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“The Low Price” of the textile discounter KiK – consequences for labour conditions in textile factories in Bangladesh: Difference between revisions
“The Low Price” of the textile discounter KiK – consequences for labour conditions in textile factories in Bangladesh (view source)
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==== 3.1 Profile of the garment discounter KiK<br> ==== | ==== 3.1 Profile of the garment discounter KiK<br> ==== | ||
The KiK company was founded in 1994 by Stefan Heinig and the Tengelmann group. KiK is an abbreviation for the German slogan “der Kunde ist König”, that means “the customer is the king”. The mission statement of KiK is that everyone can get completely dressed from stockings to the cap for only 30 Euro. KiK is a quickly growing textile discounter. Today the KiK company consists out of 3.000 stores in Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary and Slovakia. Each year about 200 new stores are opened. The annual turnover is more than one billion Euros. KiK is the largest textile discounter in Germany. The | The KiK company was founded in 1994 by Stefan Heinig and the Tengelmann group. KiK is an abbreviation for the German slogan “der Kunde ist König”, that means “the customer is the king”. The mission statement of KiK is that everyone can get completely dressed from stockings to the cap for only 30 Euro. KiK is a quickly growing textile discounter. Today the KiK company consists out of 3.000 stores in Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary and Slovakia. Each year about 200 new stores are opened. The annual turnover is more than one billion Euros. KiK is the largest textile discounter in Germany. The range of products includes on one side ladies, men, children and baby wear and on the other side giftware, toys, accessories, home textiles, underwear and stockings. KiK uses the known German TV-starlet Verona Pooth for advertising their products as a testimonial. The KiK company stresses that they offer good quality for a very cheap price. The quality is tested by the quality assurance management of KiK. In Addition KiK works together with the international testing institute SGS Fresenius and the TÜV institute Rheinland. On the KiK homepage customers can watch a short film that shows the quality management.<ref>Data and facts about KiK. Retrieved February 26, 2011, from http://www.kik-textilien.com/fileadmin/Abteilungen/Kommunikation/Presse/Zahlen-Daten-Fakten-KiK_2011.pdf</ref><ref name="B">KiK - company profile. Retreived February 26, 2011 from http://www.kik-textilien.com/unternehmen/presse/pressearchiv/unternehmensprofil/pm-unternehmesportait/</ref><ref>KiK company film. Retrieved February 26, 2011 from http://www.kik-textilien.com/unternehmen/presse/pressearchiv/unternehmensfilm/</ref> | ||
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Stefan Heinig, the CEO of KiK, points out: “At KiK, the social, ecological and economic added value is very important. This is why today, we take advantage of our strength and size to campaign for the principles of sustainability and to promote continuous improvement. In 2006, we established a strict code of conduct to which all our suppliers are committed. We consequently work on the implementation of the entailed demands. Even though it needs a lot of effort, patience and the ability to take occasional setbacks, our measures in regards to social responsibility serve as role models in the discount domain and help to impose standards.”<ref name="C">CSR brochure of KIK. (2010, October). Retrieved February 26, 2011 from http://www.kik-textilien.com/uploads/media/CSR-Broschuere_eng.pdf</ref> | Stefan Heinig, the CEO of KiK, points out: “At KiK, the social, ecological and economic added value is very important. This is why today, we take advantage of our strength and size to campaign for the principles of sustainability and to promote continuous improvement. In 2006, we established a strict code of conduct to which all our suppliers are committed. We consequently work on the implementation of the entailed demands. Even though it needs a lot of effort, patience and the ability to take occasional setbacks, our measures in regards to social responsibility serve as role models in the discount domain and help to impose standards.”<ref name="C">CSR brochure of KIK. (2010, October). Retrieved February 26, 2011 from http://www.kik-textilien.com/uploads/media/CSR-Broschuere_eng.pdf</ref> | ||
This statement is very important because KiK sets his own levelling board they must achieve or otherwise can get criticised for. As a next step it is necessary to take a closer look to the established code of conduct by KiK in 2006. The code of conduct describes social standards for all trading partners of KiK, including those in Bangladesh and China. “The regulations of the code of conduct contain all the usual conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for good working conditions. These include adhering to maximum working hours and paying a minimum wage as well as a safe and clean working environment, freedom of assembly and collective bargaining and the prohibition of child labour.”<ref name="C" /> | This statement is very important because KiK sets his own levelling board they must achieve or otherwise can get criticised for. As a next step it is necessary to take a closer look to the established code of conduct by KiK in 2006. The code of conduct describes social standards for all trading partners of KiK, including those in Bangladesh and China. “The regulations of the code of conduct contain all the usual conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for good working conditions. These include adhering to maximum working hours and paying a minimum wage as well as a safe and clean working environment, freedom of assembly and collective bargaining and the prohibition of child labour.”<ref name="C" /> | ||
===== <u>3.3.1 "Control mechanism" during a social audit</u> ===== | ===== <u>3.3.1 "Control mechanism" during a social audit</u> ===== | ||
The adherence of the code of conduct rules is controlled systematically by inspections that are carried out by independent audit organisations. These social audits do follow a schedule plan that is showed in figure 2.<br> | The adherence of the code of conduct rules is controlled systematically by inspections that are carried out by independent audit organisations. These social audits do follow a schedule plan that is showed in figure 2.<br> | ||
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Corrected version after peer review: | Corrected version after peer review: | ||
= <u></u>Literature review<br> = | = <u></u>Literature review<br> = | ||