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Impact pathways: "Follow the labour". the labour supply chain and its impact on decent work in product supply chains

Author

Listed:
  • Leonardo Marques

    (Audencia Business School)

  • Alice Erthal

    (FDC - Fundação Dom Cabral [Brasil] = Dom Cabral Foundation [Brazil])

  • Andrew Crane

    (University of Bath [Bath])

Abstract

To conceptualise the labour supply chain and its relationship with product supply chains. In doing so, we call for research that follows the flow of labour to advance the field of Operations and Supply Chain Management (OSCM) towards decent work in supply chains. A real-time case study of modern slavery in the wine, apple and poultry supply chains in Southern Brazil with interviews including workers, farmers, and a multitude of stakeholders. By following the flow of labour, we uncover how temporary workers are used to manage product seasonality, and the role of hidden actors such as labour providers and charities. We show that different product supply chains tend to mimic each other and share the same pool of temporary workers to ensure flexibility at low cost, while exploiting workers. For decades the OSCM field has used frameworks that follow the product to improve efficiency and traceability. Yet, labour flows across product supply chains remain untraceable. Our research calls for a dynamic perspective on labour to set the basis for an emerging research agenda on the interplay of product and labour flows in supply chains to advance decent work.

Suggested Citation

  • Leonardo Marques & Alice Erthal & Andrew Crane, 2024. "Impact pathways: "Follow the labour". the labour supply chain and its impact on decent work in product supply chains," Post-Print hal-04858090, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04858090
    DOI: 10.1108/IJOPM-06-2024-0470
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://audencia.hal.science/hal-04858090v1
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vivek Soundararajan & Miriam M. Wilhelm & Andrew Crane, 2021. "Humanizing Research on Working Conditions in Supply Chains: Building a Path to Decent Work," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 57(2), pages 3-13, April.
    2. Andrew Crane & Genevieve LeBaron & Jean Allain & Laya Behbahani, 2019. "Governance gaps in eradicating forced labor: From global to domestic supply chains," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(1), pages 86-106, March.
    3. Genevieve LeBaron, 2021. "The Role of Supply Chains in the Global Business of Forced Labour," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 57(2), pages 29-42, April.
    4. Leonardo Marques & Tingting Yan & Lee Matthews, 2020. "Knowledge Diffusion in a Global Supply Network: A Network of Practice View," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 56(1), pages 33-53, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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