Article

Modern slavery and the supply chain: the limits of corporate social responsibility?

September 2015
Supply Chain Management An International Journal 20(6):697-707

DOI:10.1108/SCM-06-2015-0201

Authors:

University of Oxford

Purpose – This conceptual paper aims to examine modern slavery in the supply chain, showing how the issue challenges conventional thinking and practice in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Design/methodology/approach – The paper considers the differences between modern slavery and other concerns within CSR. It examines legal attempts to encourage supply chain transparency and the use of corporate CSR methods. An example of forced labour in UK agriculture is used to develop a critique of these approaches. The paper examines the challenges facing research in this important area. Findings – The paper shows that the distinctive characteristics of modern slavery may make conventional supply chain CSR practices relatively ineffective. A holistic perspective may be needed in future research. Research limitations/implications – Researchers need to focus less on the espoused policies of corporations, and more on the enacted practice. Social implications – Modern slavery is universally accepted as a shameful blight on society; firms’ supply chain practices may be part of the problem. Originality/value – The paper’s contribution is to point to the potential differences between modern slavery and other CSR-related issues and to highlight the paradox that firms’ approaches to the issue may run in parallel with actions that foster the problem in the first place.

A roda da escravidão moderna: uma nova abordagem teórica

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2023

Resumo Algumas pesquisas sobre a escravidão moderna mostraram como esse fenômeno prospera e persiste, apesar das pressões institucionais contra práticas desumanas na vida social. Para analisar esse fenômeno do ponto de vista institucional e responder à pergunta sobre quais são os principais fatores no campo institucional que sustentam a escravidão moderna, foram coletados dados qualitativos no contexto brasileiro, já que o país é amplamente reconhecido por suas ações significativas contra práticas de escravidão. Este estudo é baseado em dados primários e secundários, coletados por meio de entrevistas em profundidade e observação participante em conferências sobre o tema, bem como documentos cujos conteúdos foram analisados usando o software NVivo. O estudo sugere que certas condições contextuais legitimam as práticas organizacionais de empresas formais e informais, o que é chamado de deflexão institucional. Como contribuição aos padrões de gestão da escravidão moderna, este artigo apresenta a “Roda da Escravidão Moderna” a partir dos resultados, definida como um ciclo dinâmico que incorpora e sistematiza os elementos que sustentam o fenômeno. Os mecanismos da roda, quais sejam as condições favoráveis, a recorrência, o aliciamento e o “sistema de barracão” (truck system) contribuem para as práticas de escravidão moderna e sua manutenção ao longo do tempo. Além disso, sugerimos que esses mesmos mecanismos também podem ser a solução para romper o círculo vicioso da Roda da Escravidão Moderna.

The modern slavery wheel as the new theoretical framework

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2023

A few research papers on modern slavery have outlined how this phenomenon flourishes and persists despite institutional pressures against inhumane practices. In order to analyze slavery from an institutional perspective and answer the question of the main factors in the institutional field that sustain modern slavery, qualitative data were collected in the Brazilian context, where the country is widely recognized for its significant actions against modern slavery practices. This study draws on primary and secondary data collected through in-depth interviews and participant observation at conferences, as well as content analysis of documents using NVivo software. The study suggests that certain contextual conditions legitimize organizational practices of formal and informal firms, called institutional deflection. As a contribution to modern slavery management patterns, this article presents the “modern slavery wheel” based on the results of a dynamic cycle that incorporates and systematizes the elements that support the phenomenon. Wheel mechanisms such as favorite conditioning, recurrence, enticement, and truck system seem to contribute to modern slavery practices and their maintenance over time. Moreover, we suggest that these same components may also contribute to breaking the modern slavery wheel

Modern slavery and the accounting profession

Article

Jan 2023
Br Account Rev

Exploitation in Bangladeshi ready-made garments supply chain: a case of irresponsible capitalism?

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2022

Exploitation in Bangladeshi ready-made garments supply chain: a case of irresponsible capitalism?

Article

Sep 2022
Int J Logist Manag

Purpose Despite considerable research and constant pressure from global media, exploitation has been a persistent problem in the Bangladeshi ready-made garment (RMG) supply chain. Yet, the root causes of how and why exploitation still persists remain unexplored. This paper explores the reasons underlying the existence of exploitation in the RMG supply chain of Bangladesh using the theoretical lens of responsible capitalism. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on 98 interviews conducted at multiple levels of the RMG supply chain ecosystem, site visits, observation and archives, the authors unpack the underlying reasons for the existence of exploitation in Bangladeshi RMG supply chain. Findings Using the theoretical lens of responsible capitalism, the findings suggest the existence of exploitation as a multifaceted yet nuanced phenomenon that is a result of complex power dynamics, interdependency and interconnectedness of players at multiple levels of the supply chain. The authors extend responsible capitalism theory by adding local context as a key determinant for the RMG supply chain to be responsive, effective and sustainable. The authors further argue the need for a new business model in global supply chain that calls for a fundamental shift of businesses towards responsible capitalism via transformative actions at multiple levels for balancing power in relationships, generate profit with ethical integrity and take responsibility of the consequences of their actions. Research limitations/implications The authors use a contextualized case study of the RMG supply chain in Bangladesh using a critical realist approach. Although the use of contextualized case study has enabled better understanding of causal relationships between management practices and exploitation in the local context of Bangladesh, a quantitative approach to establish causality between different factors could be the focus of future research. The findings are specific to the context of Bangladeshi RMG supply chain and may have limited generalizability in other contexts. Further studies may build upon the findings to explore exploitation in RMG supply chain of other sectors and countries in the region and compare the findings to develop comprehensive understanding about the root causes of exploitation. Practical implications The findings call for a fundamental shift of business towards responsible capitalism via transformative actions of multiple players across different levels of the supply chains with managerial implications. Originality/value By drawing on empirical research, the authors provide a holistic perspective of responsible capitalism that is influenced by interactions and interconnectedness of players in multiple levels of the supply chain. The authors expand the responsible capitalism theory by adding local context as a key determinant that need to be considered for supply chains to be responsive, effective and sustainable.

Indicators and countermeasures of modern slavery in global supply chains: Pathway to a social supply chain management framework

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2022
Bus Strat Environ

Even though global supply chains are (usually unintentionally) tied to slave labor, research and practice have largely ignored the issue. This is expected to change as civil society activism and new legislation increase the risk of litigation and reputational damage to supply chain partners. To deal with and combat modern slavery in the supply chain, a theory inspired social supply chain management framework consisting of indicators and countermeasures of modern slavery in the supply chain is developed. The framework is refined in a qualitative expert interview study. The theoretical framework is then evaluated by a multimethod empirical analysis that includes a multicase study based on publicly available supply chain data from 6000 media articles and company websites as well as a quantitative empirical study based on survey data from 280 corporate sustainability experts operating in global supply networks. The results show that economic, political-legal, social, and environmental factors have a significant impact on contemporary slavery in the supply chain. The study also motivates supply chain partners to use preventative and detective measures to reduce the probability of encountering modern slavery actions in their supply chain. Theoretical and managerial implications are drawn from the findings, pointing to a holistic approach to combatting modern slavery in the supply chain.

Eliminating modern slavery from projects

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2020

Modern slavery involves the recruitment, movement, harbouring or receiving of people through any means for the purpose of exploitation. It is an extensive problem and one that causes immense human suffering. International Labour Organization figures suggest that there are 24 million victims of modern slavery or forced labour around the world at any one time, with a substantial proportion of these working on project-related activities. Modern slavery causes reputational risk to organisations from the perspective of customers and investors. In the UK, it is now subject to specific legislation. The damage and costs of legal action and compensation to victims of modern slavery can be crippling. Projects are particularly susceptible to modern slavery as they have complex flows of materials and labour that need to be constantly reinvented for each unique project context. The Association of Project Management sponsored a research investigation involving the University of Warwick, the University of Leeds and University College London to understand how project practices need to change to eliminate modern slavery. In order to answer this question, the research team undertook a Delphi exercise with experts representing project practitioners (eg. from organisations such as HS2 and Sir Robert McAlpine), NGOs (eg. The Bingham Centre and The Institute for Human Rights and Business) and professional membership organisations (eg. The International Association for Cost and Contract Management and the Royal Institute of British Architects), as well as academic researchers and individual experts. The investigation finds that the key to eliminating modern slavery is to give individuals working on projects the competence and confidence to spot modern slavery and to know what to do when this occurs. This requires support at an organisational, sectoral and legislative level. This report details this support.

Developing a Framework for Assessing the readiness of Entities in the construction Industry in Addressing Modern Slavery

Article

Feb 2022

Australia's Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) requires entities with at least AU$100 million annual consolidated revenues to submit annual modern slavery statement. The construction industry is considered as one sector most vulnerable to modern slavery. This research aims to identify the policies, systems and processes that will affect an organisation's approach to modern slavery risk and propose a framework for assessing the readiness of entities in the construction industry to address modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. Semi-structured interviews were used as the main research method to glean industry experts’ insights and perspectives on key themes and topics. The research finds that a successful modern slavery approach includes governance, risk assessment and ongoing due diligence, risk mitigation, grievance and remediation, performance monitoring and reporting, and education and capability building. This paper details the first academic research examining the implications of modern slavery legislation on construction businesses in Australia. The research contributes to existing body of knowledge by highlighting issues and concerns specific to modern slavery in an organisation's operation and supply chains. Focusing on the construction industry, this research opens up a dialogue on taking sector-specific approach in modern slavery risk detection and remediation. The research results offer practical reference for entities in the construction industry to plan, formulate and implement policies, systems, and processes to identify and mitigate modern slavery risk, so as to satisfy legislative requirements and to achieve social sustainability goals.

Transparency in Supply Chains (TISC): Assessing and Improving the Quality of Modern Slavery Statements

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2022
J BUS ETHICS

Transparency lies at the heart of most modern slavery reporting legislation, but while publication of statements is mandatory, conformance with content guidance is voluntary, such that overall, corporate responses have been poor. Existing studies, concentrated in business to consumer rather than inter-organisational contexts, have not undertaken the fine-grained assessments of statements needed to identify which aspects of reporting performance are particularly poor and the underlying reasons that need to be addressed by policy makers. In a novel design, this study utilises the ethical trade initiative assessment framework to evaluate the content of 95 UK government suppliers’ modern slavery statements. The findings suggest that in a modern slavery context, discovery challenges are more important than firms’ attitudes to disclosure. We contribute to the transparency literature through a model contrasting discovery costs and disclosure risks and by identifying the disclosure of unknowns as an additional relevant dimension of disclosure. We then discuss the model in relation to normativity theory to consider options through which the currently low legitimacy of the reporting governance regime can be enhanced and the intended norms established.

Impact of modern slavery allegations on operating performance

Article

Mar 2022
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAG

Purpose Modern slavery is a humanitarian problem that affects global supply chains. Given the increasing pressures from legislature, consumers and investors, firms have a growing interest in eliminating forced labor and modern slavery from their supply chains. However, the impact of modern slavery on firm performance has not been shown before. This paper aims to investigate the impact of modern slavery allegations on companies’ operational performance. It also looks at the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts with respect to modern slavery. Design/methodology/approach The authors collect news articles on modern slavery in the global supply chains. The authors use an event study and use a robust matching method to measure the operational impact of modern slavery allegations. The authors also analyze the effects of media coverage and CSR practices on the relationship between allegations and firm performance. Findings The results show that modern slavery allegations do have a negative impact on performance, but this impact does not last long. The authors also show that strong CSR practices help firms mitigate the negative effect of these allegations. Research limitations/implications Because the issue is hidden, as a result limited data, the research results may lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to retest the proposed propositions in the future. Practical implications The paper includes implications for the development of socially responsible supply chains and financial impact. Originality/value This paper presents the first empirical research investigating the impact of modern slavery allegations on companies’ operational performance.

The Role of Market Devices in Addressing Labour Exploitation: An Analysis of the Australian Cleaning Industry

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Sep 2022
Br Account Rev

This study examines how the risk of labour standards noncompliance can be rendered calculable and commensurable through a market device. We present a case study of the Cleaning Accountability Framework (CAF), an industry certification scheme, which seeks to address labour exploitation in the Australian contract cleaning industry. We pay particular attention to the central device of the certification scheme – the pricing schedule. We examine how the pricing schedule shaped the calculative space informing contracting parties during the procurement process. In doing so, the pricing schedule increased transparency around the potential risk of labour standards noncompliance. The nature of this transparency and the perceived objectivity of the pricing schedule acted to reshape the market for contract cleaning, resulting in a redistribution of accountability for labour exploitation. We also examine how the pricing schedule formed part of a wider framework of accountability, and how these mechanisms enabled strategic co-enforcement of labour standards compliance by supply chain stakeholders. Overall, our study indicates the potential for accounting practices to play a more active role in shaping how markets address modern slavery risks.

When it's the slaves that pay: In search of a fair due diligence cost distribution in conflict mineral supply chains

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2022
TRANSPORT RES E-LOG

Modern slavery and conflict minerals are often treated as two separate grand challenges governed by different legislation, yet conflict mineral settings commonly involve and inflict slavery in supply chains-hence these two wicked problems are deeply interconnected. This paper focuses on due diligence in the context of conflict mineral supply chains, and in doing so provides important insights for modern slavery in general. Using more than 38 hours of recordings from exploratory interviews with 46 experts from 43 organizations, our study investigates: a) how due diligence costs and benefits are actually distributed in supply chains in practice; and b) the means through which due diligence costs and benefits can be (more appropriately) shared. We find that there is a lack of contextualization of cost-sharing mechanisms to conflict mineral supply chains, with most mechanisms being imported from the standard business literature where the producer must pay the production costs before reaping the benefits that offset these costs. But in conflict mineral supply chains, these benefits often do not materialize for the producer and, consequently, cost-sharing mechanisms lead to unintended consequences. The findings question the usefulness of due diligence, call for alternative financing mechanisms, and for contextualized solutions designed from the bottom up. This in turn has important implications for enhancing legislation on modern slavery.

Future business and the role of purchasing and supply management: Opportunities for ‘business-not-as-usual’ PSM research

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2022
J Purch Supply Manag

The raison d’ˆetre for this article is simple: traditional ways of researching, theorizing, and practicing purchasing and supply management (PSM) are no longer sufficient to ‘meet the moment’. Scholars need to advance a “business-not-as-usual” footing approach to their work, if they are to make a meaningful contribution to addressing the current and future emergencies, as highlighted by recent extreme weather and the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, what can this, or should this, mean for a field rooted in traditional business thinking? This article builds on the Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management’s (JPSM) 25th Anniversary Special Issue editorial (2019); members of the JPSM’s editorial team advance their unique perspectives on what “business-notas-usual” means for PSM. Specifically, we advocate both thinking much more widely, in scope and ambition, than we currently do, and simultaneously building our ability to comprehend supply chains in a more nuanced and granular way. We explore whether the bias toward positivist work has omitted potentially interesting findings, and viewpoints. This leads to a call to re-think how we approach our work: should the key criteria always be to focus on theory development or testing? Should academics “think bigger”? Turning to specific research themes, illustrations of how our current thinking can be challenged or broadened by addressing the circular economy, and role of purchasing and innovation. Specifically, the focus on the PSM function as an intrapreneur within the larger organization, and the role of innovation and technology in PSM work. Taken together, we hope the ideas and arguments presented here will inform and inspire ambitious and novel approaches to PSM research with significant and enduring impact on the transformation of business

Addressing Modern Slavery in Supply Chains: An Awareness-Motivation-Capability Perspective

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2022
INT J OPER PROD MAN

Purpose: There is still significant variation in firms’ efforts to address modern slavery issues in supply chains despite the importance of this grand challenge. Our research adopts the Awareness-Motivation-Capability (AMC) framework to investigate AMC-related factors that help to explain this variation. Design/methodology/approach: We hypothesize how AMC-related factors, including media coverage of modern slavery issues, slavery risks in supply chains, and corporate sustainability performance, are related to firms’ efforts to address modern slavery in supply chains. The proposed hypotheses are tested based on 201 UK firms’ modern slavery statements and additional secondary data collected from Factiva, Factset Revere, The Global Slavery Index, Worldscope, and Sustainalytics. Findings: Consistent with the AMC perspective, our test results show that firms put more effort into addressing supply chain modern slavery issues when there is greater media coverage of these issues, when firms source from countries with higher slavery risks, and when firms have better corporate sustainability performance. Our additional analysis further suggests that firms’ financial performance is not related to their efforts to address modern slavery issues. Originality: This is the first study adopting the AMC framework to investigate firms’ efforts to address modern slavery in supply chains. This investigation provides important implications for researchers studying firm behaviors related to modern slavery issues and for policymakers designing policies that enable firms to address these issues, in view of their awareness, motivation, and capability.

Poverty, Modern Slavery, and Caste-based Biopolitics

Preprint

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Dec 2022

Rohit Varman

Researching Poverty and Austerity: Theoretical Approaches, Methodologies and Policy Applications, Routledge. Edited by Caroline Moraes, Morven McEachern and Deirdre O’Loughlin

Linking corporate social responsibility accounting and supply chain management: Evidence from less developed countries

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Aug 2023

This paper aimed to study the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) accounting and supply chain management (SCM) in the context of less developed countries, such as Yemen. Primary data was gathered through a survey of 380 workers in Yemeni businesses. The information was gathered using a questionnaire. The findings showed that there is a statistically significant association between natural resource development (NRD), service quality improvement (IQS), CSR accounting, and SCM.

Sustainable supply chains

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Aug 2023

Monika Jedynak

Debatendo a escravidão negra nos estudos em gestão e organização a partir de perspectivas decoloniais e afrodiaspóricas

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Jun 2023

Resumo Esta edição especial, generosamente aceita e publicada pelo Cadernos EBAPE.BR, surge das lutas diárias pela preservação da vida no Brasil e em outras partes do Sul Global e contra a radicalização da invisibilidade das opressões coloniais e raciais em um momento de dupla pandemia, a da COVID-19 e da supremacia branca. Essa coleção de artigos que temos o prazer de compartilhar com você, incorpora nossa resposta decolonizadora e desracializadora a uma normalização da necropolítica, de decidir quem pode viver e quem deve morrer. Essa normalização pode ser vista, por exemplo, na falsa ideia de impunidade de agentes da aplicação da lei, como o policial de Mineápolis que matou George Floyd nos EUA. É importante destacar que o assassinato de George Floyd teria sido apenas mais uma estatística se não fosse a coragem e determinação da adolescente negra de 17 anos que filmou aquela ocorrência ordinária com seu celular. Inspirados pela coragem negra, reunimos oito artigos provocativos e perspicazes que nos ajudarão a refletir sobre as lutas enfrentadas por comunidades marginalizadas e o impacto da perspectiva eurocêntrica na compreensão das práticas de gestão e dinâmicas organizacionais. Esses artigos abordam temas como o papel da Contabilidade no sistema escravagista, formas contemporâneas de escravidão no Brasil e as experiências interseccionais das mulheres negras na exploração trabalhista. Nosso objetivo é desafiar narrativas existentes e, ao iluminar histórias ocultas sobre a escravidão negra por meio de perspectivas decoloniais e afrodiaspóricas, contribuir para decolonização e desracialização dentro e fora do campo da Gestão e dos Estudos Organizacionais.

Debating Black slavery in management and organizational studies from decolonial and afro-diasporic perspectives

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Jun 2023

This special issue, generously accepted and published by Cadernos EBAPE.BR, emerges from the daily life-preserving struggles in Brazil and other parts of the Global South against the radical invisibility of colonial and racial oppressions at a time of the double pandemic of COVID-19 and white supremacy. This collection of articles that we have the pleasure to share with you embodies our decolonizing and deracializing response to normalization of necropolitics, of deciding who may live and who must die. This normalization can be seen in the false idea of impunity of law enforcement officials, such as the Minneapolis police officer who killed George Floyd in the USA. It is important to highlight that George Floyd’s death would have been yet another mere statistic if not for the courage and determination of the 17-year-old Black teenager who filmed it with her cell phone. Inspired by the attitude of this Black girl, we brought together eight provocative and insightful articles which will help us to reflect on the struggles faced by marginalized communities and the impact of the domain of Eurocentric perspective on the understanding of management practices and organizations’ dynamics. These papers cover topics such as the role of accounting in the slave-owning system, contemporary forms of slavery in Brazil, and the intersectional experiences of Black women in labor exploitation. Our goal is to challenge existing narratives and shed light on hidden histories to contribute to the decolonization and deracialization within and outside the field of Management and Organizational Studies.

Institutional Logics in the UK Construction Industry’s Response to Modern Slavery Risk: Complementarity and Conflict

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2023
J BUS ETHICS

There is a growing understanding that modern slavery is a phenomenon ‘hidden in plain sight’ in the home countries of multinational firms. Yet, business scholarship on modern slavery has so far focussed on product supply chains. To address this, we direct attention to the various institutional pressures on the UK construction industry, and managers of firms within it, around modern slavery risk for on-site labour. Based on a unique data set of 30 in-depth interviews with construction firm managers and directors, we identify two institutional logics as being integral to explaining how these companies have responded to the Modern Slavery Act: a market logic and a state logic. While the institutional logics literature largely assumes that institutional complexity will lead to a conciliation of multiple logics, we find both complementarity and continued conflict in the logics in our study. Though we identify conciliation between aspects of the market logic and the state logic, conflict remains as engagement with actions which could potentially address modern slavery is limited by the trade-offs between the two logics.

Modern slavery and the Global Reporting Initiative – A bridge too far?

Article

Mar 2023

As the Global Reporting Initiative currently provides the most widely used set of voluntary sustainability reporting standards, the question arises as to the extent to which the Initiative's multi‐stakeholder governance is helping towards ending modern slavery in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 8. Stakeholder theory and examination of the Initiative's sustainability standards are used, to examine the issue. Evidence from the Initiative's set of universal, topic and sector standards reveals that, while forced and child labour are identified as granular material topics for sustainability reporting, the broader concept of modern slavery has not been recognised as a required material theme for disclosure. One recent exception is voluntary publication of three new sector standards, where the modern slavery term appears to be introduced as a symbolic rather than a substantive notion. Main contributions from the research relate to, first, providing a critique of the multi‐stakeholder foundations for governance as used by the Initiative; second, examination of the results of the Initiative's standard setting process in terms of its standards and their incorporation of modern slavery, from a multi‐stakeholder governance perspective with the hope of improving governance in the future.

Modern slavery in supply chains: a systematic literature review

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Sep 2022

Modern slavery is a complex and challenging phenomenon that may hinder the sustainable development of the global supply chain. However, there is no existing academic review on modern slavery in supply chains. This study conducts a systematic literature review to synthesise this body of literature. We searched keywords in the Scopus database and identified 44 articles published between 2013 and 2022 to identify critical themes and propose a conceptual framework capturing the relationships among the identified themes. Through our analysis, three themes of modern slavery in supply chains were identified: antecedents (analyzed from regulatory, organisational, and social perspectives); practices (e.g. practices to mitigate modern slavery in supply chains); and outcomes (e.g. business compliance). We conclude by proposing a research agenda to inform future research.

The relationship between corporate social responsibility accounting and supply chain management

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Jan 2022

This study aimed to examine the relationship between corporate social responsibility accounting (CSRA) and supply chain management (SCM). A survey of 375 employees from Jordanian businesses was used to gather primary data. For the data collection method, a questionnaire was used. SPSS version 25 was used to conduct descriptive statistical analysis. The results indicate that there is a statistically significant relationship at a significant level (α≤0.05) between the domains of corporate social responsibility accounting (CSRA) including human resource development HRD, Natural resources development NRD, improve quality product IQP, improve quality service IQS and supply chain management (SCM).

Information sharing in supply chains - Interoperability in an era of circular economy

Article

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Jul 2022

In order to realize the goals of Industry 5.0 (I5.0), which has data interoperability as one of its core principles, the future research in the Supply Chain (SC) visibility has to be aligned with socially, economically and environmentally sustainable objectives. Within the purview of circular economy, this paper indicates various aspects and implications of data sharing in the SCs in light of the published research. Taking into consideration the heterogeneity of data sources and standards, this article also catalog all the major data-sharing technologies being employed in sharing data digitally across the SCs. Drawing on the published research from 2015 to 2021, following the PRISMA framework, this paper presents the state of research in the field of data sharing in SCs in terms of their standardization, optimization, simulation, automation, security and more notably sustainability. Using the co-occurrence metric, bibliometric analysis has been conducted such that the collected research is categorized under various keyword clusters and regional themes. This article brings together two major themes in reviewing the research in the field. Firstly, the bibliometric analysis of the published articles makes manifest the contours of the current state of research and the future possibilities in the field. Secondly, in synthesizing the research on the foundations of sustainability within the CRoss Industry Standard Process for Data Mining (CRISP-DM) framework, this article deals with the various aspects and implications of information sharing in the SCs. By bringing these two themes together, this paper affords a prospective researcher with the research vis-à-vis the information sharing in SC, starting from the actual data standards in use to the modality and consequence of their application within the perspective of the circular economy. This article, in essence, indicates how all the aspects of data sharing in SCs may be brought together in service of the theme of I5.0.

Illuminating the mechanisms to mitigate forced and child labour risks within Marine Stewardship Council certified fisheries

Article

Sep 2022
MAR POLICY

Growing concern about forced and child labour abuses in the fishing industry has led to calls to integrate social issues within the sustainable seafood sector. While abusive labour practices in fisheries are increasingly studied, and consensus is building on overarching principles and benchmarks, few studies have reviewed the practical mechanisms available to mitigate forced and child labour risks. This paper provides an overview of labour risk management practices reported by fisheries certified to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Standard, representing over 15% of the world’s marine capture fishery production. MSC-certified fisheries have been required to submit forced and child labour statements since 2018. The statements were analysed to examine the mechanisms to mitigate forced and child labour across different fishery contexts. Results indicated where MSC-certified vessels were broadly in line with expectations from international, private, and NGO standards or guidelines on labour issues, but also illustrated where there were departures. These could be explained by differences in how policy and practice are applied in different regulatory and cultural contexts, such as the requirement for use of written contracts in countries that have ratified ILO C188 versus the preference in some cases for the use of verbal share agreements. This reflects the challenge of creating culturally-appropriate, adaptable standards that are able to detect real risks of labour violations. To fully consider these nuances, our proposed framework captures key aspects of setting, implementing, and monitoring and enforcement of requirements alongside the roles of government, companies, and civil society. We propose this framework could be applied more broadly to evaluate fisheries’ practices.

Modern Slavery Risk Disclosures in Business Operations and Supply Chains

Chapter

Full-text available

Mar 2022

This research develops a set of specific modern slavery disclosure principles for organisations. It critically evaluates seven legislative Acts from five different countries and 16 guidelines and directives from international organisations. By undertaking an in-depth content analysis, the research derives an index comprising nine principles and 49 disclosure items to promote best-practice disclosure in tackling modern slavery. We promote nine active principles for organisations to implement and disclose: recognising modern slavery practices, identifying risks, publishing a modern slavery risk prevention policy, proactive in assessing and addressing risks, assessing efficacy of actions, garnering internal and external oversight, externally communicating modern slavery risk mitigation, implementing a suppliers’ assessment and code of conduct to ensure transparency and specifying consequences for non-compliance. The research is motivated by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 8, which focusses on economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work. The research findings will assist practitioners seeking to discover and disclose evidence of modern slavery practices and their mitigation to minimise and encourage the elimination of this unethical and illegal practice in domestic and global supply chains and operations.

The logistics of neoliberal slavery: legal production of illegality

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2022

Joyce CH Liu

The rapidly rising global capitalism and the increasing competition of neoliberal markets have speeded up temporary migrant workers' flow and exacerbated labor extraction through a sophisticated logistics system that contributes to neoliberal slavery in the twenty-first century. This essay argues that the legal ideology of citizenship in contemporary societies has contributed to the legal production of illegality, and consequently, new forms of internal colonization. This essay also urges the conceptualization of “citizens” to de-link with the notion of nationality based on abstract ideas of blood, religion, language, etc. “Citizens”—“city-dwellers”—should refer to those who live and work here belong to the place and should enjoy equal access to the social space. To elaborate my argument, I take the image of the sardine can at sea on Tempo magazine as a metaphorical trope for the complex logistical network that supports the neoliberal slavery system in the twenty-first century. From this axis of the logistic chain, I shall analyze the engine that drives the regeneration and transformation of the slavery system of today. The geo-historical parameters and the local economic demands are constitutive figures that pave the path to recruiting temporary migrant laborers as surplus reproductive troops. The discourse of multiculturalism is convenient for recruitment as a disguise. The juridical stipulations based on the legal ideology of citizenship further aggravate civic space's physical and symbolic violence. I shall conclude with the logistics of neoliberal slavery locked up with the citizenship ideology and propose a new conceptualization of citizenship and civil rights.

The ethical consumption cap and mean market morality

Article

Mar 2022
Market Theor

Since the 1970s critical marketing scholars have called for systemic change to overcome the ethical problems generated by consumption, such as unsustainable resource use, industry-induced climate change, and social inequities. Mainstream marketing research has instead problematised the individual consumer and sought ways to diminish the so-called gap between ethics and consumption. The current conceptual paper follows Carrington et al. (2016) and other contemporary critical marketing scholars in redirecting attention away from individual (un)ethical consumers and toward the (im)moral market structures that inflect their decision-making. Its first contribution to this line of thinking is to propose an ethical consumption cap rather than an ethical consumption gap. This subtle but significant shift in emphasis suggests that contemporary capitalism creates conditions in which ethical consumption is costly in terms of money, time and effort. Rather than the responsibilising rhetoric of the ‘gap’, the ‘cap’ acknowledges the plethora of systemic pressures that make it difficult for consumers to consume ethically and invites researchers to look elsewhere for solutions. The second contribution of this paper is to follow Grayling (2019) in delineating the character of ethics from the concept of morality, which is more suggestive of obligations and duties. With this etymology in mind, it is argued that other market actors can do much more to remove problematic choices from the market and thus raise the mean market morality. Attending to the average morality of markets instead of emphasising capped ethical consumerism treads a difficult conceptual path between conflicting political positions, but may buy enough time for viable socioeconomic alternatives to neoliberalism to emerge and expand.

IMPLEMENTASI CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILTY (CSR) SEBAGAI MODEL MANAJEMEN PERUSAHAAN DALAM MENCAPAI KEUNGGULAN KOMPETITIF

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2021

Dede Jaelani

A business's response to a crisis must be through inclusion in its mission to create social value beyond economic value for shareholders. However, CSR is not about how benefits are shared but about how they are created; Therefore, CSR should be seen as a new management model and not as a marketing tool. Incorporating CSR in organizations requires the integration of philosophies and principles at all levels. This article aims to explore the concept of CSR and its dimensions, in dialogue with stakeholders, in various management instruments in terms of corporate responsibility, and the value of its strategy; in such a way that companies that successfully align their interests and implement responsible environmental accounting, will achieve a competitive advantage that is difficult to imitate.

Private and public co-operation in preventing and addressing corporate crime: the case of labour trafficking in the Finnish construction industry

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2023
CRIME LAW SOCIAL CH

Numerous corporate and state processes have long underpinned harms related to human trafficking and exploitation. A consequence of these processes has been a growing interest in how public and private sector organisations co-operate to address key challenges, including accountability for alleged exploitation. The purpose of this article is to examine these public-private sector dynamics in the Finnish construction industry, with a particular emphasis on how stakeholders respond to challenges associated with human trafficking, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and the ‘grey economy’. The core argument developed is that despite a strong regulatory framework in Finnish construction, significant aspects of corporate compliance rely on companies’ voluntary efforts, whereby public sector authorities can have competing views of solutions to address trafficking and exploitation. This paper contributes to existing discussions within white-collar and corporate crime on the dynamics of CSR, and how these apply to the broader context of the grey economy.

Learning to see modern slavery in supply chains through paradoxical sensemaking

Article

Sep 2023

Mandatory annual reporting, to improve transparency of working conditions in firms' supply chains, is the favored approach of UK policymakers for reducing modern slavery risks in supply chains. Despite legislation and extensive guidance, annual corporate statements are disappointing, providing little evidence of substantive action. So far though, there has been little primary research of managers' understanding of the phenomenon or their perceived agency in tackling modern slavery. In a qualitative study, employing template analysis, data were drawn from multiple sources, including interviews with 32 managers from three large UK firms in a complex, high‐risk sector (construction). Four focus groups were used to establish credibility of the findings. As managers struggle with how to make sense of where to look, how to look, and what to see, they adopt narrowed perspectives and analogies that inhibit immediate, compelling action. Improved awareness of UK labor supply chain issues has distanced managers further from action relating to global material supply chains. Through analogy with health and safety legislation, which developed over a considerable period, managers justify a wait‐and‐see approach, deferring action. Such convenience framing helps them to avoid issues relating to complexity, control, cost, and (in)visibility. This framing needs to be disrupted for meaningful action to result. Drawing on sensemaking theory relating to paradoxical financial and sustainability objectives, the study suggests how extended legislation and governance may drive more substantive responses that transcend the constraints of business‐case logic.

Empirical business research on modern slavery in supply chains: A systematic review

Article

Sep 2023
J BUS RES

Title: An Examination of Modern Slavery in the Mining Industry, Case Study of Nigeria's Mining Sector

Preprint

Full-text available

Aug 2023

Owonubi Oluwatobi

This paper investigates issues surrounding the continuity of Modern-Day Slavery (MDS) in Nigeria's mining sector, critically focusing on its prevalence, influencing elements, and implications. Despite its illegality, the perpetuation of MDS is a serious violation of labor ethics and human rights. Using a qualitative approach, this study unpacks issues surrounding MDS, while providing a critical analysis which provides insights into the historical underpinning and related socioeconomic dimensions that have fuelled the perpetuation of the issue in Nigeria's mining sector. The findings from the study identify that the lack of enforcement elements to improve the effectiveness of anti-slavery laws, the presence of systemic corruption, extreme poverty and low literacy levels as some factors facilitating the continuity of the scourge. Additionally, social desirability bias is recognised as an important factor that influences the underreporting of activities of MDS, thereby enabling its continuity. By providing a comprehensive light into the issue, the paper contributes to gaps in literature relating to MDS and underreporting in the sub-Saharan region and also extends policy discourses, which could serve as a foundation for mitigating the continuity of the issue in the mining sector.

Forced labour risk is pervasive in the US land-based food supply

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2023

Social risk assessments and case studies of labour conditions in food production primarily focus on specific subpopulations, regions and commodities. To date, research has not systematically assessed labour conditions against international standards across diverse, complex food products. Here we combine data on production, trade, labour intensity and qualitative risk coding to quantitatively assess the risk of forced labour embedded in the US land-based food supply, building on our previous assessment of fruits and vegetables. We demonstrate that animal-based proteins, processed fruits and vegetables, and discretionary foods are major contributors to forced labour risk and that 62% of total forced labour risk stems from domestic production or processing. Our findings reveal the widespread risk of forced labour present in the US food supply and the necessity of collaborative action across all countries—high, middle and low income—to eliminate reliance on labour exploitation.

Unethical Outsourcing and Marketing of International Clothing, Fashion Brands, and Global Supply Chains: A Case Study of Bangladesh's RMG Industry

Chapter

Jun 2023

Anam Ullah

The exploitation of workers in global supply chains (GSCs) has been strengthened over the past 40 years, mainly since the emergence of globalization and neoliberalism. A primary ethical concern of outsourcing and marketing is labour exploitation in developing countries. In Bangladesh's RMG industry, workers are often paid low wages and forced to work long hours in unsafe conditions. Many international clothing brands have been criticized for outsourcing their production to factories that violate labor rights. As a result, unethical outsourcing and marketing of the global supply chains from Bangladesh's RMG industry has left millions of RMG workers in dire straits. Furthermore, this chapter focuses on theoretical interpretations and finds that globalization and neoliberalism exposed modern slavery in the global supply chain networks. Hence, this chapter suggests that international clothing and fashion brands must ethically outsource from a country like Bangladesh.

A systematic literature review of modern slavery through benchmarking global supply chain

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2023
Benchmark Int J

Purpose The globalisation of supply chains has contributed to modern slavery by degrading labour standards and work practices. The inherent difficulties involved in monitoring extremely fragmented production processes also render workers in and from developing countries vulnerable to labour exploitation. This research adopts a benchmark methodology that will help examine the inherent modern slavery challenges. Design/methodology/approach This study examines how the benchmark model, including governance, risk assessment, purchasing practice, recruitment and remedy of victims, addresses supply chain modern slavery challenges. The proposed hypotheses are tested based on the reoccurring issues of modern slavery in global supply chains. Findings Estimations suggest that modern slavery is a growing and increasingly prominent international problem, indicating that it is the second largest and fastest growing criminal enterprise worldwide except for narcotics trafficking. These social issues in global supply chains have drawn attention to the importance of verifying, monitoring and mapping supply chains, especially in lengthy and complex supply chains. However, the advent of digital technologies and benchmarking methodologies has become one of the existing key performance indicators (KPIs) for measuring the effectiveness of modern slavery initiatives in supply chains. Originality/value This review provides an understanding of the current situation of global supply chains concerning the growing social issue of modern slavery. However, this includes various individual specialities relating to global supply chains, modern slavery, socially sustainable supply chain management (SCM), logistic social responsibility, corporate social responsibility and digitalisation. Furthermore, the review provided important implications for researchers examining the activities on benchmarking the effectiveness of the existing initiatives to prevent modern slavery in the supply chains.

References

Chapter

Full-text available

Apr 2017

Sam Scott

Adoption and transferability of joint interventions to fight modern slavery in food supply chains

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2023
INT J PROD ECON

More than 50 million people in the world are estimated to be in a situation of modern slavery, the most extreme form of labour exploitation. Many of them are working in sectors such as mining and agriculture, which produce price-sensitive commodity products and where workers are particularly vulnerable. Against this challenge, we analyse a successful intervention against modern slavery in a place that has been labelled the “ground zero of modern slavery in the US”. The Fair Food Programme was established in the tomato growing industry in Immokalee, Florida, and is based on an innovative joint action between farmers, buyers, and workers. We use an agent-based model built on qualitative field data to explain the success of the programme and to investigate whether the programme could be successfully transferred to other contextual settings. We model several market structures and measure the time it takes for all actors in the system to join the Fair Food Programme after a shock event (such as a case of modern slavery being discovered) triggered a dynamic of joint action. Our model shows that a high heterogeneity in farmer sizes leads to an increase in the time taken for them all to join the Fair Food Programme, while a high heterogeneity in buyer sizes speeds up reaching the tipping point towards joint action. We discuss these results and their implications for the transferability of the Fair Food Programme as a voluntary, incentive-driven approach towards tackling modern slavery, to other locations and contexts.

Human Trafficking and Forced Labour in Southeast Asia: Legal Framework and a Way Forward

Chapter

Feb 2023

Human trafficking and forced labour are not new issues in Southeast Asia, and they are still prevalent today. This chapter explores the social and ecological dynamics of migration and trafficking, as well as the underlying causes of these problems, especially in multinational corporations. This chapter also examines the international and regional laws relating to human trafficking and forced labour. Although many international instruments have been established, these issues are still growing as many trafficking victims are still trapped in a variety of industries. The complexity of the global supply and demand chain have directly enabled human trafficking to be more profitable. Many countries have taken various initiatives to promulgate their home legislation to combat human trafficking. Nevertheless, the continued existence of human trafficking demonstrates a lack of enforcement. Finally, the study emphasises the significance of coordination and collaboration across member states, including transparent data exchange on human trafficking and forced labour.

Supply Network 5.0 Sustainability

Chapter

Jan 2023

Bernardo Nicoletti

This chapter deals with the second fundamental component of supply network 5.0: sustainability. It considers the green supply network management and the relationships of green supply with the SCOR framework. It details the challenges of a circular economy and responsible automation. This chapter defines a Sustainable Supply Network Management (SSNM) model for supply network 5.0. It includes a description of the ideas around SSNM’s concept, and its aspects related to the economic, social, and environmental pillars. This chapter aims to provide and enlighten the relationship between sustainability and supply network management. Specifically, after carefully considering green supply network management, the application of sustainability, and the different operative models used to enhance performances, this chapter aims to provide an example through a real case. To do that and to prove this relationship and how the potential results could broadly impact organizations, this chapter includes the Rana Plaza case.KeywordsSustainabilitySustainable supply network managementGreen scoreGreen and leanCircular economyResponsible automation

SOCIALLY SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2021

This paper presents a critical review of the relevant literature on socially sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). A systematic literature review of 291 papers that includes social sustainability published in peer-reviewed journals was conducted. The research contents of each papers were analyzed to identify the common themes, theories and methods which has been employed in the extant literature. The findings of this paper include the discussion of key research gaps, with a specific focus on research areas in social sustainability in the supply chain that needs to be addressed. Finally, the discussion on the opportunities for future research is presented.

Addressing forced labor in supply chains in California

Article

Dec 2022

Kezban Yagci Sokat

Transportation plays a key role in combating human trafficking and California is monumental in understanding this role. This paper presents one element of research undertaken for United States Department of Transportation for understanding the role of transportation in combating human trafficking in California through a survey of multi-disciplinary anti-trafficking practitioners followed by a semi-structured interview. This paper focuses on forced labor and supply chain management. It presents general knowledge on forced labor issues in California and globally, the intersection with transportation, efforts to combat forced labor in the supply chains, and experts’ suggestions on how to address forced labor. The study also supplements expert input with labor violation and transportation accessibility analysis. Experts state that in order the combat forced labor the underlying reason for forced labor, which is economic incentives, should be understood first for a shift to demand reduction. Experts urge for pricing studies, mapping and technology to understand the vulnerabilities, hot spots, legal operating price and detect anomalies in the supply chain. Second, experts suggest awareness and responsibility of all levels for achieving transparency in supply chains. Reexamination of California Transparency in Supply Chains Act and enforcement of other policies was also commonly suggested. Monitors, public private partnership and technology was recommended for ensuring sustainability of the efforts and capacity management. Labor violation and transit accessibility analysis supports the expert input for focusing on farm workers and garment industry and potential transportation accessibility solutions to address some of the vulnerabilities.

Demystifying Modern Slavery

Book

Sep 2022

Using Panel Discussions to Enhance Ethical Learning

Article

Apr 2022
MTR

This article describes an exercise that develops students’ capacity to identify ethical dilemmas, apply ethical frameworks, and consider ethical issues from multiple perspectives. The exercise consists of five interrelated activities that take place over the course of several weeks, with the central activity being a panel discussion featuring businesspeople from the local community. The exercise provides opportunities for students to work as a class, in small groups, and individually, and its culmination is a reflective essay that helps students internalize core concepts about business ethics. The exercise can be executed in a face-to-face class or a synchronous online environment.

How Digital Technologies Impact Tolerance to Modern Slavery in Supply Chain Networks: An Institutional Theory Perspective

Article

Jan 2021

Campaigning Against Modern Slavery: Social Assets for Business Action

Preprint

Full-text available

Apr 2022

One of the great challenges to campaigning against modern slavery is the availability of financial resources. Yet businesses have considerable social assets that can act as a major resource for meaningful anti-slavery campaigns. Inspired by social capital theory, this article reviews the Co-op's modern slavery campaign of 2017-2020 with the aim of identifying social assets that can be utilised by businesses in campaigning against modern slavery. It identifies four assets inherent in most businesses-identity, leadership, networks, and people, and discusses how these were leveraged by the Coop to contribute to anti-slavery action.

Quality of voluntary modern slavery disclosures: top Australian listed companies

Article

Apr 2022
Pac Account Rev

Purpose There is a growing concern over the need for greater transparency of quality information by companies about modern slavery to contribute toward elimination of the practice. Hence, this paper aims to examine factors behind the quality of voluntary modern slavery disclosures and major sources of pressure on Australian company disclosures in a premodern slavery legislated environment. Design/methodology/approach Content analysis and cross- sectional regression modeling are conducted to analyze factors determining the quality of voluntary modern slavery disclosures of the top 100 firms listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and their implications for institutional pressures. Findings Results indicate that size, assurance by Big-4 firms and publication of stand-alone modern slavery statements are significant drivers of disclosure quality in the sample. Profitability, listing status and the degree of internationalization are found to be unrelated to the quality of voluntary modern slavery disclosures. Industry classification is significant but only partly supports the prediction, and further investigation is recommended. Practical implications This paper provides a foundation for regulators and companies toward improving the quality of their modern slavery risk disclosures with a particular focus on prior experience, assurance and size. In practice, contrary to suggestions in the literature, results indicate that monetary penalties are unlikely to be an effective means for improving the quality of modern slavery disclosure. Results of the study provide evidence of poor quality of disclosures and the need for improvement, prior to introduction of modern slavery legislation in Australia in 2018. It also confirms that regulation to improve transparency, through the required publication of a modern slavery statement, is significant but not enough on its own to increase disclosure quality. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research examining company level factors with an impact on voluntary modern slavery disclosure quality and the links to institutional pressures, prior to the introduction of the Commonwealth Modern Slavery Act 2018.

Making transparency transparent: a systematic literature review to define and frame supply chain transparency in the context of sustainability

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2022

Naemi Schäfer

Supply chain transparency and its connection to sustainability is a current topic in supply chain management research. The term supply chain transparency is used very loosely in this discourse. Therefore, this article aims to clarify the understanding of supply chain transparency in the context of sustainability to enable future research. In a content analysis-based literature review, 92 peer-reviewed articles were identified in the intersection of sustainability, supply chains, and transparency. Only 30 articles contained a definition of transparency. Supply chain transparency was used and defined very differently among the researchers. By providing a general definition and framework of sustainable supply chain transparency, the term “supply chain transparency” gains more clarity. Three dimensions of transparency were identified: sustainable supply chain information, involved stakeholders, and perspective. The supply chain transparency research was conducted primarily in the context of the food and apparel industry. Transparency was characterized differently among the industries and was studied with different foci. Furthermore, the review revealed a focus of supply chain transparency research on the social dimension of sustainability. Additionally, a wide range of topics on supply chain transparency has been covered in the existing literature, and opportunities for future research are outlined. Future researchers are also encouraged to define transparency more clearly.

Unethical Supply Chains Delaying Recovery: Analyzing Pre and Mid COVID-19 Conditions

Chapter

Jan 2022

Entire industries have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. As a result, global supply chains, along with their collaborators, have been severely affected. The slow pace of recovery has raised many questions as it is not only a matter of vaccination and employment. Other issues that preceded the pandemic are pushing recovery further; inequality is at the center of these issues. If unequal conditions and practices do not change, is recovery even possible? Another issue that arises is the illustrious need to get back to normal, which leads to the questions: should we be striving for normal? Is it the ideal state? The study contributes to the understanding of recovery’s slow pace and proposes a conceptual model to foster socially responsible supply chain governance by means of individual and organizational resilience to close the inequality gap and recover.

La economía política del impeachment y las condiciones laborales en Brasil, 2016-2018: una visión general. In: Congreso Interuniversitario OIT sobre el futuro del trabajo. Facultad de Ciencias del Trabajo Universidad de Sevilla/OIT. Sevilha: 2019.

Chapter

Full-text available

Jan 2022

Vitor Eduardo Schincariol

La literatura sobre Brasil aún no ha realizado un resumen exhaustivo adecuado de todos los hechos históricos detrás de la crisis económica iniciada a lo largo de la primera administración de Dilma Rousseff (2011-2014). Los impactos de esta crisis económica y las políticas económicas de Michel Temer (2016-2018) en las condiciones laborales también son preguntas abiertas. Este trabajo ilustra los principales factores de- trás de la desaceleración cíclica brasileña después de 2011, relacionándolos con la desti- tución de Dilma en 2016; después de esto, el trabajo evalúa brevemente las tendencias laborales en Brasil desde 2016. El trabajo concluye que el proceso de impugnación de Dilma Rousseff fue una respuesta política a la crisis, respuesta que tenía como objetivo transferir los costos de los márgenes de beneficio más bajos al presupuesto estatal y a las clases trabajadoras.

The Legal Understanding of Slavery: From the Historical to the Contemporary -- The Introduction

Book

Full-text available

Feb 2012

Jean Allain

'Slavery is the status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised'. So reads the legal definition of slavery agreed by the League of Nations in 1926. Further enshrined in law during international negotiations in 1956 and 1998, this definition has been interpreted in different ways by the international courts in the intervening years. What can be considered slavery? Should forced labour be considered slavery? Debt-bondage? Child soldiering? Or forced marriage? This book explores the limits of how slavery is understood in law. It shows how the definition of slavery in law and the contemporary understanding of slavery has continually evolved and continues to be contentious. It traces the evolution of concepts of slavery, from Roman law through the Middle Ages, the 18th and 19th centuries, up to the modern day manifestations, including manifestations of forced labour and trafficking in persons, and considers how the 1926 definition can distinguish slavery from lesser servitudes. The book includes a set of guidelines intended to clarify the law where slavery is concerned.

Modern slavery challenges to supply chain management

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2015
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAG

Purpose – This paper aims to draw attention to the challenges modern slavery poses to supply chain management. Although many international supply chains are (most often unknowingly) connected to slave labour activities, supply chain managers and researchers have so far neglected the issue. This will most likely change as soon as civil society lobbying and new legislation impose increasing litigation and reputational risks on companies operating international supply chains. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides a definition of slavery; explores potentials for knowledge exchange with other disciplines; discusses management tools for detecting slavery, as well as suitable company responses after its detection; and outlines avenues for future research. Findings – Due to a lack of effective indicators, new tools and indicator systems need to be developed that consider the specific social, cultural and geographical context of supply regions. After detection of slavery, multi-stakeholder partnerships, community-centred approaches and supplier development appear to be effective responses. Research limitations/implications – New theory development in supply chain management (SCM) is urgently needed to facilitate the understanding, avoidance and elimination of slavery in supply chains. As a starting point for future research, the challenges of slavery to SCM are conceptualised, focussing on capabilities and specific institutional context. Practical implications – The paper provides a starting point for the development of practices and tools for identifying and removing slave labour from supply chains. Originality/value – Although representing a substantial threat to current supply chain models, slavery has so far not been addressed in SCM research.

Outsourcing corporate accountability

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2014
WASH LAW REV

Kish Parella

This Article addresses the problem of preventing human rights violations abroad that result from the globalization of business. It specifically explores the challenge of improving labor standards in global value chains. The modern business has changed dramatically and has “gone global” in order to court foreign markets and secure resources, including labor. Familiar household names, such as Nike and Apple, have “outsourced” many of their functions to suppliers overseas. As multinational buyers, they dominate one end of the global value chain. At the opposite end of the value chain are the local managers and owners of the factories and workhouses where tablets are assembled, running shoes are made, and gowns are sown. These facilities are often the sites of serious human rights violations, such as forced labor and child labor.

The “Bad Labor” Footprint: Quantifying the Social Impacts of Globalization

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2014

The extent to what bad labor conditions across the globe are associated with international trade is unknown. Here, we quantify the bad labor conditions associated with consumption in seven world regions, the “bad labor” footprint. In particular, we analyze how much occupational health damage, vulnerable employment, gender inequality, share of unskilled workers, child labor, and forced labor is associated with the production of internationally traded goods. Our results show that (i) as expected, there is a net flow of bad labor conditions from developing to developed regions; (ii) the production of exported goods in lower income regions contributes to more than half of the bad labor footprints caused by the wealthy lifestyles of affluent regions; (iii) exports from Asia constitute the largest global trade flow measured in the amount bad labor, while exports from Africa carry the largest burden of bad labor conditions per unit value traded and per unit of total labor required; and (IV) the trade of food products stands out in both volume and intensity of bad labor conditions.

Slavery in Europe: Part 1, Estimating the Dark Figure

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2013
HUM RIGHTS QUART

The estimation of the "dark figure" for any crime (the number of actual instances of a specific crime committed minus the reported cases of that crime within a population) has primarily rested on the ability to conduct random sample crime surveys. Such surveys are based on the assumption that victims experience crimes that are discrete, time-bound, and of relatively short duration. The crime of enslavement, however, presents a special challenge to estimation because it is of indeterminate duration. This challenge is compounded by the fact that victims of slavery are also often isolated by the stigma linked to sexual assault, or a sense of shame over their enslavement. Using a unique dataset, based in part on the random sample surveys of Julia Pennington et al. (2009), and extended through a process of extrapolation, this paper estimates the numbers of victims of slavery and human trafficking for thirty-seven countries in Europe. These estimated numbers of slavery victims are then compared with reported cases of slavery and trafficking for the same countries.

The Great Refusal or Long March: How to Think About the Internet

Chapter

Full-text available

Jan 2013

Andrew Feenberg

Complete and Partial Organizing in Corporate Social Responsibility

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2013

This paper investigates different modes of organizing for corporate social responsibility (CSR). Based on insights from organization theory, we theorize two ways to organize for CSR. “Complete” organization for CSR happens within businesses and depends on the availability of certain organizational elements (e.g., membership, hierarchy, rules, monitoring, and sanctioning). By contrast, “partial” organization for CSR happens when organizers do not have direct access to all these organizational elements. We discuss partial organization for CSR by analyzing how standards and cross-sector partnerships make selective use of organizational elements. We maintain that an important feature of the increasing institutionalization of CSR—not only within businesses but also among non-governmental, governmental, and professional actors—is the rise of partial forms of organization. We discuss the contributions to this Special Issue in the context of our theorization of complete/partial organization for CSR and outline avenues for further research.

Corporate Social Responsibility in Global Value Chains: Where Are We Now and Where Are We Going?

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2013

We outline the drivers, main features, and conceptual underpinnings of the compliance paradigm. We then use a similar structure to investigate the drivers, main features, and conceptual underpinnings of the cooperative paradigm for working with CSR in global value chains. We argue that the measures proposed in the new cooperation paradigm are unlikely to alter power relationships in global value chains and bring about sustained improvements in workers’ conditions in developing country export industries. After that, we provide a critical appraisal of the potential and limits of the cooperative paradigm, we summarize our findings, and we outline avenues for research: purchasing practices and labor standard noncompliance, CSR capacity building among local suppliers, and improved CSR monitoring by local resources in the developing world.

Accounting for Change: Facilitating Power and Accountability

Article

Full-text available

Mar 1993
Crit Perspect Account

From Employment Relations to Consumption Relations: Balancing Labor Governance in Global Supply Chains

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2014
HUM RESOUR MANAGE-US

Global supply chains are part of the corporate strategy of many multinational companies, with often adverse effects on labor conditions. While employment relations scholars focus on a production-oriented paradigm, revolving around interactions between employers, workers, and government, much of the activism motivating the development of private labor standards is based around companies’ relations with their consumers. This paper proposes an analytical framework conceptualizing the interface of employment relations and consumption relations within global supply chains, identifying four regimes of labor governance: governance gaps, collective bargaining, standards markets, and complementary regimes. Finally, we suggest a research agenda for examining the role of consumption relations in the changing nature of global labor governance.

The Celebritization of Human Trafficking

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2013

Dina Francesca Haynes

Celebrities now regularly engage with human trafficking policy and practice. A “sexy” topic, human trafficking is not only susceptible to alluring, fetishistic and voyeuristic narratives, but plays into the celebrity-as-rescuer-of-the-victim ideal that receives excessive attention from media, policymakers and the public. While some celebrities may become knowledgeable enough to give responsible advice to law and policy makers, others engaging in anti-trafficking activism are neither knowledgeable enough nor using good judgment when interacting with those who make the laws and create anti-trafficking programs. But the responsibility must lie primarily with those same law and policy makers who are so slavishly devoted to using celebrity witnesses in order to satisfy their own desire to interact with celebrities. The extent to which law and policy makers are abdicating their duties to constituents and donors by allowing celebrity activists to provide them with legal and policy advice is emblematic of the larger and more general problems with funding, narratives and the shallow level of discourse in current anti-trafficking initiatives.

The Fictions of Free Labour: Contract, Coercion, and So-Called Unfree Labour

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2003

Jairus Banaji

The conception of contracts as the outcome of a free choice generalises to all sorts of contracts, including contracts of employment. Liberal legalism, or the pure or general theory of contract that developed in the nineteenth century, grounded the almost limitless subordination of the wage-labourer in the anodyne fictions of consent. Marx himself defined free labour primarily in terms of the dispossession of labour, and then, of course, its ability to make valid contracts. Vulgar Marxists have worked with a rigid dichotomy between free and unfree labour, suggesting that lack of coercion is a defining feature of wage-labour. Sartres references to free labour in the Critique work in terms of an implicit contrast between the real freedom of the worker, identified as the workers human reality, and the abstract or mystified freedom of the wage-contract.Keywords: liberal legalism; Marxist theory; wage-contract; wage-labour

Buyer Dominated Relationships in a Supply Chain-A Case Study of Four Small-Sized Suppliers

Article

Full-text available

Oct 1996

Maria Holmund Is a researcher at the swedish school of economics and buisness administration, Helsigfors, Finland, and Soren Kock is an associate professor at the swedish school of Economics and Business administration, Vasa, Finland, Partnership, Co-operation, and stretegic alliance are among treds that have emerged during the 1990s as outcomes of changes in the economic environment. Supply chain managment, thedynamics and interaction in the relationship between buyers and supplier have received increased attention. The relationship between buyer and suppliers, however, have often been categorised as balanced as the studied compaqnies have been more or less equal in size. In this study we have chosen to analyse supply relationship between a dominating buyer and four small supplier. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the buyer-supplier relationship in order to evaluate their stregth. The focus ha mainly been on the technical planning, knowledge, social and legal economica bonds that have emered over time.in the studies relationship these bonds, when present, have been found in a range from rather weak to strong. Moreover we belive resources needed by the buyer are pre-requisite for maintaining long-term relationslhip. the studied relationship can be regarged as stable and long-lasting as the yongest originated in 1983 and the oldest in 1971. the relationship were established more or less in the same years that small suppliers were founded.

Sustainable purchasing and supply management: A structured literature review of definitions and measures at the dyad, chain and network levels

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2012
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAG

Purpose This paper provides a structured literature review of sustainability in purchasing and supply management, moving beyond the traditional environmental and social sustainability. The paper reviews the concept of sustainability at three levels of inter‐organizational analysis – i.e. dyad, supply chain and network. The paper distils the nature and scope of existing research and synthesizes measures used to research sustainability across organizational boundaries. Design/methodology/approach This literature review systematically analyzes existing literature. In particular, the review focuses on definitions and measures of sustainable purchasing and supply management to obtain an accurate view of current research. Findings This paper uncovers two distinct trends in the type of research carried out. First, internal or dyadic issues are in focus and second, a tendency to deal with environmental, as opposed to social, sustainability. Despite the need to look beyond the dyad given the risks associated with the extended network, few studies do so in any of the sustainability dimensions. Research limitations/implications This review is limited by the method employed focusing on definitions and measures. Although the review considers supply chain and network research, it does so purely from a purchasing perspective, thus excluding issues such as logistics and transport. Practical implications The paper identifies areas open to future research and provides practical insights into how sustainable purchasing and supply are measured. It also synthesizes existing measures of sustainability at different levels and organizes these into a taxonomy. Originality/value The paper examines studies across multiple levels of analysis and integrates multiple fields of knowledge to show how research on sustainability in purchasing and supply is structured.

Justice in UK supermarket buyer-supplier relationships: An empirical analysis

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2005
Int J Retail Distrib Manag

Purpose – To explore the nature and scope of good and bad practice in the relationships that UK supermarkets have with their suppliers of own-label products in the main commodity sectors (meat, dairy, fresh produce). Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents the results of a postal survey of supermarket suppliers, which formed part of a wider study of corporate social responsibility in UK supermarket supply chains. Findings – The results demonstrate the heterogeneity in relationships between supermarkets and their suppliers of own-label products in the main commodity sectors the extent to which retail and supply chain strategy is likely to influence the way in which supermarkets deal with suppliers. Best practice was most evident in the two supermarket supply chains where supply base rationalisation has virtually ceased and the adoption of lead suppliers and sole suppliers has been most evident in recent years. Research limitations/implications – Postal survey limited to suppliers in three commodity sectors, where buyer power is greatest. Would expect different results for relationships with branded suppliers. Practical implications – With supermarkets coming under increasing scrutiny over the way they treat suppliers, the conceptual framework and survey instrument represent a mechanism for independent assessment of supply chain relationships in sensitive markets, which could be used constructively to encourage the more widespread adoption of good practice and the elimination of bad practice in supermarket relationships. Originality/value – This paper presents the results of the first attempt anywhere to empirically measure fairness in relationships between supermarkets and their suppliers. Further research is necessary but the results of our early work are extremely encouraging.

The influence of ethical culture on supplier selection in the context of sustainable sourcing

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2012
INT J PROD ECON

Abstract: Driven by the upsurge in global (out-)sourcing and the changing expectations of organizations'' stakeholders, companies are increasingly being held responsible for the actions of their suppliers. Subsequently, Purchasing and Supply Management (PSM) has emerged as an important factor in safeguarding organizations from being accused of irresponsible behavior. Grounded on the concept of ethical culture, the research in this paper identifies elements for guiding PSM behavior towards socially and environmentally sustainable supplier selection. Results indicate that different elements of the firms'' ethical culture have a significant impact on how purchasing managers account for social and environmental criteria when selecting suppliers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier] Copyright of International Journal of Production Economics is the property of Elsevier Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Antitrust and the Formation of the Postwar World

Book

Dec 2001

Wyatt Wells

Coercion, Contract, and Free Labor in the Nineteenth Century

Book

Feb 2001

Robert J. Steinfeld

This book presents a fundamental reassessment of the nature of wage labor in the nineteenth century, focusing on the common use of penal sanctions in England to enforce wage labor agreements. Professor Steinfeld argues that wage workers were not employees at will but were often bound to their employment by enforceable labor agreements, which employers used whenever available to manage their labor costs and supply. In the northern United States, where employers normally could not use penal sanctions, the common law made other contract remedies available, also placing employers in a position to enforce labor agreements. Modern free wage labor only came into being late in the nineteenth century, as a result of reform legislation that restricted the contract remedies employers could legally use.

Doing Bad by Doing Good: Why Humanitarian Action Fails

Book

Jan 2013

Christopher Coyne

The World of Consumption.

Article

Nov 1994

Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production' - Adam Smith Commodities are in love with money but the course of true love never did run smooth ' - Karl Marx For some theorists the consumer is king. The tastes and preferences of the individual, communicated through the magic mechanism of the market dictate what is produced and whether producers succeed or fail. For others comsumption traps the individual in a fetish like devotion to goods that can never satisfy real needs. Both positions have reached an apotheosis in the last decade, with the unequivocal arrival of the consumer society'. The World of Consumption presents a critical analysis of the major social theories of consumption before proceeding to develop new, more inclusive theory. The authors argue that individual commodities create their own distinct systems of provision', processes by which production, distribution, marketing and consumptioj are vertically integrated. Hence the function of marketing in the fashion industry is better explained by the function of other aspects of this industry. The book supports this argument with extensive case studies of the food and clothing systems.

The Transparency in Supply Chains Clause of the UK Modern Slavery Act (MSA): A Response to the Consultation

Article

Jan 2015

Steve New

There is substantial evidence that the supply chain perspective is crucial for understanding the causes of and the solutions to modern slavery. During the passage of the UK Modern Slavery Act, a consultation was arranged to explore issues relating to the operationalisation of sections of the Act relating to transparency in supply chains. This document is a response to that consultation.

Shifting paradigms for sustainable development: implications for management theory and research

Article

Jan 1995

Modern management theory is constricted by a fractured epistemology. which separates humanity from nature and truth from morality. Reintegration is necessary if organizational science is to support ecologically and socially sustainable development. This article posits requisites of such development and rejects the paradigms of conventional technocentrism and antithetical ecocentrism on grounds of incongruence. A more fruitful integrative paradigm of “sustaincentrism” is then articulated, and implications for organizational science are generated as if sustainability, extended community, and our Academy mattered.

The transparent supply chain

Article

Oct 2010

Steve New

Human Rights Law and the Marginalized Other

Article

Oct 2011

William Paul Simmons

This is a groundbreaking application of contemporary philosophy to human rights law that proposes several significant innovations for the progressive development of human rights. Drawing on the works of prominent “philosophers of the Other” including Emmanuel Levinas, Gayatri Chakravorti Spivak, Judith Butler, and most centrally the Argentine philosopher of liberation Enrique Dussel, this book develops an ethics based on concrete face-to-face relationships with the Marginalized Other. It proposes that this ethics should inspire a human rights law that is grounded in transcendental justice and framed from the perspective of marginalized groups. Such law would continuously deconstruct the original violence found in all human rights treaties and tribunals and promote preferential treatment for the marginalized. It would be especially attentive to such issues as access to justice, voice, representation, agency, and responsibility. This approach differs markedly from more conventional theories of human rights that prioritize the autonomy of the ego, state sovereignty, democracy, and/or equality.

Shining Light on Global Supply Chains

Article

Jun 2015
HARVARD INT LAW J

Galit A. Sarfaty

This Article analyzes the effectiveness of emerging domestic legislation on global supply chain transparency with respect to human rights and labor practices. It draws from a quantitative and qualitative study of the implementation of recent U.S. conflict minerals legislation, section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act, which is driving global norms in this area and serving as a guide for comparable domestic legislation abroad. This Article's analysis of section 1502 reveals a due diligence gap among firms, with only about 7% of companies reporting strong due diligence measures in their 2014 Conflict Minerals Reports. This Article also identifies several factors that are inhibiting implementation of section 1502: (i) international norms on supply chain due diligence are in their infancy; (ii) the proliferation of certification standards and in-region sourcing initiatives are still evolving and often competing; and (iii) inadequate local security and weak governance are inhibiting the mapping of the mineral trade and the tracing of minerals in the region. While this Article argues that using domestic law to regulate global supply chains has the potential to significantly shape corporate behavior, the existing due diligence gap suggests that the shift to domestic governance is not going far enough. Given the challenges associated with extra-territorially regulating complex, multi-tiered supply chains, home states need to play a larger role in implementation to facilitate corporate compliance. In addition, companies need to invest in their internal culture to facilitate organizational learning around responsible supply chain management.

Corporate truth: The limits to transparency

Article

Sep 2013

Adrian Henriques

In the corporate jungle inhabited by Enrons and WorldComs, a lack of transparency is the root of all scandal. Yet delivering transparency seems immensely difficult, with the oftencompeting interests of shareholders, corporate boards, government regulators and other stakeholders to be taken into account. Drawing on a vast wealth of real-life examples from the commercial world, this lively business book goes in search of the appropriate limits of transparency. From commercial confidentiality and the ethics of marketing to lobbying and corporate corruption, the author addresses the position, significance and limits of transparency in modern corporate life, working through the dilemmas presented by the increasing calls for transparency. From the secrets of the boardroom to the struggles of NGOs, transparency is a persistent challenge. How much is enough? How much do we need? And how do companies actually report on their impacts?

The Promise and Limits of Private Power: Promoting Labor Standards in a Global Economy

Article

Jan 2011

Richard M. Locke

This book examines and evaluates various private initiatives to enforce fair labor standards within global supply chains. Using unique data (internal audit reports, and access to more than 120 supply chain factories and 700 interviews in 14 countries) from several major global brands, including NIKE, HP, and the International Labor Organization's Factory Improvement Programme in Vietnam, this book examines both the promise and the limitations of different approaches to actually improve working conditions, wages, and working hours for the millions of workers employed in today's global supply chains. Through a careful, empirically grounded analysis of these programs, this book illustrates the mix of private and public regulation needed to address these complex issues in a global economy.

The ethical supply chain

Article

Jan 2004

Steve New

To seek and save the lost: human trafficking and salvation schemas among American evangelicals

Article

Apr 2014

Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick

American evangelicals have a history of engagement in social issues in general and anti-slavery activism in particular. The last 10 years have seen an increase in both scholarly attention to evangelicalism and evangelical focus on contemporary forms of slavery. Extant literature on this engagement often lacks the voices of evangelicals themselves. This study begins to fill this gap through a qualitative exploration of how evangelical and mainline churchgoers conceptualize both the issue of human trafficking and possible solutions. I extend Michael Young's recent work on the confessional schema motivating evangelical abolitionists in the 1830s. Through analysis of open-ended responses to vignettes in a survey administered in six congregations I find some early support for a contemporary salvation schema. It is this schema, I argue, that underpins evangelicals' framing of this issue, motivates their involvement in anti-slavery work, and specifies the scope of their critique. Whereas antebellum abolitionists thought of their work in national and structural terms contemporary advocates see individuals in need of rescue. The article provides an empirical sketch of the cultural underpinnings of contemporary evangelical social advocacy and a call for additional research.

'Flexible' workers for 'flexible' jobs? The labour market function of A8 migrant labour in the UK

Article

May 2015

There is considerable academic and policy interest in how immigrants fare in the labour market of their host economy. This research is situated within these debates and explores the nexus between migrant labour and segmented labour markets. Specifically the analysis focuses on East-Central Europeans in Britain: a sizeable cohort of largely economic and recent migrants. A large quantity of interviews with low-wage employers and recruiters is used to examine the role served by East-Central European migrant labour in the UK labour market, to question whether this function is distinct from conventional understandings of the function of migrant labour and to explore how employer practices and other processes ‘produce’ these employment relations. Based on the findings from this approach, an argument is developed which contends that the ready availability of a well perceived cohort of migrant labour has sustained and extended flexible labour market structures towards the bottom end of the labour market.

More than just a famous face: Exploring the rise of the celebrity expert-advocate through anti-trafficking action by the Demi and Ashton Foundation

Article

Dec 2014

While the criminological literatures explore celebrity trials and investigations, the celebrity’s placement as an actor in criminal justice processes – and as an authoritative voice on crime – remains less investigated. With celebrity activism and testimony increasing around issues like human and child trafficking, this article contemplates the celebrity as an ‘expert-advocate’ who reinforces the state’s ability to regulate, especially in light of ongoing challenges to its sovereignty, such as trafficking. Through the Demi and Ashton (DNA) Foundation’s ‘Real Men’ and Customs and Border Protection campaigns, we note that celebrities are no longer just ‘public faces’, but also members of a ‘firm’ working with the state to recreate the illusion of state sovereignty, bolstering borders and divides. We call for further research into celebrities as influential agents in the criminal justice system.

Antitrust and the Formation of the Postwar World

Article

Oct 2005

Does implementing social supplier development practices pay off?

Article

Jun 2015
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAG

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is twofold. First is to investigate the impact of social supplier development practices on the suppliers’ social performance. Second is to analyze if the implementation of supplier development practices by Western buying firms pays off in terms of operational and economic results. Design/methodology/approach – Hypotheses are tested in a sample of 120 Spanish manufacturing firms using Path Analysis. Findings – The results suggest that while supplier development practices help to improve the suppliers’ social performance and the buying firm’s operational performance, they do not pay off in terms of economic performance. Research limitations/implications – The paper shows that supplier development practices help to improve the suppliers’ social performance while improving the operational performance of the buying firm. The study has two main limitations. First, because cross-sectional data are used, possible recursive relationships could not be accounted for. Second, the study is limited to the Spanish scope and, as such, results need to be interpreted in that context. Practical implications – The results of this study provide insights to managers with respect to the implementation of supplier development practices to make their suppliers more socially responsible. Furthermore, managers are shown the implications of implementing such practices in terms of operational and economic outcomes. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the existing literature on the effectiveness of sustainable supplier development practices by including the suppliers’ performance, which has been generally neglected. Objective measures for economic performance are also included.

The World of Consumption

Article

Nov 1994

Putting sustainability into supply chain management

Article

May 2014
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAG

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to identify key categories of Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) and related practices that are required to fulfill the demands of sustainability and, therefore, contributing to sustainability performance. As part of this, the authors will identify different approaches in practice implementation in SSCM and supply chain management (SCM). SSCM has become a topic of great interest and is linked to the assumption that a more sustainable performance for businesses would be achieved on its implementation. Such performance has to be achieved with respect to all three dimensions of sustainability. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is conceptual in nature. The authors draw from literature on SSCM and examine frameworks and critical accounts on the topic. This allows identifying key aspects of SSCM and pointing out differences and overlaps with SCM. Findings – The authors identify five key categories which are of high importance for the sustainable management of supply chains: orientation toward SCM and sustainability, continuity, collaboration, risk management and proactivity. In a second step, the authors describe distinctive practices which allow organizations to follow the goals formulated in the five key categories. Finally, they highlight issues preventing companies that follow a rather “conventional” approach to SCM to reach the level where it can be called SSCM, i.e. how to reach sustainability performance in SCM. Research limitations/implications – The work presented is conceptual in nature. It would be required to operationalize respective categories and, therefore, test them in empirical research. Practical implications – The categories and practices identified within the framework can be used for guiding managers toward the implementation of SSCM. This is the case when management takes performance implication into account without solely considering rather simplistic indicators. At the same time, differentiating a company based on the implementation of sustainability practices has become more difficult, due to the proliferation of sustainability in a wider field. Social implications – Social aspects are integrated into the framework on the same level as environmental and economic aspects, emphasizing the triple bottom line orientation. Originality/value – While all practices applied in SSCM have originally been identified and described by researchers for the case of “conventional” SCM, their particular interrelation and joint implementation makes up SSCM and ensures a contribution to sustainability performance.

Their brothers' keeper: Global buyers and the legal duty to protect suppliers' employees

Article

Dec 2009
RUTGERS LAW REV

The perception of a race to the bottom in international sourcing has lead to calls for worldwide standards to improve health, safety, and wage conditions among Global South workers. With the state's retreat and immature international regimes, the primary regulatory response has been private codes of conduct which buyers impose on foreign suppliers. This represents a sociological shift with buyers assuming a paternalistic role over the factories' workers. When this role combines with poor code enforcement, the buyer may be at legal risk under U.S. law. Workers could claim that the buyer's code and related policies create a duty to ensure supplier compliance. When workers are then damaged by a code violation, they might sue the buyer. Our Article considers the argument's viability using standard tort and contract claims. The legal analysis is informed by interviews of buyers and suppliers, and surveys of workers. The feasibility of each claim varies but all are colorable, posing risk for buyers and potential for foreign workers. The risk and potential are enhanced by American jurisprudence's historical broadening of legal duties and the persistent evolution of global human rights principles.

Trust and communication in European agri-food chains

Article

Mar 2013
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAG

Christian Fischer

Purpose ‐ The purpose of this paper is to assess and explain the trust situation in EU agri-food supply chains in the context of the assumption that the existence of well-functioning trust-based supplier-buyer relationships enables a secure and safe food supply. Design/methodology/approach ‐ Using structural equation modelling (SEM) and survey data (n=1,430) on supplier-buyer relationships from six different countries, two commodity supply chains (meat and cereals) and two supply chain stages (farmer-processor and processor-retailer), main trust determinants are identified and discussed. By simultaneously covering two supply chain stages the analysis adopts a perspective beyond the dyad. Findings ‐ The SEM results indicate that trust in supply chain partners can be significantly improved by effective communication and by positive past collaboration. The existence of personal bonds (ties) between partners does not seem to play a direct role in the retailer-processor relationship but is important when dealing with farmers. In both supply chain stages positive past collaboration as well as the existence of personal bonds also indirectly enhance trust by promoting effective communication which in turn positively impacts on trust levels, thus proofing communication to be a powerful mediator variable. Practical implications ‐ This study's findings can be used by practitioners to learn how to improve trust in their supply chain relationships and how to communicate effectively. Originality/value ‐ The results provide large-scale empirical evidence on trust drivers in European agri-food supply chains thus confirming earlier studies on the topic from other industries.

The pseudo-panopticon: The illusion created by CSR-related transparency and the internet

Article

Apr 2013
Corp Comm Int J

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how corporate social responsibility (CSR) transparency claims are propagating a belief in a modern panopticon for ensuring responsible corporate behavior. Corporations use transparency claims to cultivate the impression of full disclosure. The paper aims to explore why people believe transparency ensures responsible behavior from corporations as well as the negative effects of this pseudo‐panopticon. Design/methodology/approach The paper explores transparency in relation to CSR, CSR reporting, the internet, and activism and describes how their confluence produces pseudo‐panopticon. Findings The paper finds that the pseudo‐panopticon allows corporations to claim transparency in CSR communication and for stakeholders to accept that claim. The reality is that a minority of activist stakeholders bear the burden of ensuring true transparency by questioning disclosure. Social implications Transparency should be seen as a process, and it fails if activists cannot create public awareness of CSR shortcomings. The challenge is to find ways to make transparency as a process work in a world where apathy and self‐deception, in part facilitated by the pseudo‐panopticon, work against the process. Originality/value The paper builds on the process view of transparency by developing its implications for CSR communication. The result is a novel approach to CSR reporting and transparency that contributes to other critical voices concerned about the value and effects of CSR communication.

Extending sustainability to suppliers: A systematic literature review

Article

Aug 2012
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAG

Purpose ‐ To make their supply chains more socially responsible, many companies are implementing supplier assessment tools and collaborative practices. The aim of this paper is to provide a systematic literature review on the governance structures used to extend sustainability to suppliers. More specifically, the authors aim to answer two questions: "What is the impact of these mechanisms or governance structures on sustainable performance?" and "What are the enablers of these mechanisms?". Design/methodology/approach ‐ A structured literature review is carried out that analyses published studies, evaluates contributions, summarises knowledge and identifies managerial implications and lines for further research. Findings ‐ Both assessment and collaboration have a positive impact on environmental performance and corporate social responsibility, although the most recent collaborative paradigm stresses that assessment alone is not enough. Some enablers of these practices are identified. Research limitations/implications ‐ Although the authors believe that the right search terms have been used, the choice of these terms could be a limitation of this study. Also, the selection of the articles could be considered subjective, although the papers were reviewed by two researchers. Practical implications ‐ Supplier assessment and collaboration are effective in improving sustainability. However, the results also indicate that assessment alone is not enough. Firms also need to adopt a collaborative approach. Finally, a list of enablers to implement these practices is provided. Originality/value ‐ The paper summarises knowledge related to the impact of supplier assessment and collaboration on sustainability, and describes the enablers of such initiatives, providing some managerial implications and lines for further research.

SMEs as “transmitters” of CSR requirements in the supply chain

Article

Jul 2013
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAG

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop understanding of the role of small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in relation to sustainable supply chain management, i.e. how corporate social responsibility (CSR) is integrated in their relationship with customers and suppliers. Design/methodology/approach Drawing from a survey of CSR requirements among 410 Spanish SMEs, the paper examines the extent to which SMEs receive social and environmental requirements from diverse customer typologies and the extent to which they pass on such requirements to different supplier typologies. Findings Based on survey results, it is concluded that large businesses are the most demanding customers in terms of the CSR requirements imposed to their SME suppliers. In turn, SMEs are able to transfer the requests received from their (larger) customers to their own suppliers. Research limitations/implications The data are confined to companies located in a particular region (Catalonia in Spain), which questions its generalizability to other geographical contexts. Practical implications The research shows that small and medium companies can be effective in spreading the CSR requirements received from large companies through the supply chain. Originality/value The paper contributes to research on sustainable supply chain management from the SME perspective and offers a systematic analysis of the CSR activities of SMEs, both as suppliers and buyers. In addition, it proposes a rigorous way to measure the CSR‐related supply chain pressure.

The California Transparency in Supply Chains Act

Article

Feb 2013

After a decade or more during which private codes to monitor supply chain and workplace standards have proliferated, recent years have seen the re-emergence of state-based initiatives to create more oversight and accountability across global value chains. In January 2012, the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act (Senate Bill 657) (CTSCA) was enacted. The CTSCA requires that retailers and manufacturers doing business in California, with annual worldwide gross receipts of $100 million or more, must explicitly disclose their efforts to eradicate slavery and human trafficking, and protect basic human rights, along their entire supply chain. Companies have moved quickly to update their auditing mechanisms to ensure all supplier factories meet the requirements of the Act. The overall goal of the regulation is to ensure companies operate with a much greater level of caution when selecting suppliers and making sourcing decisions. This Working Paper outlines the dimensions of the Act, its implications for global sourcing and some early responses to it by companies that do business in California.

Modern Slavery As A Management Practice: Exploring the Conditions and Capabilities for Human Exploitation

Article

Feb 2012

Andrew Crane

Scant attention has been paid to the phenomenon of modern slavery in the management literature. This paper redresses this by identifying modern slavery as a management practice, comprising exploiting/insulating capabilities and sustaining/shaping capabilities. A model is presented that specifies how these micro organization-level capabilities enable enterprises that deploy slavery to take advantage of the macro institutional conditions that permit the practice to flourish in the face of widespread illegality and illegitimacy. Potential implications for management theory and suggestions for further theoretical and empirical research are then advanced.

The Social Phychology of Modern Slavery

Article

Apr 2002

Kevin Bales

Institutional Emergence in An Era of Globalization: The Rise of Transnational Private Regulation of Labor and Environmental Conditions

Article

Sep 2007

Tim Bartley

Why have systems of "transnational private regulation" recently emerged to certify corporate social and environmental performance? Different conceptions of institutional emergence underlie different answers to this question. Many scholars argue that firms create certification systems to solve problems in the market-a view rooted in a conception of institutions as solutions to collective action problems. The author develops a different account by viewing institutions as the outcome of political contestation and by analyzing conflict and institutional entrepreneurship among a wide array of actors. Using a comparative case study design, the analysis shows how these arguments explain the formation of social and environmental certification associations. Both theoretical approaches are needed, but strong versions of the market-based approach overlook an important set of dynamics that the author calls the "political construction of market institutions." The analysis shows how both problem solving in markets and political contention generate new institutional forms.

Why Unfree Labour is Not 'So-Called': The Fictions of Jairus Banaji

Article

Oct 2003

Tom Brass

In a recent critique of the deproletarianization thesis, which links the reproduction of unfree labour mainly - but not only - in Third World agriculture to class struggle prosecuted by capitalist producers, Banaji maintains in effect that there is no such thing as unfree labour. Equating the latter with nineteenth-century liberal ideas about freedom as consent, he conceptualizes all historical working arrangements simply as 'disguised' wage-labour that is free, a theoretically problematic claim first made during the Indian mode of production debate. Such a view, it is argued here, ignores the fact that unfree workers get paid and also appear in the labour market, but not as sellers of their own commodity. Moreover, by abolishing the free/unfree labour distinction, and adopting instead the view that all rural workers are simply 'disguised' hired labourers who are contractually 'free', Banaji aligns himself with anti-Marxist theory in general, and neoclassical economic historiography in particular.

The Sociology of Work: An Introduction

Article

Jan 1991

Keith Grint

Modern slavery and the supply chain: the limits of corporate social responsibility?

Abstract

No full-text available