Electronics suppliers in China have fewer environmental and labor violations when they face more regulatory scrutiny or are trained in lean management.
Unauthorized subcontracting in apparel factories occurs more frequently when previous orders were subcontracted, buyers exert pricing pressure, a brand is not well known, and lead times are longer.
Six factors improve working conditions in global supply chain factories, and six design elements lead to more accurate and comprehensive audits of working conditions.
Multinational corporations can act as guarantors, enforcers, and capacity-builders when it comes to the implementation of worker participation committees in their supplier factories.
Providing transparency to reveal a company’s internal social/environmental responsibility practices can increase sales more so than providing transparency about its external responsibility initiatives.
This study finds no evidence that improving compensation and health & safety heightens risk of plant closure – and that improving compensation may actually increase plant survival.
Buyers monitor and try to improve their suppliers’ labor standards via auditing, capacity building, and government advocacy. What are the tradeoffs – and how can each method be deployed more effectively?
Suppliers improve working conditions more after pre-announced audits conducted by highly-trained auditors, and when they—or their buyers —face greater exposé risk for problematic supply chain working conditions.
Making factories’ audit results publicly available in Cambodia increased compliance with some aspects of labor standards including emergency preparedness and paying bonus compensation.
Strengthening worker voice and incorporating worker feedback into supplier remediation plans led to improvements in other labor standard compliance areas including worker safety, wage practices, and training programs.
