards various parties are similar to those of firms in other industries, as is evident from the points mentioned below: