A Deep Dive Into Shein: Part 5

Opportunities for change within Shein’s practices and management

Zevez Zalay November 18th, 2025, 8:10 pm ET

Related Topics

Shein, fast fashion, overconsumption, overconsumption glamorization, capitalism, China, Kenya, landfills, water pollution, carbon emissions, Shein hauls, human rights, climate change, greenwashing, Xu Yangtian, textile waste, textile pollution, micro influencers, eCommerce algorithms, online retail, women’s fashion

There’s a lot of opinions floating around about what Shein is doing wrong, but does repetitive criticism actually get a company to listen, or does it get them to internally shrug it off, or get on the defensive about their current practices or efforts to do better? I think its important for stakeholders of a company to give constructive criticism, as it can be quite difficult to parse a solution out of a sea of complaints while keeping a level head. While the executives and other people in charge at Shein seem to have lost some part of their humanity along the way, they are still human and should be given social opportunity to change.

There are two ethical frameworks that stood out to me regarding Shein’s current social and moral standing, those being the virtue and deontological frameworks. While seeing a reform surrounded by either framework would be amazing, I think the combination of the two frameworks should yield the highest chance of a positive outcome for the company.

The Virtue Framework

It’s evident that the leaders at Shein have a lot to learn about empathy, as they have made it clear that it is hard for them to distinguish what will actually help the people they are harming versus what benefits them as a company. Thus, there will be a strong emphasis on a virtue-centric framework, as much of their past action and company policies are evident of a lack of virtuous character in their executives, and a disconnect from basic universally accepted morals.  For those who are in places of power to propose and enforce green and human rights initiatives, rather than having content creators bring an issue to your attention, or finding out about it through an internal audit, finding out firsthand through a brief experience. Many great managers and transformational leaders will engage in “on the floor” management (Robbins and Judge, 2023), which involves said person being in the physical location with those they are employing and possibly engaging in the work they are doing. This gives managers a chance to see how they can do better to support specific roles, and to better understand their purpose at a company. 

These policymakers need to ignite the fire for change by witnessing and experiencing the harm they are causing to the planet. Seeing workers in Guangzhou up until 3:00 a.m. trimming the ends on their 456th garment of the day (Roberts, 2022), or to witness a Kenyan mother walk her child to school while her feet soak into the trash below her (Kato, 2023; Sustainable Jungle, 2024). Then there will be a higher chance for the immediate need for change to sink in, and for ideas more innovative than electric cars to come about. 

Picture of several Shein executives at a ribbon cutting ceremony for their EMEA headquarters in Dublin City. Credit: Shein

I feel that if decision makers at Shein were to witness something first-hand, it would help with several aspects of moral intensity that contribute to ethical decision making (Carroll &  Brown, 2017). First, it would physically eliminate the issue of proximity and temporal immediacy to the individuals they are harming both environmental and human right-wise. While, the person who is picking things out of the landfill may not be their mother, they would be able to witness it, and easier reflect if that is the kind of impact they want to have on the world. I can see it being easy for someone of high status within a company to be surrounded by people who are giving them positive feedback regarding sales, or marketing strategies, or using their high salaries from their work to go out on a nice vacation or a fancy dinner. Their corporate and personal environments invite the romanticization of their work, and push the negative impacts under the rug. Seeing things in person can make more space for executives to ask themselves the tougher questions. 

Some questions for Shein executives and leaders to ask themselves to start the shift towards an ethical mindset can be some of the following:

• Have I ever worked 75-hour weeks without days off for months at a time?

• Do my workers have access to higher education? Thus, giving them an opportunity to improve the quality of life, or move on from the meager pay in the factories.

• Would I want to wear clothing of the same quality as what we sell every day? Would you gift it to someone with pride?

• What environmental factors do you take for granted every day? How much money would it take for you to agree to live in Kenya for one day?

• Is paying someone slightly above minimum wage in a foreign country, where minimum wage is not livable or ethical, even though it is legal?

• Is advertising that emissions will be lowered without the numbers to prove that those goals are being achieved fair to our shareholders, customers, and other stakeholders?

• What are the roots of the human rights/environmental issues? How can our brand make a bold decision to ignite change to those roots?

• Do I want my legacy to be riddled with borderline slavery and environmental waste that will affect my grandchildren?

Change for Shein is stuck in the minds of corporate workers and their organizational culture. To shift towards a brighter future for the company, to avoid a complete refresh in corporate workers or a culture wipe, I believe change has to start with individual reflection. The actions being made are very far removed from the effects that are piling around them. Temporal immediacy and proximity are key to helping the connection between action and consequence start to emerge. A huge portion of what used to be diehard supporters of the brand has deeply recognized the need for change, boycotted, and shared their thoughts on the matter. What needs to happen now is for the company itself to do the same, as widely-accepted international law preventing such human rights and environmental violations is improbable even in the distant future. Action needs to hold ethical weight, and responsibility needs to be taken further than a PR statement.

Once the executives are able to make some personal shifts or realizations, that’s when it is best to have HR spread the change down the line. As for many companies, employees follow suit of the actions made by their leadership–especially if they feel that going against the grain or being a whistle blower will disrupt the changes of them keeping their jobs. Thus, if corporate is able to genuinely give the okay, then it is much more likely that a smoother transition can be seen within Shein’s management. 

Ideally, Shein’s HR department should output some kind of required course, and have a metric in mind to keep track of the change. We don’t want to sway too far to the other size of the spectrum into micromanagement with this, but simply to see how progress is going and using that metric of choice to make informed decisions about what can improve about their strategy.

The Deontological Framework

As I mentioned in the first entry of this blog series, it is crucial to understand that businesses have an inherent responsibility to the communities and stakeholders they serve. Sometimes this is seen traditionally through the payment of local taxes, and other times we can see this through corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives (Robbins & Judge, 2023; Carroll and Brown, 2017). For Shein in particular, they should be looking at what CSR initiatives will actually make an impact on those unwritten duties they have to their stakeholders, but first they need to identify what those duties are. 

Shein for sustainability photo as Lufthansa Cargo has committed to finalizing the adoption of SAF offsetting solutions for SHEIN deliveries. Picture: Lufthansa Cargo and Sustainability Magazine

Right now, I think Shein’s top ethical responsibilities are being shaped by their ethical wrong-doings, thus they should be looking to get out of the ethical “red” and back to baseline or neutral. Thus, they are responsible for the pollution they are contributing to the planet, and are responsible for the safety, well-being, and care of their employees within their supply chain. The CSR initiatives or the deontological framework that Shein should contribute to will likely be better aligned with the environmental impacts, while the virtue framework is better aligned with their human rights violations. Some CSR initiatives that Shein could look into to help mitigate the damage they have already caused to the environment could include:

• Switching to a “On-Demand” over a “Produce and then Test” manufacturing model

• Having clear environmental outlines for their suppliers

• Attempting their mechanical textile line with a outlined plan for suppliers to follow, as well as a metric to track progress

• Understanding exactly what motivates suppliers to follow new green initiatives. Is it monetarily, time, or power motivated?

• Invest in mechanical recycling facilities near their suppliers locations in Guangzhou and have an outlined plan for suppliers to follow for using them

• Phase out virgin polyester towards more natural or recycled alternatives

• Have repair resources or forums for consumers to follow regarding repairing specific garments

Deontologically, Shein needs to think about how they can better align themselves with the responsibilities that lie outside of their financial statements–as this is what makes a company a company rather than a money generating machine. There needs to be intention behind the moves their making, and the deontological framework can help them understand what intentions or goals they should be having. 

Conclusion

While there is part of me that feels Shein is too far into their unethical practices to make a change, if they were to hypothetically implement intensive strategies tomorrow that align with the aforementioned frameworks, that were intentional, aligned with a SMART goal framework and had transparency of said goals for purposes of public accountability, I would feel a bit less pessimistic. Shein has a long way to go to get back to an “ethical neutral,” but dismissing their potential to be a more green company or have highly rated working conditions is exactly what will keep them in the same decision patterns about these ethical concerns. Shein not only has such a huge impact on the fashion industry, but on the world as a whole, and the future for the environment. It would be wonderful to see change within such a big company, and for others to cheer them on to do so, as I believe many other companies would follow suit as they notice that environmental and human rights considerations is more important over low-priced clothing.

Resources

Carroll, A. B., & Brown, J. (2017). Business & society: Ethics, sustainability & stakeholder management (10th ed.). Cengage Learning US. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9798214338668

Kato, B. (2023, February 16). Mountains of trashed trendy clothes overflow landfills, hurt environment: Report. The New York Post. https://nypost.com/2023/02/16/mountains-of-trashed-trendy-clothes-overflow-landfills-hurt-environment-report/

“Lufthansa Cargo & SHEIN’s Low CO₂ Freight” (SAF partnership). (2025, August 22). Sustainability Magazine. By Chloe Williment. https://sustainabilitymag.com/news/a-saf-partnership-shein-lufthansa-cargo-low-co2-freight Sustainability Magazine

Roberts, A. [Prime Video]. (2022). Inside the SHEIN Machine [Film]. Prime Video. https://www.primevideo.com/region/na/detail/Inside-the-Shein-Machine/0Q4S1LAZ7XZCD9MTW6Q8J1XEY4

Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2023). Organizational behavior (19th ed.). Pearson.

SHEIN Group. (2023, May 10). SHEIN launches EMEA headquarters in Dublin City [Press release]. https://www.sheingroup.com/corporate-news/press-releases/shein-launches-emea-headquarters-in-dublin-city/ SHEIN Group

Sustainable Jungle. (2024). The impact of SHEIN fast fashion [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zu_ZPGE6AuU