How CSR Activities Changed the Perspectives and perception of Sri Lankan Apparel Industry?

How CSR Activities Changed the Perspectives and perception of Sri Lankan Apparel Industry?

History:  Sri Lankan apparel industry which rooted back to 1960s and expanded in late 1970s when Sri Lanka embraced the open economy policies. Many free trade zones opened around the country and foreign investors were welcomed with lavish tax benefits to open new garment factories. First decade or so anyhow it was not a good reputation the industry gained from the employees point of view. Harsh management styles, abusing culture and long working hours spread horrifying stories among the society added young girls who were migrating from rural areas who trapped in sex scandals. These gloomy memories are still disturbing the image of apparel industry in Sri Lanka especially the social attitude made the workers to think twice before joining a garment factory.

Matured Era: As per NCBI (1984), historically Sri Lanka had a good literacy levels, recognized as one of the best in developing world. This basic education and understanding levels made the garments culture evolution when MAS holdings pioneering by giving more priority for educated work force and professional management style who had better academic qualifications. This made the human resources and industrial engineering as strong holds and guiding factors for factories which are more people friendly and scientifically proven methods in operation. Ethical practices demanded in Sri Lankan garment manufacturers are reinforced by cultural norms, specifically the moral teachings of the predominant religious persuasion of Sinhalese Buddhism, which demands fairness, social justice and equity (Perry, 2012).

MAS holdings changed the history of Sri Lankan apparel industry and soon many followed them by mesmerizing their success such as Brandix, Hidramani & many more. MAS went with Maignan and Ferrell (2004) on” CSR initiatives are very important in the context of business ethics”. MAS Started some rural & Colombo suburb factories with some good management & HR practices and most importantly with attractive CSR projects which were utterly beneficial for local communities. As literature says firms with higher CSR ratings may have a sustainable competitive advantage rooted in human capital as they attract more and better employees than firms with lower CSR ratings (Carmeli 2005; Hunt et al. 1989; Turban and Greening 1997). Kilcullen & Kolstra, 1999 have told corporate social responsibility indicates degree of moral obligation that may be ascribed to corporations beyond simple obedience to the laws of the state. 

CSR activities made the labor attraction and sustainable growth in companies. In his research work Mikael Holmqvist in 2009 argued that over the last few decades’ corporations are paying special attention towards their social responsibility of worker’s health and their well beings. MAS, Brandix and follower continued their missions to serve the society with more and more CSR activities which are mostly benefited internal and external stakeholders in a competitive manner resulted the Sri Lankan apparel industry to lead in HR & CSR segments within the region.

References:

Ø  The Kingdom of Sri Lanka: high literacy is a good sign, NCBI, Pubmed.gov (1984) [Online] Available at; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12313041?report=abstract, Accessed on; 11^th January 2020.

Ø  Perry, P. (2012) Exploring the influence of national cultural context on CSR implementation, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 16 (2), 141-160

Ø  Maignan I. and Ferrell O.C. (2004). ‘Corporate social responsibility and marketing: An integrative framework’. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 32 3-19.

Ø  Carmeli A. (2005). ‘Perceived external prestige affective commitment and citizenship behaviours’. Organization Studies 26 443-464.

Ø  Hunt S.D. Wood V.R. and Chonko L.B. (1989). ‘Corporate ethical values and organizational commitment in marketing’. Journal of Marketing 53(3) 79-90

Ø  Turban D.B. and Greening D.W. (1997). ‘Corporate social performance and organizational attractiveness to prospective employees’. Academy of Management Journal 40 658-672.

Ø  Holmqvist, Mikael, 2009. "Corporate social responsibility as corporate social control: The case of work-site health promotion," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 68-72, March.