Abstract Essay in political science, C-level, by Jenny Senemgen, spring semester 2008. Tutor: Michele Micheletti. “Hennes & Mauritz – a case study of their CSR work and collaborations with NGOs.”

The purpose of this essay is to examine if and how the transnational corporation Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) collaborates with NGOs in it’s work with human rights for workers and increased corporate social responsibility. I have looked at H&Ms CSR report from 2006, the Swedish network Clean Clothes Campaigns report about Swedish corporations in the textile industry and if their CSR work during the past ten years have given any results and I have also done two interviews with two NGOs.

The examination is thereby a case study where I’m examining H&Ms CSR work and its collaborations with NGOs and the NGO’s opinions about H&Ms CSR work.

My delimitation lies in the fact that I only have examined one corporation and what two NGOs thinks about the corporation. Therefore it is difficult to generalize my results, but since that was not my purpose it has no effect on my findings. The material that I mainly use is reports, information from H&Ms and the two NGOs websites and the interviews, but I have also used some other literature to explain the situation around CSR issues and research in the CSR field.

My findings are that H&Ms CSR work is extensive and that they are working actively. They have transparency meaning that you can follow their reports on their websites, they let NGOs “investigate” them, they participate in surveys etc. H&M collaborates with NGOs in different ways and are open to collaboration. H&M have different projects and collaborations in ways like dialouges and seminares. NGOs have played a key roll in H&Ms CSR work in the way that they did get H&M to start taking responsibility in a new way. NGOs see H&M as the leading corporation in taking CSR in Sweden, but despite its extensive work with CSR issues H&M still has a lot to improve. The union issue is one issue that H&M is not working with in a preventive way and the Swedish Clean Clothes Campaign wants to see H&M in a global agreement with ITGLWF.