Dotti Hatcher, Senior Director of Social Responsibility at Gap Inc., Talks Supply Chain, Gives Guidance on Business Engagement
Interview by GBC Executive Director John Tedstrom
Your company is well-known for being a leader in social responsibility. How did Gap first get involved in reaching out to its supply chain to address the issue of HIV/AIDS as part of that work?
For many years Gap Inc. has reached out to its supply chain in an effort to address issues impacting the workforce and to embrace our responsibility to improve the lives of garment workers and the environment in which they work. We believe that doing so not only is the right thing to do, but also creates tangible value for Gap Inc.
One of the core tenets for us in being a socially responsible company is that we have a broader responsibility to the communities and people we touch around the world. Over time HIV/AIDS in the supply chain has become an increasingly larger issue and one that has naturally become an area of focus for us, as an extension of the work that we’ve been doing in the workplace for a number of years.
What is Gap's philosophy behind working with your suppliers? Why do you consider this an important part of your response to HIV/AIDS?
Engagement of our suppliers beyond the placement of orders is an important component of how we do business. Identifying and addressing issues in the workplace and supporting our supply chain by jointly developing and implementing interventions to address those issues is also critical. It’s critical for Gap Inc. and for the apparel industry’s long-term growth and sustainability. Over time, more and more we see that HIV has become one of the most critical issues we face in the supply chain, because it most directly impacts human capital, not just in the developing world but globally.
When you look at the garment industry, although it’s far more technologically advanced than many might think, it’s still an industry of people, of workers in factories sewing the products. Health issues that workers have to address, if unchecked, obviously affect your ability to produce a quality product and grow your business. That’s true for brands, like Gap Inc., and also for the vendors themselves.
What have been the greatest challenges in reaching out to Gap’s supply chain?
On one hand, our challenges in this area are not as numerous or as great as one might think. That’s largely due to the many years of outreach and engagement we’ve had with our supply chain through other areas, such as our monitoring and vendor development and our environmental work. Our vendors and supply chain are accustomed to us engaging them.
Having said that, there are some challenges, and we find that the best way to overcome them is to lead by example and to demonstrate to our suppliers and our community partners that Gap Inc. is in this for the long-run and we are committed to responsible profitability.
Your company provided seed money to ALAFA to pilot a HIV/AIDS initiative in Lesotho. This initiative has been lauded as a best practice in reaching out to the supply chain. What have been the key factors that have made ALAFA a success and how can those observations inform future supply chain engagement?
I think it starts with taking the time and investing the resources to really understand the issues on the ground. People often say the issues are the same in every country we work in, but they’re actually very different in every country we work in. It’s about understanding the issues on the ground. Depending on where you’re working, many of these issues are rooted in cultural and behavioral sensitivities. You really have to know that and develop your approach, taking those sensitivities into consideration.
I also think that it’s important that you identify and leverage the work and the knowledge in this field. I can’t speak for other companies, but I believe that there are very few, if any, of us here at Gap that consider ourselves experts in the field of HIV/AIDS, but the experts are out there. So when you engage those experts, those organizations, you learn from them and you gather the knowledge on how to implement successful interventions. So go find that… go find those folks that you can work with.
I think it’s also understanding who you are as a company, identifying what your core competencies are and trying to identify ways that those can be brought to bear on the issue.
I know everyone wants to identify short-term and long-term goals. I’d say in the short-term, just get something started. Once you have something started, you can build on it, but you have to be committed to staying with it. Again, bring others to the table, because the fight against HIV/AIDS is one that we all should be addressing and understand and be willing to commit to for the long-term. These issues do not resolve themselves overnight. So if you go into it saying we’ll do it this year, and that next year we’ll go on to something else, you’re not doing anything that’s going to have sustainable or long-term impact.
How important is partnering with other companies and NGOs to achieving a successful supply chain intervention? How is Gap trying to share its best practices with other apparel companies?
I think it’s critically important and I think there are several reasons for that. For Gap Inc. and our industry, ours is a shared supply chain. You talk about Gap Inc.’s supply chain, but generally speaking that supply chain is not exclusive to Gap. Many of us in this industry are working in the same countries and we’re producing our products in many of the same manufacturing facilities. Our issues are common issues, and at varying levels they affect each and every one of us, not just as corporations, but as people and individuals.
Long-term sustainable change I believe can only happen when companies come together, collaborate, develop and implement interventions in partnership with government and the experts in the field. Gap Inc. is a company that participates in many industry forums and we’re willing to talk, to share information, to learn from others and to hope in some way that others can learn from us. So we’re open to partnerships between like-minded corporations to determine ways in which we can together have meaningful interventions in our shared global supply chain.
What role can the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria play in assisting companies like Gap in these efforts and how can companies maximize the value of GBC’s competencies?
First and foremost I have to applaud GBC, because for Gap Inc., GBC played a major role in working with us and really holding our hand as we pursued and identified interventions such as the ALAFA initiative in Lesotho, where we could have a sustainable impact. Again, we don’t pretend to be the experts in this field, but we do recognize that GBC has those resident experts. We’re very thankful to GBC for working with us through Gap Inc.’s development of and, ultimately, support of that initiative.
I do think that there’s more that can be done, and as a membership organization with acknowledged experts in the field of HIV/AIDS, the GBC is perfectly positioned to convene forums of like-minded corporations that are willing to share their experiences and work together to develop long-term sustainable changes in our global supply chain. I’d love to see that happen and I think GBC is one of few organizations that has the means by which to accomplish this.
A 22-year employee of Gap Inc., Dotti Hatcher manages Gap Inc.’s social and community investment strategies in developing countries where Gap Inc.'s clothes are made. Prior to assuming her current role, Dotti headed Gap Inc.’s corporate Foundation.
Dotti also previously served as Director of Gap Inc.’s Global Compliance & Monitoring organization and co-authored Gap Inc.’s current Code of Vendor Conduct, which is used to monitor manufacturing facilities around the world. In 1996, she spearheaded the implementation of one of the retail industry’s first independent monitoring programs which has been recognized as an early model for successful corporate, NGO, government and worker collaborations in developing countries.
Dotti continues to spend most of her time in developing countries where Gap Inc. has offices or sources product.