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Conflict Minerals and Supply Chain Due Diligence: An Exploratory Study of Multi-tier Supply Chains

DOI:10.1007/s10551-015-2963-z
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Hannes Hofmann
Hannes Hofmann
Hannes Hofmann
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Martin C. Schleper at University of Sussex
Martin C. Schleper
Constantin Blome at Lancaster University
Constantin Blome
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Abstract and Figures

As recently stakeholders complain about the use of conflict minerals in consumer products that are often invisible to them in final products, firms across industries implement conflict mineral management practices. Conflict minerals are those, whose systemic exploitation and trade contribute to human right violations in the country of extraction and surrounding areas. Particularly, supply chain managers in the Western world are challenged taking reasonable steps to identify and prevent risks associated with these resources due to the globally dispersed nature of supply chains and the opacity of the origin of commodities. Supply chain due diligence (SCDD) represents a holistic concept to proactively manage supply chains reducing the likelihood of the use of conflict minerals effectively. Based on an exploratory study with 27 semi-structured interviews within five European industries, we provide insights into patterns of implementation, key motivational factors, barriers and enablers, and impacts of SCDD in mineral supply chains. Our results contribute to both theory and practice as we provide first insights to SCDD practices and make recommendations for an industry-wide implementation of SCDD. Altogether, this study provides the basis for future theory testing research in the context of SCDD and conflict mineral management.
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Conflict Minerals and Supply Chain Due Diligence:
An Exploratory Study of Multi-tier Supply Chains
Hannes Hofmann
1
•Martin C. Schleper
2
•Constantin Blome
3
Received: 13 February 2015 / Accepted: 19 November 2015 / Published online: 26 November 2015
Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015
Abstract As recently stakeholders complain about the
use of conflict minerals in consumer products that are often
invisible to them in final products, firms across industries
implement conflict mineral management practices. Conflict
minerals are those, whose systemic exploitation and trade
contribute to human right violations in the country of
extraction and surrounding areas. Particularly, supply chain
managers in the Western world are challenged taking rea-
sonable steps to identify and prevent risks associated with
these resources due to the globally dispersed nature of
supply chains and the opacity of the origin of commodities.
Supply chain due diligence (SCDD) represents a holistic
concept to proactively manage supply chains reducing the
likelihood of the use of conflict minerals effectively. Based
on an exploratory study with 27 semi-structured interviews
within five European industries, we provide insights into
patterns of implementation, key motivational factors, bar-
riers and enablers, and impacts of SCDD in mineral supply
chains. Our results contribute to both theory and practice as
we provide first insights to SCDD practices and make
recommendations for an industry-wide implementation of
SCDD. Altogether, this study provides the basis for future
theory testing research in the context of SCDD and conflict
mineral management.
Keywords Exploratory case study Conflict minerals
Corporate social responsibility Dynamic capabilities
Supply chain due diligence Standards Supply chain
management
Introduction
Human rights violations and social problems are highly
prevalent in business practices despite the success story of
corporate social responsibility (CSR)
1
in the last two dec-
ades (Arnold 2010). In fact, social conflicts and human
rights abuses caused by companies are rather rule than
exception and thus, the United Nations’Working Group on
the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations
and Other Business Enterprises (2014, p. 3) recently
reported to the General Assembly an urgent need ‘‘[…]to
strengthen legal and policy frameworks to prevent and
protect against human rights abuses by business
enterprises.’’
Hannes Hofmann, Martin C. Schleper, and Constantin Blome have
contributed an equal amount to the manuscript.
&Constantin Blome
c.blome@sussex.ac.uk
1
Institute for Supply Chain Management (ISCM), EBS
Business School, EBS University for Business and Law,
Burgstraße 5, 65375 Oestrich-Winkel, Germany
2
German Graduate School of Management and Law (GGS),
Bildungscampus 2, 74076 Heilbronn, Germany
3
School of Business, Management and Economics, University
of Sussex, Jubilee Building 302, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9SL,
UK
1
Although the term is often used as a synonym and sometimes also
as an umbrella term for many related concepts such as business ethics,
corporate accountability, corporate citizenship, and corporate sus-
tainability (cp. Scherer and Palazzo 2011), in line with McWilliams
and Siegel (2001, p. 117), we define CSR as ‘‘actions that appear to
furthersome social good, beyond the interests of the firm and that
which is required by law.’’ ‘‘Social good’’ in this context does include
ethical and environmental issues, too. Moreover, we will follow the
extended notion of CSR, ‘‘political CSR,’’ as discussed within the
background section. For a detailed overview of CSR definitions see
Dahlsrud (2008).
123
J Bus Ethics (2018) 147:115–141
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2963-z
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