scholarly journals Ethical Issues in Global Supply Chains

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bodo B. Schlegelmilch ◽  
Magdalena Öberseder
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Unethical Conduct ◽  
Production Methods ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Consumer Demands

Despite all technological advances, global supply chains are always based on the interaction of people. And wherever people interact, a kaleidoscope of ethical issues emerges. While consumer demands and concerns have undoubtedly led to an increased awareness of unethical conduct in the supply chain, contravening forces, such as the relentless pressures for low cost products and the ease by which consumers are purchasing non-deceptive counterfeits, should also not be ignored. Many retailers are now embracing ethical issues by emphasising, for example, that they take care of the production methods and working conditions pertaining to the goods they offer.

scholarly journals Mind the gap: Grass roots ‘brokering’ to improve labour standards in global supply chains

2017 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 584-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah J Kaine ◽  
Emmanuel Josserand
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Significant Shift ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Whistle Blowing ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
Labour Standards ◽  
Implementation Gaps

While governance and regulation are a first step in addressing worsening working conditions in global supply chains, improving implementation is also key to reversing this trend. In this article, after examining the nature of the existing governance and implementation gaps in labour standards in global supply chains, we explore how Viet Labor, an emerging grass-roots organization, has developed practices to help close them. This involves playing brokering roles between different workers and between workers and existing governance mechanisms. We identify an initial typology of six such roles: educating, organizing, supporting, collective action, whistle-blowing and documenting. This marks a significant shift in the way action to improve labour standards along the supply chain is analysed. Our case explores how predominantly top-down approaches can be supplemented by bottom-up ones centred on workers’ agency.

scholarly journals Pivoting technology: understanding working conditions in the time of COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-215
Author(s):  
Hannah Thinyane ◽  
Michael Gallo
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Labour Exploitation ◽  
Travel Restrictions

State lockdowns and travel restrictions introduced in response to COVID-19 have limited the ability of frontline responders to conduct on-site visits and inhibited their efforts to assess working conditions and monitor for labour exploitation within global supply chains. These challenges have increased multinational corporations’ reliance on remote technologies to assist in their supply chain due diligence processes. Our research investigates the use of one such example, Apprise Audit, which is a digital solution used for worker interviews in social compliance auditing that was modified to enable remote data collection. Based on a series of interviews with implementing partners and industry experts, our research finds that Apprise Audit Remote helps to overcome the difficulties of gathering worker feedback in the presence of COVID related constraints. Using this work as a case study, we then further elaborate on the practical opportunities and limitations associated with ICT-enabled remote auditing.

Subpolitics and sustainability reporting boundaries. The case of working conditions in global supply chains

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 1535-1567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Antonini ◽  
Cornelia Beck ◽  
Carlos Larrinaga
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
Sustainability Reports

PurposeThis paper explores the subpolitical role and main characteristics of a specific accounting technique, sustainability reporting boundaries. Its focus is on how the sett2ing of sustainability reporting boundaries affects the definition and distribution of social risks along the supply chain, particularly the risks related to working condition and human rights.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on Beck's (1986) exploration of the ways in which techno-economic spheres offer opportunities for the politicisation of new areas. It is argued that the sphere of sustainability reporting offers that opportunity for the politicisation of supply chains. Using the case of Inditex, the historical context of initiatives relating to the ready-made garment (RMG) industry at global, European and industry level as well as media coverage on the entity are analysed; this is correlated with the analysis of boundary setting in relation to sustainability reports, focusing specifically on working conditions.FindingsThe analysis suggests that accounting technologies that set contested boundaries are subpolitical, that is, defined outside traditional political processes. The paper finds that the way social risks are framed along the supply chain renders them invisible and impersonal and that the framing of these risks becomes endless as they are contested by different groups of experts. Setting sustainability reporting boundaries has subpolitical properties in producing and framing those risks, whilst is simultaneously limited by the inherent politicisation of such an exercise. The questionable legitimacy of sustainability reporting boundaries calls for the construction not only of discursive justifications but also of new possibilities for political participation.Research limitations/implicationsThe analysis is limited to working conditions along one organisation's supply chain.Originality/valueThe contribution of this paper is threefold: (1) It studies in-depth how working conditions in global supply chains are portrayed in sustainability reports. (2) It answers the call to study accounting technologies themselves, in this case sustainability reporting boundaries. (3) It extends Beck's work on global ecological dangers to working conditions in global supply chains to explore how sustainability reporting boundaries are subpolitically involved in the definition and distribution of social risks along the supply chain.

scholarly journals Can solidarity be organized "from below" in global supply chains? The case of ExChains

2018 ◽  
pp. 400-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nora Lohmeyer ◽  
Elke Schüßler ◽  
Markus Helfen
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Bargaining Power ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Transformative Potential ◽  
Empirical Context ◽  
Transnational Solidarity ◽  
Transnational Social Space

Global supply chains in the garment industry are marked by labour standard violations in factories as well as retail stores. Against this background it is important to strengthen the bargaining power of workers along the supply chain. Establishing direct relationships among workers along the supply chain could be one way to achieve this aim. This paper builds on extant literature on transnational solidarity and highlights the specific challenges of understanding solidarity in a transnational social space by looking at the empirical context of global garment supply chains. It hereby seeks to go beyond treating “solidarity” as a mere metaphor for any form of transnational union or worker cooperation, and instead engages with the cultural-normative dimensions of the concept as referring to mutual bonds among groups of workers. By looking at the case of the ExChains network, this paper examines some of the opportunities and challenges involved in establishing and maintaining transnational worker solidarity. The paper concludes by discussing the transformative potential, but also the limits of transnational labour solidarity regarding substandard working conditions in global supply chains.

Improving Working Conditions in Global Supply Chains: The Role of Institutional Environments and Monitoring Program Design

ILR Review ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 873-912 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jodi L. Short ◽  
Michael W. Toffel ◽  
Andrea R. Hugill
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Child Labor ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Program Design ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Global Supply Chains

Activism seeking to improve labor conditions in global supply chains has led many transnational corporations to adopt codes of conduct and to monitor suppliers for compliance. Drawing on thousands of audits conducted by a major social auditor, the authors identify structural contingencies in the institutional environment and program design under which codes and monitoring are more likely to be associated with improvements in conditions. At the institutional level, suppliers improve more when they face greater risk that nongovernmental organizations and the press will expose harmful working conditions. They also improve more when their buyers have experienced negative publicity for supply chain labor abuses. At the program design level, suppliers improve more on average when audits are pre-announced, when auditors are highly trained, and especially when both elements are present. Extended analysis of variations across violation types reveals nuances to these findings. For instance, pre-announced audits were followed by greater improvement in occupational safety and health practices but not child labor practices. These findings can inform strategies for improving supply chain working conditions.

scholarly journals COVID- 19: outcomes for Global Supply Chains

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (s1) ◽  
pp. 424-438
Author(s):  
Luis Miguel Fonseca ◽  
Américo Lopes Azevedo
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Operating Performance ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Health And Social Care

AbstractThe COVID-19 crisis exposed the vulnerability and poor resilience of the global supply chains. The objective of this research is to reflect on the possible impacts of the Coronavirus crisis in the global supply chains and provide some recommendations to overcome the present situation, offering suggestions for future research: (1) What are the contingency factors affecting Supply Chains in the complex COVID-19 operating environment? (2) How do these factors affect post-COVID-19 operating performance? After a contextualization of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and its impacts, theoretical background on Supply Chains and Supply Chain Management are presented, and a summary of the main scenarios for the post-COVID-19 crisis are discussed. The propositions regarding the contingency factors and their impact on the Supply Chain operating performance in post-COVID-19 suggest that successful companies will focus on creating a new kind of operational performance and minimize risks. To that end, companies will aim to improve their operations’ resilience (ability to resist, hold on, and recover from shocks) and accelerate the end-to-end digital transformation. Consumers will have to adapt to the contact-free economy, less low-cost supply chains, and put additional emphasis on service levels. Governments will reinforce the focus in the health sector supply chain and increase spending in the health and social care sectors. Furthermore, the longer, the more concentrated, the less transparent, and the more price sensitivity is the supply chain, the more challenging the adaptation to the new pos pandemic realities. Suggestions for future research are also provided.

The Law and Economics of Tort Liability for Human Rights Violations in Global Supply Chains

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-165
Author(s):  
Mark A Geistfeld
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Consumer Demand ◽  
Global Supply Chain ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Foreign Workers ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Tort Liability

AbstractThe human rights of foreign workers in global supply chains are routinely violated, yet the problem so far has largely evaded a legal solution. Economic analysis shows why domestic tort liability can partially address this problem. Many consumers in developed countries have a lower willingness-to-pay for products produced by global supply chains that systemically subject foreign workers to egregiously dangerous working conditions in gross violation of their human rights. This attribute of consumer demand provides a basis for subjecting the domestic chain leader to domestic tort liability for the bodily injuries suffered by these foreign workers, including those employed by independent suppliers. Chain leaders, like other product sellers, are obligated to warn about foreseeable safety risks that are not known by consumers and would be material to their decision about whether to purchase or use a product. The tort duty also requires sellers to instruct consumers about the ways in which the purchase or use of the product might foreseeably harm third parties. A domestic seller that is the chain leader of a global supply chain would breach this duty by not warning domestic consumers that the product is produced by foreign workers who are systemically subjected to working conditions that are so unsafe as to amount to a gross violation of their human rights. Because the purchase of the product foreseeably exposes foreign workers to this ongoing risk of physical harm, they are protected by the tort duty and can recover for its breach. Causation can be established by the logic of the breached tort duty. If consumers had been warned that the product is produced in such a systemically unsafe work environment, a substantial number of them would not have purchased it – they would instead have purchased the same product at the higher price necessary to protect the foreign workers from these ongoing safety violations. By distorting consumer demand in this manner, the domestic product seller’s failure to warn domestic consumers of these human rights violations in the global supply chain proximately caused injury to these foreign workers, entitling them to compensation. By remedying these human rights violations, domestic chain leaders would satisfy the reasonable expectations of domestic consumers who have altruistic preferences to rescue foreign workers from extreme dangers within the production process. Tort law cannot redress the full range of human rights violations in global supply chains, but consumer demand provides a sound basis for tort liability that addresses a limited, though important component of the problem.

scholarly journals From Suspicion to Sustainability in Global Supply Chains

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 383-418
Author(s):  
Robert C. Bird ◽  
Vivek Soundararajan
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Fundamental Problem ◽  
Trust Building ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Economic Survival ◽  
Building Process ◽  
Sustainability Practices

Global supply chains power 80% of world trade, but also host widespread environmental, labor, and human rights abuses in developing countries. Most scholarship focuses on some form of sanction to motivate supply chain members, but we propose that the fundamental problem is not insufficient punishment, but a lack of trust. Fickle tastes, incessant demands for lower prices, and spot market indifference force suppliers into a constant struggle for economic survival. No trust can grow in such an environment, and few sustainability practices can take meaningful root. Responding to multiple calls for scholarship in the supply chain literature, we propose a trust-building process by which supply chains can evolve from indifference and hostility to a relational partnership that produces joint investments in sustainable practices. The result is a supply chain that is more efficient, more humane, and embeds sustainability in the supply chain for the long-term.

Moving toward a Global Supply Chain Operations and the Impact on International Competition

2012 ◽  
pp. 1626-1636
Author(s):  
Seyed-Mahmoud Aghazadeh
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Supply Chain ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Domestic Firms ◽  
Foreign Products ◽  
The Impact

As the domestic businesses expand, many are making the choice to use foreign products, labor, and services to aid in their production. Global supply chains are minimizing the costs of the production process but are also creating vulnerabilities to home countries. As the global economy changes, the competitiveness between countries grows. Competitiveness can affect everything from a country’s economy to how a firm conducts international business. Addressing the need to find a method to increase the United States competitiveness in the world economy by improving the use of global supply chains would help to make domestic firms more successful in the global economy. Studying how companies position themselves abroad is important to providing insight into how to become more competitive. Worldwide companies are diversifying by moving more of their supply chain to international locations. This is providing them with many benefits such as better markets for products, lower costs, and more advanced technologies. As a result, the competitive strategy of companies is to increase production and decrease costs through the most efficient global supply chain. Maximizing the potential of domestic firms’ global supply chains is one of the most effective ways to increase U.S. competitiveness. If more big businesses in the United States are willing to participate on the global level, then the US will be able to improve their competitiveness.

Moving toward a Global Supply Chain Operations and the Impact on International Competition

2013 ◽  
pp. 466-476
Author(s):  
Seyed-Mahmoud Aghazadeh
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Supply Chain ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Domestic Firms ◽  
Foreign Products ◽  
The Impact

As the domestic businesses expand, many are making the choice to use foreign products, labor, and services to aid in their production. Global supply chains are minimizing the costs of the production process but are also creating vulnerabilities to home countries. As the global economy changes, the competitiveness between countries grows. Competitiveness can affect everything from a country’s economy to how a firm conducts international business. Addressing the need to find a method to increase the United States competitiveness in the world economy by improving the use of global supply chains would help to make domestic firms more successful in the global economy. Studying how companies position themselves abroad is important to providing insight into how to become more competitive. Worldwide companies are diversifying by moving more of their supply chain to international locations. This is providing them with many benefits such as better markets for products, lower costs, and more advanced technologies. As a result, the competitive strategy of companies is to increase production and decrease costs through the most efficient global supply chain. Maximizing the potential of domestic firms’ global supply chains is one of the most effective ways to increase U.S. competitiveness. If more big businesses in the United States are willing to participate on the global level, then the US will be able to improve their competitiveness.

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