Improving Social Responsibility in RMG Industries Through a New Governance Approach in Laws

Abstract

Developing countries need to reform legislation to ensure the global supply firms in the readymade garment (RMG) industry is adequately addressing obligations of social responsibility. Literature typically focuses on strategies for raising responsible standards in global buying firms within the RMG industry, but fails to focus on implementing strategies for suppliers in developing countries. This article addresses this gap by specifically focusing on the RMG industry in Bangladesh, the home of the third largest RMG supplier in the world. It concentrates on analyzing how and to what extent the law can assist in developing social responsibility performance of the RMG manufacturing firms in developing countries. It ultimately concludes that a new governance approach in laws can effectively increase the social responsibility practice standards of an industry where global buying firms are profit-driven and governmental agencies are either inadequate or corrupt.

Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, new governance, ready-made garments industry, Rana Plaza tragedy, global buyers, Bangladesh, global supply chain, global supply firms