Year: 2012
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: This report is about the good life: the good life that is possible if people, business and government all share responsibility to open the way to new solutions (Sustainable Consumption Roundtable 2006, p. i).Integral to shared responsibility for perpetuating and sustaining 'the good life' are corporations, and in this chapter we examine a particular sustainable development approach by a major international supermarket chain, Marks and Spencer Group (Marks and Spencer).We focus on this corporation because it has long been viewed as a role model for other supermarket chains, as exemplified by its early championship of corporate social responsibility (CSR).Among other activities, CSR has been used by retailers for over 20 years to reconfigure production and logistics processes so as to meet the constantly evolving expectations of stakeholders and investors.It has also added a moral authority missing from the routine economic exchange at the heart of retail capital accumulation.CSR is generally viewed as helping retailers to 'be better placed to provide long-term growth and financial security for [all] stakeholders and to maintain and enhance their market position' (Jones et al. 2005, p. 891).CSR applies to an ever-expanding number of issues ranging from improving animal welfare and public health to fair labour practices.One of the earliest issues for attention was environmental sustainability.Marks and Spencer is among the top 10 UK retailers undertaking CSR, and concern for the environment is one of its five key pillars of sustainability.In common with other large firms, Marks and Spencer is attempting to reduce its ecological footprint by insisting that its producers change their environmental resource use practices and by reducing resource use in its stores and throughout its logistics systems.Marks and Spencer is also attempting something new -being seen to support 'green consumerism' beyond the obvious stocking of 'green' labelled products.Within a context of dire predictions regarding planetary overload from human activity, the spotlight is focused on encouraging affluent consumers to use their consumption practices in socially and environmentally responsible ways.A cultural expectation is being fostered by social movements, ecologists, religious bodies and ethical investment firms for consumers to consciously consider the environment and future generations of people and animals when they use resources.Participants in a consumer forum sponsored by the UK's Sustainable Consumption Roundtable (SCR) cited a range of factors that they considered barriers to changing their resource use patterns.They claimed that: 111105 Risk and Social Theory 1pp.indd 169 29/11/11 12
Source: SPIE eBooks
Authors: Jane Dixon, Cathy Banwell
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2240957074