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Modern slavery and the supply chain: the limits of corporate social responsibility?
Abstract
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.
... Modern slavery is a complicated, ambiguous, and interconnected wicked problem that hinders the sustainable development of global supply chains (SCs) (Gold et al. 2015;Han et al. 2022;New 2015;Schaper and Pollach 2021). Anti-Slavery International (2023) defines modern slavery as the severe exploitation of other people for personal or commercial gain. ...
... Thus, the above discussion highlights the challenges of MSD practices like 'herding effect' and 'strategic ambiguity' that leads to problem of symbolic compliance or ceremonial conformity, which doubts the efficacy of using legislations like modern slavery reporting legislations to combat modern slavery. Similarly, organizations employ virtue signaling in MSDs, in which broad moral sentiments are used to create a positive ethical impression instead of genuine disclosure/transparency (New 2015). Thus, these problems have accelerated the investigations focusing the MSD practices, to explore nature, extent, and quality of MSD published by different industry sectors in different geographical contexts. ...
... In the current analysis, the threshold for the number of citations has been 10 and this threshold resulted in Page rank Global citation count Gold et al. (2015) 0.051988964 346 Stevenson and Cole (2018) 0.049046851 167 Crane (2013) 0.046365629 565 New (2015) 0.043030676 249 Christ et al. (2019) 0.041307063 92 Birkey et al. (2018) 0.037777458 119 Flynn and Walker (2021) 0.036546309 52 Caruana et al. (2021) 0.035624348 120 Flynn (2020a) 0.028429954 52 LeBaron and Rühmkorf (2017) 0.027909532 156 Global citation count*-Number of citations on Google Scholar of January 29, 2024 Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved. ...
Modern slavery is a serious social issue, and the International Labour Organization estimates 49.6 million modern slavery victims worldwide. Consequently, globally, numerous reporting legislations have been introduced to eradicate modern slavery enforcing organizations’ modern slavery disclosure (MSD) practices. These enforcements require organizations to be transparent, and accountable for modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains, making them crucial in the global fight against modern slavery. The purpose of this study is to review the research on the MSD practice that has gained substantial attention with growing interests of governments, industries, and policymakers. Using PRISMA protocol approach, this study reviews 48 MSD research published throughout 2016–2023 in Scopus and Web of Science databases. Furthermore, a bibliometric analysis strategy complemented with thematic content analysis was used to offer comprehensive future research agendas. The findings cover significant elements in the MSD literature, including countries, journals, authors, articles, and topics. Additionally, employing bibliographic coupling of the research articles derived 4 MSD knowledge clusters: (1) modern slavery reporting legislations: social washing through symbolic compliance, (2) modern slavery nature, perceptions, and dynamics on current regulations, (3) UK Modern Slavery Act effectiveness and determinants, (4) exploration of transparency and normativity of MSDs. This study contributes to the existing MSD literature by reflecting on the evolution of modern slavery reporting legislation and corresponding firms’ responses in the form of highlighting the primary thrust areas of MSD research. This novel review of MSD research provides strong support for identifying emerging paradigms in the MSD literature who are new to the field. Further this study offers implications for policymakers highlighting the importance of establishing oversight bodies, auditing processes, and penalties for non-compliance to ensure effective MSD practice. The study sample was limited to the Scopus and WoS databases-listed journal articles omitting other grey literature, to ensure the reliability of the results.
... These definitions of human trafficking reveal that human trafficking supply chains parallel common supply chainsjust that the former focus on the exchange and usage of people rather than products. Similar analogies have appeared in modern slavery studies by New (2015), Caruana et al. (2021) and others. In fact, there is significant research from the last decade that presents modern slavery as a kind of management practice (Crane, 2013) and address the modern slavery in supply chains (Gold et al., 2015;Kougkoulos et al., 2021;New, 2015). ...
... Similar analogies have appeared in modern slavery studies by New (2015), Caruana et al. (2021) and others. In fact, there is significant research from the last decade that presents modern slavery as a kind of management practice (Crane, 2013) and address the modern slavery in supply chains (Gold et al., 2015;Kougkoulos et al., 2021;New, 2015). We refer readers to Szablewska and Kubacki (2023) for a detailed review of research on modern slavery in supply chains. ...
... Thus, the structure of Figure 2 mirrors Figure 1 above. As mentioned in Section 2.2.1, there are previous supply chain representation efforts for modern slavery in the literature that we diverge from such as but not limited to New (2015) and Caruana et al. (2021). ...
Purpose
The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to draw insights from the rich literature on humanitarian operations efforts to combat human trafficking; second, to inspire humanitarian operations researchers to work more on human anti-trafficking.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper inspired by recent relevant reports, the academic literature and the authors’ years of involvement in both humanitarian operations and anti-trafficking.
Findings
Humanitarian supply chains and human trafficking supply chains very often operate in the same environments and hence face similar challenges. The paper highlights the overlaps between the two domains and demonstrates how two decades of learnings from humanitarian supply chain literature can help improve the understanding of the more recent academic field of human trafficking supply chains significantly.
Research limitations/implications
This study is conceptual and illuminates numerous opportunities for research in anti-trafficking.
Practical implications
By inspiring more research on anti-trafficking, this paper hopes to facilitate enhancements to human trafficking operation to prevent more cases and protect victims.
Social implications
There is an opportunity to increase the effectiveness of anti-trafficking activities, disrupt human trafficking and enlarge the “humanitarian space.”
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to discuss human trafficking operations in relation to humanitarian supply chains.
... The literature on due diligence laws in supply chains is nascent. Studies have revealed modern slavery challenges in the supply chain, such as a lack of indicators for the detection of slavery (Gold et al., 2015;New, 2015;Hofmann et al., 2018;Brandenburg et al., 2024) examined due diligence in the supply chain from the companies' perspective and found potential barriers to and enablers of its implementation (e.g. financial effects, market structures, legal gaps). ...
... From a theoretical viewpoint, it is apparent that there are certain overlaps between the legal flaws of the GSCDDA and those determined in previous due diligence law implementations. For instance, insufficient penalties and mechanisms to prosecute human rights violations in-depth lead to gaps in effectiveness (Delalieux and Moquet, 2020;New, 2015). This literature also refers to conflicts with existing legal systems and economic pressures. ...
... The effects on companies of the transfer of responsibility along the supply chains are only sporadically discussed in the literature (e.g. New, 2015). This withdrawal of companies tends to lead to regressive rather than progressive shifts in human rights violations, as shown by coronavirus pandemic studies (Cole and Shirgholami, 2021). ...
Purpose
The German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (GSCDDA), as a comprehensive regulation for due diligence in supply chains, will exert profound pressure on companies’ sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). This study aims to examine the affected stakeholders’ polarizing expectations stemming from the GSCDDA, the resulting impacts on SSCM and how these findings compare with theoretical SSCM developments.
Design/methodology/approach
From 5,490 GSCDDA posts on X (formerly “Twitter”), the authors extracted 556 qualitative posts illustrating the GSCDDA discourse and analyzed them from a stakeholder perspective. The posts were classified according to the dimensions of stakeholder groups and expectations (i.e. challenges and opportunities). The authors then synthesized the posts across these dimensions and compared the identified expectations with the SSCM literature.
Findings
Seven stakeholder groups were identified, along with nine challenges (e.g. legal flaws) and four opportunities (e.g. increased transparency). The synthesis of both components revealed highly discussed and conflicting expectations. The theoretical SSCM developments partly differ from the discourse, indicating discernible gaps between theory and practice
Practical implications
Identifying key stakeholder groups supports building synergies between GSCDDA implementers and stakeholders to tackle their challenges and reinforce opportunities.
Originality/value
Due to the growing prevalence of supply chain due diligence regulations, it is essential to consider the legal implications for SSCM. This study explores the link between due diligence concepts and SSCM, and to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to analyze how legal pressure shapes stakeholders’ expectations on companies’ SSCM.
... Likewise, the fashion company Boohoo came under scrutiny for MS practices in 2020 after workers in Leicester garment factories received wages less than half of the minimum wage (Child, 2020). The complexity around these illegal practices makes traditional corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices, such as supplier audits and self-assessment, less effective in detecting MS and forced labour practices (New, 2015). ...
... This study views the development of employees' digital competencies and the investment in Blockchain for addressing MS as a resource accumulation and deployment process (Lavie, 2012;Maritan and Peteraf, 2011). Many antecedents that can support MS supply chain capabilities and technology solutions like Blockchain are valuable (Han et al., 2022) when traditional CSR practices, when practiced in isolation, are ineffective (New, 2015). Blockchain's technical features such as immutability of data and non-repudiability (Hald and Kinra, 2019), decentralized database Kusi-Sarpong et al., 2022), confidentiality, integrity and availability (Xu et al., 2021) can better combat the opacity of MS in supply chains. ...
... Companies investing in Blockchain are more likely to advance internal and external MS supply chain capabilities, addressing and eliminating MS in their supply chains (Christ and Helliar, 2021). Since forced labour practices are illegal and opaque (New, 2015), MS supply chain capabilities require multi-tier traceable data that are reliable, immutable and nonrepudiable (irreversible) stored in a decentralized database (Hald and Kinra, 2019). Following the above arguments that EDD involves the accumulation of new resources to a point companies feel ready to invest in Blockchain (SIBT) specifically to address MS, they will begin to deploy digital and Blockchain knowledge to support the development of new MS supply chain capabilities. ...
Purpose
This study aims to address a significant and previously unanswered question for both academics and practitioners: how do organizations learn to apply Blockchain technology to support modern slavery (MS) supply chain capabilities? Specifically, this study examines whether employees’ digital dexterity (EDD) and strategic investment in Blockchain technology (SIBT) can support three MS supply chain capabilities: internal MS capability (IMSC), MS capability with customers (MSCC) and MS capability with suppliers (MSCS).
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses resource accumulation and deployment perspective to explain how EDD promotes SIBT, which then drives the development of MS supply chain capabilities. Survey data collected from the Chinese manufacturing industry were used to test the proposed theoretical framework and hypotheses through structural equation modelling and moderated regression analysis.
Findings
EDD has a positive relationship with SIBT. SIBT has a positive relationship with IMSC. IMSC fully mediates the relationships between SIBT and MS capability with customers and suppliers.
Originality/value
By conceptualizing MS supply chain capabilities as a multi-dimensional construct for the first time, this study discovers the significant mediating roles of IMSC. The empirical findings also clarify digital dexterity of employees that drives investment in Blockchain technology to foster MS supply chain capabilities as resource accumulation and deployment processes.
... Also, where labor exploitation is discussed in the subdomains of the management field, these tend to use a range of discipline-based units of analysis and analytical categories. Examples include, but are not limited to, the (pyramid) or multilayered system of labor contracting and intermediation (Barrientos, 2013); outsourcing and supply chain strategies (Gold, Trautrims, & Trodd, 2015;Gordon, 2015;New, 2015;Silvestre, Viana, & de Sousa Monteiro, 2020;Soundararajan, Khan, & Tarba, 2018;Soundararajan, Wilhelm, & Crane, 2021); global value chains (Clarke & Boersma, 2017;Gereffi, Humphrey, & Sturgeon, 2005;Stringer et al., 2021); global production networks (Barrientos, 2008;Henderson, Dicken, Hess, Coe, & Yeung, 2002); labor supply chains (Barrientos, 2013;Gordon, 2017); precarity chains (Alberti, Holgate, & Tapia, 2013;Silvey & Parreñas, 2020); recruitment chains (Verma, 2020); and triangular employment relationships (Barrientos, 2013;Crane, LeBaron, Allain, & Behbahani, 2019;Gold et al., 2015;New, 2015;Stringer et al., 2021). Although deception is recognized, therefore, to be an integral part of the organization of labor for human exploitation in the management literature (Crane, 2013;Crane et al., 2022;Shepherd, Parida, Williams, & Wincent, 2022;Stringer, Whittaker, & Simmons, 2016), the topic of recruitment deception is not explicitly theorized. ...
... Also, where labor exploitation is discussed in the subdomains of the management field, these tend to use a range of discipline-based units of analysis and analytical categories. Examples include, but are not limited to, the (pyramid) or multilayered system of labor contracting and intermediation (Barrientos, 2013); outsourcing and supply chain strategies (Gold, Trautrims, & Trodd, 2015;Gordon, 2015;New, 2015;Silvestre, Viana, & de Sousa Monteiro, 2020;Soundararajan, Khan, & Tarba, 2018;Soundararajan, Wilhelm, & Crane, 2021); global value chains (Clarke & Boersma, 2017;Gereffi, Humphrey, & Sturgeon, 2005;Stringer et al., 2021); global production networks (Barrientos, 2008;Henderson, Dicken, Hess, Coe, & Yeung, 2002); labor supply chains (Barrientos, 2013;Gordon, 2017); precarity chains (Alberti, Holgate, & Tapia, 2013;Silvey & Parreñas, 2020); recruitment chains (Verma, 2020); and triangular employment relationships (Barrientos, 2013;Crane, LeBaron, Allain, & Behbahani, 2019;Gold et al., 2015;New, 2015;Stringer et al., 2021). Although deception is recognized, therefore, to be an integral part of the organization of labor for human exploitation in the management literature (Crane, 2013;Crane et al., 2022;Shepherd, Parida, Williams, & Wincent, 2022;Stringer, Whittaker, & Simmons, 2016), the topic of recruitment deception is not explicitly theorized. ...
... In view of this, disclosure-based enforcement models (Harris & Nolan, 2022), or "employer pays recruitment models" (Low, 2020) are proposed as potential solutions as well as codes of conduct, social audits, and certification schemes. Several scholars have commented, however, that, given that these models are often self-regulatory, these measures are insufficient and ineffective (Alamgir & Banerjee, 2019;Barrientos, 2008;Christ & Helliar, 2021;Crane, 2013;New, 2015;Stevenson & Cole, 2018). LeBaron (2021), for example, found that certification schemes rarely prevent the incidence of forced labor by showing that the difference in labor conditions between certified and noncertified tea plantations is negligible. ...
... Modern slavery mitigation practices encompass detection and remediation practices, such as social auditing, human rights diligence, grievance mechanisms, and whistleblowing. Stevenson and Cole, 2018;Stevenson, 2021;Gold et al., 2015;New, 2015) Diffusion ...
... Jiang (2009) argues that long-term contracts are insufficient to ensure compliance with corporate codes of conduct, and a topdown market approach to auditing non-compliance is no longer practical (New, 2015). Instead, a more collaborative model is needed to establish a multistakeholder network for orchestrating and disseminating knowledge, thereby promoting a developmental approach to leveraging collective action through monitoring and training (Benstead et al., 2021;Lund-Thomsen and Lindgreen, 2014). ...
Networks emerge as a social conduit to facilitate the transformation of supply chains and shape business decisions to address modern slavery risks. However, the coordination and mobilization of modern slavery mitigation practices in the global supply chain networks have remained elusive. This article explores how network orchestration contributes to the diffusion of modern slavery mitigation practices in global supply chains. Our conceptual framework suggests that network conversion, network metamorphosis, and network innovation orchestrate their network influence in diffusing modern slavery mitigation practices. At the same time, stakeholder salience catalyzes the transformation process and enacts radical changes within the supply chain. We extend the current debates by arguing that knowledge mobility and polycentric governance underscore the network orchestration process, and these network properties are interdependent and evolve along the modern slavery mitigation trajectory. Regarding managerial implications, we provide the foundation to promulgate social sustainability and risk mitigation strategies through a supply chain network while advancing a worker-centric approach to eradicate modern slavery.
... This approach complements and extends other content analysis-based research (Christ et al., 2019;Christ & Burritt, 2023) by demonstrating the impact of MSD readability on firm value without restricting disclosure choices. 6 Secondly, our study shifts the focus from historical, philosophical and social science perspectives on modern slavery (Cousins et al., 2020;Crane, 2013;New, 2015) to its implications in the accounting and finance fields. While previous research highlights the economic and capital market effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures, our study examines MSDs which are mandatory with significant implications for capital markets. ...
... As a global problem, modern slavery is receiving much attention from various stakeholders around the world. Researchers have previously examined many aspects of modern slavery from historical, philosophical and social science perspectives (Cousins et al., 2020;Crane, 2013;New, 2015). Australia, the UK and the US have introduced regulations on modern slavery risk reporting to combat these practices, their regulations garnering much attention from researchers and contributing to a growing number of studies on the advantages and disadvantages of regulating modern slavery risk reporting. ...
... This approach complements and extends other content analysis-based research (Christ & Burritt, 2023;Christ et al., 2019) by demonstrating the impact of MSD readability on firm value without restricting disclosure choices. 7 Secondly, our study shifts the focus from historical, philosophical and social science perspectives on modern slavery (Cousins et al., 2020;Crane, 2013;New, 2015) to its implications in the accounting and finance fields. While previous research highlights the economic and capital market effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures, our study examines MSDs which are mandatory with significant implications for capital markets. ...
... As a global problem, modern slavery is receiving much attention from various stakeholders around the world. Researchers have previously examined many aspects of modern slavery from historical, philosophical and social science perspectives (Cousins et al., 2020;Crane, 2013;New, 2015). ...
This study examines the association between textual disclosure readability in modern slavery reports and firm value. Using 212 Australian modern slavery statements for the financial year 2019-2020, a positive association is found between more readable textual disclosures in modern slavery reports and firm value. The study also finds that an optimistic tone in textual disclosures and better firm-level corporate governance accentuate this impact. Further analysis shows that the informative information component of textual disclosures in modern slavery reports is positively priced by investors. Our study's findings contribute to the debate on why firms should consider improving the textual disclosure readability of modern slavery reports. The study also informs various regulators (e.g., Australian Border Force, Australian Securities and Investments Commission [ASIC], European Union [EU] and United Kingdom [UK] government agencies, etc.) and international organisations about firm-level efforts to promote high-quality reporting on the modern slavery risk.
... 'The bitter reality of the 21st century is that human beings as slaves can be purchased at US$100.00' (Christ, Rao & Burritt 2019). Thus, there have been calls for more independent SCM research on modern slavery (Gold et al. 2015;New 2015). Finding effective ways to address modern slavery is far from a simple undertaking and requires further investigation (Christ et al. 2019). ...
... Cross-regional enterprises and multinational enterprises have exposure to and higher numbers of child slavery incidences than regional enterprises. Therefore, in large enterprises, it has become increasingly common to include child slavery supervision as part of CSR (New 2015). ...
Background: Child slavery in global supply chains is a complex problem because it involves various supply chain actors, including corporations, at different tiers, and external organisations and society. Many corporate sustainability on child labour, present a unilateral perspective which renders the development of child labour measures under the leadership of many companies tardy and inefficient. Objectives: This study conducted a comprehensive investigation into child slavery in supply chains to identify the key actors that can combat child slavery in the supply chain. Method: Thematic analysis of peer-reviewed journal articles, containing the keywords; child labour; supply chain, and child slavery; used interchangeably, based on three inclusion criteria; high frequency of relevant keywords; recent publication period; and high number of citations, was conducted. Results: Four main actors and their influence on child slavery were identified namely i.). Corporations - through industrial characteristics, strategy, corporate social responsibility obligations, and internal stakeholders; ii.). Governments – through regulations, policies, and intentions to combat child slavery; iii.). Societies - through the establishment of social benchmarks and social accountability frameworks to address the social crisis; and iv.). External organisations - such as ILO, NGOs and trade unions as the dominant actors in combatting the child slavery phenomena in supply chains. Conclusion: The findings provide a nascent conceptual model for empirical work and a foundation for descriptive and normative research on child slavery in supply chains. Contribution: The study’s contribution is the assessment of the child slavery phenomenon using a multi-stakeholder perspective to gain a better understanding of the dynamics associated with child slavery.
... In the approaches they took, neither of the consortia sought to fundamentally alter the efficiency logic that New (2015) argues leads inevitably to modern slavery. The combination of upstream opacity and emphasis on low-cost production combine to reinforce a dependence upon it. ...
Modern slavery is increasingly recognized as a supply chain risk to both workers and firms. Neither corporate efforts nor market‐based regulation has adequately addressed the issue. This is largely because they fail to reconcile the conflicting priorities between efficiency and anti‐slavery goals inherent in such efforts. Public sector purchasing—often conducted through meta‐organizations—offers both the scale and scope needed to change supply chain behaviors. Yet meta‐organizations and how they effect change remain underexplored and under‐theorized. Through analysis of archival material and 44 interviews with public sector buyers and purchasing consortia managers, we construct two case studies of meta‐organizations. These cases reveal rich insights into meta‐organizations' capacity both to improve public sector knowledge and compliance around modern slavery and to compel suppliers to enhance their anti‐slavery efforts. The findings show that, by adapting purchasing structures and developing expertise, and thereby hybridizing the logics of efficiency and anti‐slavery, purchasing consortia can embed accountability within and beyond the bounds of their memberships. The study contributes to theories of meta‐organizations and institutional logics in the context of supply chain management and to policy and practice on modern slavery in supply chains.
... Moreover, the definitions, constructs, and measures for socially responsible procurement are underdeveloped compared to the environmental ones, as social issues are harder to quantify (Walker et al. 2012). However, addressing social problems, such as workers' basic needs for health, safety, and fair treatment, is gaining importance as firms increasingly prioritize these concerns in their supply chains (Bateman et al. 2021;Geng et al. 2022;Lozano 2008;New 2015). ...
Firms face increased scrutiny from both governments and consumers about socially responsible practices. Firms may address social issues in their supply chains by selecting socially responsible suppliers—a decision heavily influenced by the preferences of purchasing managers. Although prior research provides empirical evidence that this decision is affected by different stakeholders, these results are usually at the firm level and do not reveal how a purchasing manager forms their preference towards socially responsible suppliers. This study, using social projection theory and a behavioral experiment with supply chain managers, studies the influence of purchasing managers' perception of top management beliefs (PTMB) on socially responsible sourcing intentions (SRSS). Purchasing managers’ internal values (ISI) strongly shape their PTMB, both directly and indirectly influencing purchasing managers’ SRSS, while external pressures from suppliers and customers (EPSP) impact SRSS indirectly through PTMB. Regulatory pressure (RP), however, shows no effect on PTMB. A post hoc analysis reveals that purchasing managers with high ISI favored sustainable suppliers, even when organizational priorities indicated by TMA are not about socially responsible sourcing. Our findings provide a nomological network explaining a manager’s responsible sourcing decisions and provides guidance for firms to enhance their responsible sourcing.
... Aligned with this attention, the risk of modern slavery often extends beyond the "visibility boundary" of focal firms to include actors who may be hiding labor exploitation (Caruana et al., 2021;Dreier and Luce, 2023). As an important addition, modern slavery reinforces consideration of the labor supply chain that operates in the background (New, 2015), pointing to deceptive recruitment from vulnerable labor pools and techniques for ensuring their continued exploitation through coercive control (Fletcher and Trautrims, 2024). ...
Using sociotechnical systems (STS) theory, this article offers a critical perspective on how the interplay between social and technical systems in supply chains can be leveraged to gain valuable insights into addressing risks related to modern slavery. It elaborates on the complex recursive interactions among various elements of STS, shedding light on the emergence, perpetuation, and diffusion of modern slavery, as well as the sociotechnical interventions available within supply chains. We develop a framework that conceptualizes the risk of modern slavery as the outcome of interactions among multiple systems, providing guidance for future research, policy development, and managerial strategies to address this pressing societal challenge. Importantly, multistakeholder initiatives, combining innovative approaches to both social and technical governance, are expected to play a crucial role in mitigating modern slavery risks.
... Ten years later, the 2023 Global Slavery Index estimates that this number has increased to 50 million people including 28 million in forced labour and 22 million in forced marriage (Walk Free, 2013). Modern slavery is a pervasive issue that penetrates many aspects of the global economy and has a clear relationship with globalised purchasing and consumption behaviours (New, 2015;Nolan & Boersma, 2019). In 2014, the ILO estimated that forced labour in the private economy generated US$150 billion in illegal profits each year (ILO, 2014) and more recent figures indicate that US$468 billion of G20 imports are goods at risk of modern slavery (Walk Free, 2023). ...
Modern slavery in global supply chains is attracting increased attention from states, businesses and civil society including momentum to seek a “regulatory solution” to combatting it. In 2018, Australia introduced a Modern Slavery Act which was modelled on (in part) the UK Modern Slavery Act (2015). These laws emphasise corporate disclosure as the primary means of identifying and remedying modern slavery in supply chains. Whilst these disclosure-based laws harden the expectation that business will conduct itself responsibly, they are ultimately founded on a soft approach that assumes that the transparency gained from disclosure will incentivise corporate action to address human rights risks. Two independent reviews conducted in relation to the UK Act (in 2018) and the Australian law (in 2023) recommended significant changes to improve their regulatory effectiveness, including establishing a more ambitious enforcement model and a requirement to conduct human rights due diligence. This article considers the lessons learned since the establishment of the two modern slavery regimes, it explores the role of human rights due diligence in strengthening the current regulatory regimes and the efficacy of establishing a “failure to prevent” offence to enforce due diligence compliance. Finally, it discusses the utility of states adopting a forced labour import ban as a complementary regulatory strategy to contribute to a holistic regulatory framework to address modern slavery.
... A key driver of modern slavery is othering through which those exploited by modern slavery are dehumanized (Carrington et al. 2021). Othering is rooted in the UK's lengthy history of colonialism and racial discrimination that allowed it to justify colonial exploitation in different parts of the world (Murphy 2019;Said 1978). Othering is also located in norms of recognition that create distance and result in such persons being cast aside as people whose lives are not considered worth grieving (Butler 2016). ...
... This legislation has had a profound impact on business practices in the UK. Companies have had to invest in more robust supply chain monitoring and transparency measures, fostering a culture of corporate responsibility (New 2015). However, this has also increased administrative burdens and costs, particularly for SUs and SMEs (LeBaron and Lister 2021). ...
The European Commission’s Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence, adopted in 2022 and approved in 2024, mandates that companies identify, prevent, and mitigate hostile human rights and environmental impacts across their operations and supply chains, integrating sustainability into corporate governance. This article examines the directive’s influence on European entrepreneurial activity, ecosystems, and innovation using a qualitative descriptive literature analysis, comparative frameworks, impact assessments, policy recommendations, and case studies. Findings suggest that while the directive imposes compliance challenges and costs, particularly for startups and small and medium-sized enterprises, it offers significant long-term benefits, such as improved risk management, enhanced reputation, and market differentiation. The directive promotes accountability and ethical practices, harmonizing due diligence across the EU and fostering a culture of sustainability. It concludes that companies addressing these impacts can gain a competitive edge and attract sustainability-focused investors, necessitating support mechanisms for startups and small and medium-sized enterprises to mitigate burdens and encourage compliance.
... Modern slavery is an illegal and unethical phenomenon (Crane 2013), negatively affecting the victims' physical, mental, and psychological health (Sabella 2011;Wright et al. 2020) and the reputation of the involved companies (Gold et al. 2015;Kidd and Manthorpe 2017;New 2015;Yagci Sokat and Altay 2023). Modern slavery is receiving increasing attention from scholars in different sectors, including agriculture (Davies 2019;Scaturro 2021), manufacturing (Stevenson and Cole 2018), and fishing (Stringer et al. 2022). ...
Modern slavery is an illegal and unethical phenomenon affecting more than 40 million victims worldwide, with many of them employed in construction. This article aims to investigate why modern slavery continues to exist on construction sites managed by companies that have pledged to fight it. Primary data were collected using semistructured interviews with 22 experts working in construction companies in three organization for economic co-operation and development (OECD) countries (UK, Australia, and Switzerland) and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. The construction companies were the unit of analysis, and their managers were the primary source of information. The results present the mechanisms that explain the difference between the official antimodern slavery statements of construction companies and the empirical observations on construction sites. The primary mechanisms are a lack of awareness, training, response, and responsibility, as well as alternative priorities. The results further show the role and importance of reporting cases of modern slavery in addressing it. The risk areas of modern slavery
in construction projects, which include the lower tiers of subcontracting and the supply chains of construction materials, are identified. Furthermore,
the article discusses the reasons behind the trivialization of modern slavery in construction companies: the presence of alternative priorities, the fear of reputational damage, blame-shifting, and minimizing the problem. Finally, we propose recommendations for construction companies and managers to help address modern slavery and offer areas for future research. This article presents two key novel contributions. First, we discovered a disconnection between construction companies’ official antimodern slavery statements and the reality on construction sites. Second, we identified the reasons behind this disconnection.
... Corporations must regulate themselves and develop corresponding organisational structures, helping the legal system to pinpoint modern slavery practices in the industry and institutionalise 'ethical behaviour' (Lin-Hi & Blumberg, 2017). However, research has shown that this problem transcends corporate social responsibility practices (New, 2015), calling for more collective ways or holistic approaches to solve the issue. ...
Ameliorating modern slavery in complex projects requires an industry-wide transformation moving beyond compliance to a genuine commitment from all involved stakeholders.
... Reinforcing the victim narrative was also the construction of collaborative empowerment processes that involved organisations (e.g. MNCs, NGOs, suppliers) and positioned workers as voiceless victims of a "disproportional power balance" and passive recipients of empowerment (Benstead et al., 2021;Byerly, 2012;New, 2015). ...
Purpose
Modern slavery in global value chains is an emerging topic of interest across various fields, including in international business, but is often fragmented in its approach. This study aims to provide a practical framework for studying relationships between participants in global value chains by exploring the nexus of three concepts – vulnerability, resilience and empowerment (VRE) – in the context of modern slavery.
Design/methodology/approach
This article offers a deductive thematic analysis of 51 empirical and conceptual business research studies on modern slavery in global value chains published until mid-2021 according to the three categories of interest at the micro (within individuals and organisations), meso (between individuals and organisations) and macro (structural) levels.
Findings
The findings have informed the development of three themes, each of which is an opportunity for future research with clear policy implications: a reductionist approach to vulnerability obscures its complexity; externalising the empowerment process and locating it outside of the agency of workers serves to further disempower them; and focusing exclusively on organisational resilience conceals the essentiality of resilience within individuals, communities and societies.
Originality/value
This article is among the first to extend the focus of business literature on modern slavery in global value chains beyond its current largely facile engagement with VRE, offering an original descriptive VRE typology to engage with the nexus between these three concepts.
... Modern slavery in business broadly refers to severe and illegal exploitation of workers for economic gain in operations and supply chainsforced labour, bonded labour, or extreme forms of child labour (New, 2015). Modern slavery practices include control of workers through psychological threats or actual physical violence against the victim and/or their families; financial control through debt bondage, whereby repayment of recruitment or transport costs is manipulated; and cultural and social control such as passport removal, isolation and restricting movement or contact with others (Cooper et al., 2017;ILO, 2012). ...
Purpose
Business has a critical part to play in transforming the global economy and society to achieve sustainable development. Many granular sustainability accounting and management tools have been offered. To systematize these piecemeal developments, this paper aims to develop a framework for analysis of the potential role of sustainability management accounting (SMA). The key challenge addressed is how SMA could be extended to support future-oriented, long-term, pro-active management of multiple issues to contribute towards strong sustainable development at the macro-economy level.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual paper examines SMA within a multi-level, context-action-transformation framework which can move organizations and society towards sustainability. Based on normative stakeholder theory, including concern for mainstreaming marginalized stakeholders, the paper discusses the role of SMA and how it can contribute necessary information to sustainable development of the company and beyond its boundaries.
Findings
Guided by a SMA framework linking context, action and transformation and normative stakeholder theory, which considers all stakeholders, the paper shows how the present lack of progress towards macro-level sustainable development can be addressed. This requires a focus on measuring and assessing positive impacts and forward-looking, long-term and proactive management of multiple sustainability issues as typified by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Practical implications
The paper distinguishes between two aspects of SMA – a focus on reducing unsustainability and a focus on transformations towards sustainability. It is observed that there is insufficient emphasis on the latter at present if SMA is to provide comprehensive support to achieving the SDGs. A set of supportive tools is presented as a guide to practice and future developments.
Originality/value
The paper considers how SMA can enable and support transformations towards sustainability at the macro- and meso-level. Different transformational challenges and opportunities are discussed. In particular, the need to balance consideration of time, proactivity and multiplicity, as highlighted in the SDGs, is identified as the central way forward for SMA.
... However, social atrocities in supply chains hidden under the roofs of factories and houses-such as in the form of forced domestic services-cannot be tracked by remote sensing or similar technologies, and might persist as mute islands of social distress and unlawfulness even within affluent societies. The recent debate on modern slavery in supply chains has revealed that SCM research has unduly focused on supply chains of goods and product-service-systems, thereby neglecting labor supply chains (New, 2015)-that is, the question of how exploitable (and disposable; Bales, 1999) labor is recruited. In this respect, conceptions of supply chain management are often a blunt sword when it comes to issues of human and worker rights violations and need to be sharpened (Soundararajan et al., 2021). ...
Supply chains have proven to be extremely powerful systems for generating responsiveness and efficiency in serving customers and consumers, while they promised to balance interregional inequality and foster human development around the globe. Despite selective successes of supply chains as economic powerhouses of wealth generation and consumer satisfaction, long-term collateral damage turned out to be devastating. This led to the supply chain being increasingly regarded as a broken system, a mechanism of value destruction rather than value creation. We show how global supply chains are intertwined in many ways with environmental, social and political systems. Thus, the crisis of the supply chain may cause crises in these systems, and simultaneously be driven by environmental, social and political crises. For leaving the ongoing state of crises, we discuss the power of systemic and holistic thinking as well as transformative public policy.
... It furthermore includes building institutions that are conducive to sustainable development (Hsieh, 2009). While environmental sustainability is at the heart of early concepts of SCM (e.g., Fleischmann et al., 1997), the social side of sustainability performance has traditionally been imbued by literature that extended CSR from an organizational to a supply chain level (e.g., Kortelainen, 2008;Lund-Thomsen and Lindgreen, 2014;New, 2015). ...
Purchasing is a crucial boundary-spanning function with significant operational, financial, and ethical implications for organizational success. Suppliers are key stakeholders, especially in the pursuit of sustainable and ethical business practice across (multi-tier) supply chains. Despite power imbalances, the interdependence between buyers and suppliers has increased due to the need for innovation and the recognition of supply chains as sources of shared value. Organizations conceive suppliers as enablers of cost reduction, competitive advantage, innovation, and social and environmental business conduct. The responsibility of purchasing companies stems from both economic self-interest and a commitment to the common good. However, despite the potential positive economic outcomes from proactive supplier management, buyer–supplier relationships face significant challenges.
... It furthermore includes building institutions that are conducive to sustainable development (Hsieh, 2009). While environmental sustainability is at the heart of early concepts of SCM (e.g., Fleischmann et al., 1997), the social side of sustainability performance has traditionally been imbued by literature that extended CSR from an organizational to a supply chain level (e.g., Kortelainen, 2008;Lund-Thomsen and Lindgreen, 2014;New, 2015). ...
In the current economic landscape, competition has shifted from individual companies to competition between supply chains. Supply chains serve as sources of value generation for multiple stakeholders, yet they can also contribute to harm inflicted upon vulnerable economic actors, consumers, society, and the environment. Business operations within supply chains have the potential to make significant contributions to human development and sustainability, aligning with the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. However, supply chains are often associated with exploitative working conditions for marginalized communities of workers, unsustainable institutions, depletion of non-renewable resources, and environmental degradation, which breaches planetary boundaries. Supply chain management (SCM) emerged in the 1980s as a response to increased competitive pressures, evolving from a purchasing-centric approach to a customer-focused, systemic, and collaborative management practice. This transition expanded corporate management and responsibilities beyond individual company boundaries, thereby encapsulating the complexity of SCM as a research phenomenon and paving the way for sustainable supply chain management.
... GAMBAR, GRAFIK DAN TABEL New, 2015) Pekerja anak (Crane, 2013;Johnson Jr, 2013;LeBaron, 2014;LeBaron & Rühmkorf, 2017;Quirk, 2006) -0,071*** -0,029*** 0,176*** 1.000 (0,000) (0,002) (0,000) LEV 0,045*** 0,050*** 0,018 0,056*** 1.000 (0,000) (0,000) (0,149) (0,000) BETA 0,543*** 0,008 -0,088* ** -0,035*** 0,083*** 1.000 (0,000) (0,400) (0,000) (0,000) (0,000) CAP_GDP -0,370*** -0,105*** -0.142*** 0,060*** 0,038*** 0,119*** 1.000 (0,000) (0,000) (0,000) (0,000) (0,000) (0,000) Tingkat signifikansi : *** p-value<0. 01, ** p-value<0.05, ...
Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menjelaskan bagaimana praktik pengungkapan perusahaan mengenai perbudakan modern berhubungan dengan biaya ekuitas mereka, yang merupakan faktor penting dalam membentuk strategi pembiayaan perusahaan dan persepsi investor. Penelitian ini menggali potensi implikasi pengungkapan perbudakan modern di perusahaan-perusahaan G20 terhadap biaya modal melalui biaya ekuitas, dengan menggunakan sampel sebanyak 3.108 entitas dalam 6.303 tahun data mulai dari 2015 hingga 2020. Menggunakan analisis regresi data panel dan mengambil data sekunder yang bersumber dari Eikon, temuan ini mengungkapkan tren penting: pengungkapan perbudakan modern dan biaya ekuitas memiliki hubungan negatif di antara keduanya. Hasil ini menggarisbawahi keuntungan strategis dari penerapan transparansi dalam mengatasi permasalahan perbudakan modern. Perusahaan yang mengungkapkan apa yang mereka ketahui akan memperoleh keuntungan dari biaya ekuitas yang lebih rendah dan berkontribusi pada praktik bisnis yang etis. Hal ini berarti peningkatan kinerja keuangan dan peningkatan daya tarik bagi calon investor, yang berpotensi meningkatkan profitabilitas bagi perusahaan-perusahaan tersebut. Penelitian ini memberikan kontribusi terhadap adanya pengetahuan tentang pengaruh pengungkapan perbudakan modern terhadap biaya ekuitas. Para pengambil kebijakan, investor, dan dunia usaha mungkin menganggap data ini berguna dalam memahami pentingnya pengungkapan perbudakan modern dan bagaimana hal itu mempengaruhi biaya ekuitas.
Humanity teeters on a critical precipice for future survival. Human activities especially our proliferating consumption levels are destroying our planet and increasing the misery of precarity, inequality, and exploitation of millions of people worldwide. Forced labour, modern slavery, and human trafficking are at least indecent and at worst obscene work, which takes place in fragile ecosystems facing irreversible devastation. The Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals offer a pathway for human beings to enable decent work harmonious with environmental protections – sustainable livelihoods. Sustainable business models that are embodied in organisational values, codes of conduct, and daily practice are quintessential to ensuring both people, and the planet thrives and prosper. Industrial/organisational psychologists and vocational practitioners are key actors in ensuring sustainable livelihoods as a human right, and the basic norm in the world of work.
This paper addresses the link between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the human and fundamental right to freedom from slavery: in particular, we focus on the modern slavery in global supply chains and the possibility to use AI to identify it. We analyze the slavery and its modern version, situate the AI within the human rights debate and argue that we should not only focus on how AI can violate and infringe the human rights, but also explore how AI could be useful in identifying violations and helping to combat them. We emphasize the need for inclusive datasets and stakeholder oversight and argue in support of AI to enhance transparency of international supply chains while cautioning against biases. We conclude by outlining the importance of responsible AI deployment and making a case for more regulatory efforts to protect the fundamental human right to freedom from slavery in supply chain operations. Received: 27 May 2024Accepted: 12 September 2024
Purpose: Modern slavery is a significant issue addressed in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), In 2015, the UK government introduced the Modern Slavery Act as part of a crucial broader set of initiatives that aimed to attack modern slavery. Regardless of the initiatives taken to mitigate this risk, little is known about how modern slavery disclosure (MSD) affects corporate financial performance (CFP). Hence, our study aims to examine the impact of MSD on corporate financial performance empirically. It also examines the moderating role of governance quality on the MSD-CFP nexus.
Methodology: We use computer-based content analysis to assess MSD levels for a sample of non-financial companies—annual reports. We use regression analysis to test our research hypotheses for a sample period of 2013-2019 for FTSE all shared non-financial UK firms. Our sample consisted of 786 observations.
Findings: We provide new empirical evidence that externally communicating modern slavery information in annual report narratives is associated with CFP. The finding is in line with stakeholder theory which states that engaging in social responsibility practices and responding favorably to the stakeholders’ interests and desires would enhance corporations’ reputation and ultimately improve their performance. We further highlight the role of governance quality in this nexus and find that the interaction between governance quality and MSD is negative, suggesting a replacement effect.
Originality: Our research idea is original as it links emerging global issues (e.g., MSD) with traditional corporate concerns (financial performance) in a way that is likely to provide new insights as well as managerial and policy implications.
Social/Practical Implications: Our findings can be of interest to government, policymakers and other stakeholders. Policymakers need to establish a new broader set of enforcement arrangements for MSD that may lead to better CFP.
Modern slavery is an insidious problem in many sectors of the global economy and is perceived to be a particular issue in the retail industry. However, modern slavery in retail supply chains has attracted little or no attention in the academic literature. This chapter looks to offer a small contribution to filling that gap in the research by illustrating and offering a commentary on how the UK’s leading retailers have publicly addressed modern slavery in their supply chains through their modern slavery statements. The commentary includes an outline of modern slavery and modern slavery statements, a description of the frame of reference and method of inquiry, a literature review, an exploratory review of the modern slavery statements developed by the UK’s ten leading retailers, a discussion of some of the academic and corporate implications raised by the review, and a conclusion that outlines some of the limitations of the work and suggestions for future research.
Based on Simons (Levers of control: How managers use innovative control systems to drive strategic renewal. Harvard Business School Press Books, 1995) “Levers of control” framework for management control systems, the potential role of management in ending modern slavery is examined and an agenda for future research is developed. Some managers employ, supervise, and control people in conditions of harsh exploitation, such as forced labor, extreme forms of child labor, and bonded labor. Through violence or threats of violence, and unethical practices, vulnerable people are controlled and forced to undertake work that is illegal. These workers in modern slavery conditions are not free to leave. For this reason, little is known about individual victims and their plights. However, in some jurisdictions, top-down regulations have been introduced to try and reveal the extent of modern slavery in operations and supply chains and to encourage management strategies to mitigate the appalling conditions of its victims. Nevertheless, even in countries where modern slavery is illegal and legislation has been introduced, many managers sanction and oversee the practice, driven by market pressures. This chapter argues that management control systems hold the potential for a bottom-up approach to help end modern slavery in commercial operations and supply chains. Appropriate management control systems can be tempered towards concern for avoiding the severe exploitation of people working towards corporate goals.
This chapter assesses the intricate linkage between modern slavery and sustainable business practices. It demonstrates the significance of organisations addressing modern slavery as an integral part of good sustainability practice. Modern slavery is a grave violation of human rights and not only disrupts societal harmony but also poses a significant challenge to the three pillars of sustainability—environment, economy, and society. Utilising Dutch retail giants Albert Heijn as a case study, this chapter provides essential recommendations that can help bolster an organisation’s efforts to eliminate modern slavery from within its operations and supply chains.
Emerging literature explores Modern Slavery (MS) implications for businesses, yet corporate actors’ understanding of MS risks and their role in risk mitigation remains under-studied. This paper explores how event sector stakeholders perceive and address MS risks, including human trafficking, labour and sexual exploitation, by analysing the conception of problems and solutions in relation to MS. Using narrative analysis, the paper explores event companies’ reporting under the UK Modern Slavery Act (2015) to gain a better understanding of how reporting can drive change in business practice, especially given the regulatory framework’s limitations of defining precise reporting requirements. Findings show that risk management and mitigation generally translate into staff training, whistleblowing, (internal) auditing, and often a zero-tolerance approach. The paper enables a deeper understanding of businesses’ process of reporting standards and performance measurement. It theorises corporate transparency and responsibility and outlines the practical implications of the limits of transparency and responsibility attribution.
Vulnerability to modern slavery in Indonesia, particularly driven by poverty and discrimination against minority groups, has become a primary concern in the context of information transparency. This study aims to investigate the factors that can support the reporting quality of modern slavery in Indonesia, namely the industry sector, profitability, social responsibility commitment, and gender diversity as the moderating variable. The research utilized a sample of 225 companies listed on the Indonesia stock exchange (IDX) from 2020 to 2022. Data were collected from financial reports and sustainability reports as well as the Refinitiv Eikon database. Panel data regression analysis was conducted to analyze the determinants of the disclosure quality. The research findings indicate that high‐risk industry sectors tend to disclose less information regarding modern slavery, with this outcome having a partially negative impact. However, profitability is not associated with the quality of voluntary modern slavery disclosure. In contrast, corporate responsibility commitment is positively associated. Additionally, this study reveals that gender diversity does not moderate the association between the industry sector, profitability, and corporate responsibility commitment with the disclosure quality of modern slavery. This research contributes to the growing literature on the accountability of modern slavery in an emerging country context through institutional theory and gender socialization theory lenses by identifying the firm‐level factors to enhance corporate disclosure in this area. This study also contributes to corporate understanding of modern slavery issues within supply chains. With growing attention to this problem, the awareness of labor exploitation within corporate supply chains is also increasing. The findings of this research can assist companies in recognizing the importance of transparency and voluntary disclosure regarding modern slavery in their supply chains.
Purpose
Even though extant research highlights the crucial role some stakeholders play in helping corporations understand, manage and mitigate the occurrence of modern slavery in their supply chains and operations, there is a fundamental lack of understanding of all the relevant stakeholder groups and the specific roles they play. By adopting a stakeholder theory approach, this study aims to identify all the key stakeholders and their associated roles towards supporting corporations’ modern slavery monitoring, detection and disclosure activities.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review was conducted by following the PRISMA guidelines. Relevant literature included scholarly work focusing on the identification of key stakeholders and the roles they play in enabling corporations’ modern slavery monitoring, detection and disclosure activities.
Findings
Nine stakeholder groups and their roles were identified, such as governments, workers, IGOs, NGOs and suppliers. Examples of performed activities include conducting audits, providing training, monitoring occurrences of modern slavery, enforcing regulations, reporting on labour issues and evaluating corporations’ modern slavery reports.
Practical implications
A comprehensive understanding of key stakeholders and their roles enables better collaboration towards achieving transparency within corporations’ supply chains and operations. Other stakeholders can leverage these findings to enhance modern slavery reporting activities.
Social implications
Clarity regarding key stakeholders and their roles may improve quality and quantity of reported modern slavery information, enhancing corporations’ public accountability.
Originality/value
This study adopts a stakeholder theory approach to provide a comprehensive understanding of key stakeholders and their roles in enhancing corporations’ modern slavery reporting activities.
This paper aims to understand the level of awareness about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals among supply chain leaders. Further, it explores how organisations’ social sustainability policies can help achieve sustainable development goals. The multi-stage process involves a structured survey of supply chain management leaders from the auto ancillary industry of the National Capital Region of India, and data was analysed using econometric tools for meaningful insights. The significant findings from the study highlight that there is a considerable lack of awareness among supply chain leaders about the Sustainable Development Goals defined by the United Nations. However, supply chain leaders make policies that influence social sustainability positively; they do not link it with sustainable development goals. The study reveals that leaders were unanimous on improving and adopting socially sustainable measures for creating efficient supply chains. This is one of the first studies that investigated the relationships between sustainable supply chain management and sustainable development goals laid down by the United Nations.
Modern slavery arises in global supply chains because MNEs do not exert their power in defence of labour. Current legislative innovations seek to compel MNEs to do so by imposing a duty to intercede between labour and exploitative third-party employers. This creates an apparent policy dissonance: on one hand modern slavery and business and human rights law insist that corporations exert their market power over third parties, while, on the other, competition law (antitrust) proscribes the use of market power over third parties. Although the aims of these bodies of law appear very different, they are united to the extent that both seek to protect labour from indignity. This suggests a hitherto unexplored inspiration for addressing modern slavery resides in principles underpinning antitrust. The problems confronted by antitrust arise from dysfunctional economic coordination, and in this chapter modern slavery is construed as the legal challenge of the same variety. Elaboration of the parallels between antitrust and modern slavery law suggests alternative global governance pathways to realise SDG 8.7.
A recurring conundrum lies at the heart of current anti-trafficking law and policy. Despite enormous efforts by civil society organizations, corporations, and governments to reduce human trafficking in supply chains, and the introduction of legislation in various countries that requires corporations to take active actions in this field, there is wide agreement that, so far, the desired change has not occurred. This article addresses this puzzle through studying the vibrant anti-trafficking activity in the UK construction sector that emerged following the enactment of the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 (MSA). Applying socio-legal methods, the article unpacks the structural dynamics that shape the implementation of the MSA in the construction sector. We find that the Act exacerbates the imbalanced power relations between firms and anti-trafficking initiatives, positioning the latter as suppliers of modern slavery risk solutions that are dependent on corporate will and funding. The article demonstrates that anti-trafficking initiatives in the construction sector largely follow a “supply chain logic” that significantly limits their capacities to transform corporate behavior. We develop the notion of “anti-trafficking chains” to describe the dynamics of anti-trafficking activities in supply chains and to problematize the entanglement of anti-trafficking actors in supply chain power structure and logic.
Purpose
The paper explores the notion of worker voice in terms of its implications for supply chain justice. The paper proposes the value of the recognition perspective on social justice for framing workers’ experiences in global supply chains and identifies opportunities for the advancement of the worker voice agenda with recognition justice in mind.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper adopts a conceptual approach to explore the notion of worker voice in supply chains in terms of the recognition perspective on social justice.
Findings
Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) scholarship has considered worker voice in terms of two key paradigms, which we term communication and representation . To address recognition justice for workers in global supply chains, the worker voice agenda must consider designing worker voice mechanisms to close recognition gaps for workers with marginalised identities; the shared responsibilities of supply chain actors to listen alongside the expectation of workers to use their voice; and the expansion of the concept of worker voice to cut across home-work boundaries.
Originality/value
The paper offers conceptual clarity on the emerging notion of worker voice in SSCM and is the first to interrogate the implications of recognition justice for the emergent worker voice agenda. It articulates key opportunities for future research to further operationalise worker voice upon a recognition foundation.
Problem definition: The meaning of life must surely be more about well-being than wealth, but what does that have to do with operations? Well-being encompasses a lot: Are we happy as individuals? Are groups treated fairly? Is society sustainable? Operations management has many impacts on well-being at each of these levels, some more obvious than others. Methodology/results: This MSOM Fellow forum article offers a wide-ranging exploration of linkages between operations and well-being. It organizes “operations” into five broad areas: pace and productivity, predictability and probability, process and prevention, performance and payment, and pollution and protection. For each of those, it explores what makes individuals (un)happy, what is fair, and what is sustainable. Managerial implications: It concludes with 7 recurrent themes for research in Operations Management.
'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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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
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.
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.
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.
In recent years, Supply Chain Management has gained greater attention from academics and managers concerned to improve process efficiencies; and take best advantage of information technology and inter-organizational networks and relationships. This book brings together leading experts to provide a reference point for developments and issues in the area.
In recent years, Supply Chain Management has gained greater attention from academics and managers concerned to improve process efficiencies; and take best advantage of information technology and inter-organizational networks and relationships. This book brings together leading experts to provide a reference point for developments and issues in the area.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In seeking to understand relationships between smaller suppliers and larger customers, there is a growing interest in examining the characteristics of asymmetry in relationships. However, there is a paucity of research that looks at the consequences of size asymmetry for smaller suppliers. Building on IMP (Industrial Marketing and Purchasing Group) research, this paper presents a typology for analysing the consequences of size asymmetry in customer–supplier relationships from the smaller supplier's perspective. The paper reports on the findings from a study involving a total of 48 interviews and eight in-depth case studies of suppliers in the UK textile industry involved in relationships with larger customers. The findings from the study show that the consequences of size asymmetry may vary widely across different relationship characteristics, with both positive and negative outcomes for suppliers. The implications of these findings are that suppliers may take advantage of the positive and constructive consequences of size asymmetry to capitalise on developing their current relationships with customers. In addition, by focusing on the positive consequences of size asymmetry, suppliers may develop the confidence and assurance to develop constructive and more balanced new customer relationships. The paper concludes by identifying the managerial implications for the development of opportunities and customer relationship options for suppliers in asymmetric relationships and proposes that it is important for suppliers to have an assessment instrument to identify the extent of asymmetry or symmetry across their customer relationships.
Explains some of the thinking that informs both the case study articles that appear in the same issue of Supply Chain Management: An International Journal and the EPSRC funded research project currently being undertaken at the Centre for Business Strategy and Procurement. A review is provided of the dominant ideas that currently inform “supply chain management thinking”. This paradigm is characterised as operational effectiveness and efficiency. A case is made for understanding supply chains from a strategic as well as from an operational perspective. Current supply chain management thinking is criticised for being atheoretical and descriptive, and a case is made for an analytical approach to supply chain thinking based around the concepts of power and value appropriation. A more analytically robust way of understanding supply chains is laid out.