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Neither Global Nor Standard: Corporate Strategies in the New Era of Labor Standards

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  • Susan Christopherson

    (Department of City and Regional Planning, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, NY 14853, USA)

  • Nathan Lillie

    (School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York NY, 14853, USA)

Abstract

Two multinational retail firms, IKEA and Wal-Mart, illuminate the implications of a new era of labor standards—focused on the transnational firm. Global labor standards are increasingly enforced through transnational corporation (TNC) adherence to voluntary codes rather than through national labor regulation. Nonetheless, privatized labor-standards regimes within TNCs continue to be influenced by the national market governance framework in the TNC country of origin. Although, in principle, labor standards are arrived at through global political processes, in practice they are applied in conjunction with TNC production and marketing strategies. The way in which corporate objectives intersect with labor practices is different from one TNC to another, depending in large part on political and regulatory influences in the country of origin of a particular TNC.

Suggested Citation

  • Susan Christopherson & Nathan Lillie, 2005. "Neither Global Nor Standard: Corporate Strategies in the New Era of Labor Standards," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(11), pages 1919-1938, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:37:y:2005:i:11:p:1919-1938
    DOI: 10.1068/a3789
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. repec:ilo:ilowps:453989 is not listed on IDEAS
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    4. Roger Leonard Burritt & Katherine Leanne Christ & Hussain Gulzar Rammal & Stefan Schaltegger, 2020. "Multinational Enterprise Strategies for Addressing Sustainability: the Need for Consolidation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 164(2), pages 389-410, June.
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    6. Muhammad Islam & Craig Deegan, 2010. "Media pressures and corporate disclosure of social responsibility performance information: A study of two global clothing and sports retail companies," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(2), pages 131-148.
    7. Islam, Muhammad Azizul & McPhail, Ken, 2011. "Regulating for corporate human rights abuses: The emergence of corporate reporting on the ILO's human rights standards within the global garment manufacturing and retail industry," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 22(8), pages 790-810.
    8. Patsy Perry & Steve Wood & John Fernie, 2015. "Corporate Social Responsibility in Garment Sourcing Networks: Factory Management Perspectives on Ethical Trade in Sri Lanka," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(3), pages 737-752, September.
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