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The Growth of Private Regulation of Labor Standards in Global Supply Chains: Mission Impossible for Western Small- and Medium-Sized Firms?

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  • Jette Knudsen

Abstract

Multinational corporations (MNCs) have come under pressure to adopt private regulatory initiatives such as supplier codes of conduct in order to address poor working conditions in global supply chain factories. While a well-known literature explores drivers and outcomes of such monitoring schemes, this literature focuses mainly on large firms and has ignored the growing integration of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) into global supply chains. Furthermore, the literature on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in SMEs primarily emphasizes domestic initiatives and not global challenges. Focusing on the Business for Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI), this article examines the positions of private actors, who demand and supply private regulation as well as the positions of those firms, who are the targets of such schemes. As the BSCI has grown its membership, MNCs increasingly request that SMEs meet BSCI requirements in global supply chains even though compliance is a “mission impossible” for many smaller firms. As a result of this development, the private regulatory system is facing growing strain. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Jette Knudsen, 2013. "The Growth of Private Regulation of Labor Standards in Global Supply Chains: Mission Impossible for Western Small- and Medium-Sized Firms?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(2), pages 387-398, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:117:y:2013:i:2:p:387-398
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-012-1527-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    9. Sarosh Kuruvilla & Mingwei Liu & Chunyun Li & Wansi Chen, 2020. "Field Opacity and Practice-Outcome Decoupling: Private Regulation of Labor Standards in Global Supply Chains," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 73(4), pages 841-872, August.
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    15. Luc Fransen & Brian Burgoon & Sijeong Lim & Aseem Prakash, 2017. "From Quality Control to Labor Protection: ISO 9001 and Workplace Safety, 1993–2012," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 8, pages 66-77, May.
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