Stories of Fashion, Textiles, and Place follows the journeys of five companies with evolving sustainable supply chains in the fashion and textile industry. Each of the profiled companies are committed to advancing cultural traditions of a particular place. They value, honor, and are all deeply rooted in the geography, culture, and people of a specific location and their success is attributable to their connection to that place. With this shared value, their unique stories highlight the conditions, risks, strategies, and successes in creating and maintaining sustainable supply chains for ready-to-wear and home fashions. The companies include: -Imperial Stock Ranch and Shaniko Wool Company – Oregon, USA -Angela Damman Yucatán – Yucatán, Mexico -Tonlé – Phnom Penh, Cambodia -Indigenous Designs – Highlands, Peru -Harris Tweed® – Outer Hebrides, Scotland, UK With a focus on economic, social, environmental, and cultural sustainability, and the connection between textiles and place, Burns and Carver offer personal and insightful narratives of companies addressing the challenges facing today's global fashion industry.
This PhD thesis approaches the phenomenon of supply chain governance for social sustainability in the ready-made garment industry in Bangladesh. This research is based on a study of eight large multinational corporations (e.g. clothing brands and retailers) and their ready-made garment suppliers. The purpose of this research is to understand how supply chain governance mechanisms and governance structures improve social sustainability performance when stakeholders are engaged. The study identifies four main governance systems, namely, market-based, hierarchical controlbased, collaborative multi-stakeholder-based and relational cross-sectoral-based. These governance systems are employed in the supply chain by the multinational corporations in combination with different stakeholders, such as suppliers, multi-stakeholder-initiatives, and non-government organisations. The study focuses on the challenges faced by the multinational corporations to ensure social sustainability, whilst at the same time, incorporating suppliers’ viewpoints on the consequences of different governance systems for social sustainability. This research shows the choice of governance structures from market-based, hierarchy-based, collaboration-based and relational-based depend on the cost of managing relationships with the stakeholders and potential risks of governance in a given situation. An effective governance structure for a multinational corporation in a particular context is determined by how well the structure supports governance mechanisms to reduce associated transaction risks that results from potential opportunistic behaviour of the suppliers. In this research, it is argued that governance structure provides the platform for practicing a set of governance mechanisms. The study claims that social sustainability governance incorporates three mechanisms with separate outcomes: one consists of buyer-driven control-based mechanisms which include codes of conduct, supplier assessment and monitoring, and supplier training for regular social compliance; the second consists of multi-stakeholder-based governance mechanisms for structural compliance when unexpected problems occur, for example, building collapse, electrical and fire safety risks emerge; and the third comprises cross-sectoral governance mechanisms when the multinational corporations involve with non-government organisations for social development of the garment workers and community by facilitating drinking water, health-hygiene, education, and so on. This thesis contributes to the Sustainable Supply Chain Management literature by expanding knowledge of supply chain governance through bringing an understanding of governance mechanisms, governance structures and stakeholder engagements for social sustainability. As the demand for supply chain governance for social sustainability are growing, this thesis can help responsible corporate sourcing managers to develop a deeper understanding of how supply chain governance can affect social sustainability. Denna doktorsavhandling tar sig an fenomenet leverantörsstyrning för social hållbarhet i klädindustrin i Bangladesh. Forskningen baseras på en studie av åtta stora multinationella företag, tillika återförsäljare av kläder och välkända klädmärken. Syftet med studien är att förstå hur leverantörsstyrningsmekanismer och styrstrukturer kan förbättra socialt hållbarhetsarbete när flera aktörer är engagerade och samverkar. Resultatet av studien indikerar att multinationella företag de facto engagerar sig med andra aktörer för att förbättra sin förmåga att bedriva socialt hållbarhetsarbete. Studien identifierar fyra olika typer av leverantörsstyrsystem: ett marknadsbaserat, ett hierarkiskt kontrollbaserat, ett kollaborativt multi-intressentbaserat samt ett relationellt sektorsövergripande system. Dessa styrningssystem tillämpas i leverantörskedjan av de multinationella företagen i samarbete med andra aktörer såsom leverantörer, ‘multi-intressentinitiativ’ och icke-statliga organisationer. Studien fokuserar dels på de utmaningar som föreligger för de multinationella företagen när det gäller att säkerställa social hållbarhet, dels på hur leverantörer uppfattar konsekvenserna av de olika styrningssystemen för social hållbarhet. Denna forskning visar att valet av styrstruktur, från marknadsbaserad, hierarkibaserad, kollaborativ och relationell är beroende dels av kostnaden för att hantera och upprätthålla relationer med de olika aktörerna, dels av de potentiella riskerna som föreligger i en viss situation. Vad som utgör en effektiv styrstruktur för ett multinationellt företag i en viss given kontext avgörs av hur väl strukturen stödjer styrningsmekanismer för att reducera transaktionsrisker som bottnar i ett potentiellt opportunistiskt beteende hos leverantörerna. I denna forskning argumenteras det för att struktur ger en plattform för att tillämpa ett antal styrningsmekanismer. Studien visar att styrning av social hållbarhet omfattar tre typer av mekanismer med olika utgång. En består av köparstyrda styrningsmekanismer som omfattar uppförandekoder, leverantörskontroll och leverantörsutbildning. Den andra består av multi-initiativbaserade styrningsmekanismer av hur det strukturella arbetet för att hantera oväntade problem (t.ex. bygg-, el- och brandsäkerhetsrisker) efterföljs. Det tredje omfattar sektorsövergripande styrningsmekanismer där de multinationella företagen samverkar med lokala icke-statliga organisationer i projekt som syftar till social utveckling (tillgång till rent vatten, hälso- & utbildningsinsatser, etc.) för fabriksarbetarna och det omgivande samhället. Denna avhandling bidrar till Sustainable Supply Chain Management-litteraturen då den utvidgar kunskapen om leverantörsstyrning för social hållbarhet genom en den ger en ökad förståelse för styrningsmekanismer, styrstrukturer och olika aktörers engagemang för social hållbarhet. I takt med att behovet av leverantörsstyrning för social hållbarhet ökar kan denna avhandling hjälpa ansvariga ‘corporate sourcing managers’ att utveckla en fördjupad förståelse för hur leverantörsstyrning kan påverka social hållbarhet.
This book provides insight into the potential for the market to protect and improve labour standards and working conditions in global apparel supply chains. It examines the possibilities and limitations of market approaches to securing social compliance in global manufacturing industries. It does so by tracing the historic origins of social labelling both in trade union and consumer constituencies, considering industry and consumer perspectives on the benefits and drawbacks of social labelling, comparing efforts to develop and implement labelling initiatives in various countries, and locating social labelling within contemporary debates and controversies about the implications of globalization for workers worldwide. Scholars and students of globalisation, development, corporate social responsibility, human geography, labour and industrial relations, business ethics, consumer behaviour and fashion will find its contents of relevance. CSR practitioners in the clothing and other industries will also find this useful in developing policy with respect to supply chain assurance.
This book is driven by a quest to re-regulate work to reduce informality and inequality, and promote a living wage for more people across the world. It presents the findings of a multidisciplinary study in four countries of varying wealth and development, exploring why people become trapped in precarious work. The accounts describe the impact of supply chain governance, trade agreements, internal and between-country migration, legal factors, as well as the socio-economic characteristics and outlooks of the workers. In a unique approach, the chapters describe existing labour regulation measures that have succeeded, but which have to date attracted little scholarly attention. Building on these existing innovations, the book proposes a new international labour law which would incrementally increase the wages of the poor and regulate precarious work in global supply chains.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is the premier public resource on scientific and technological developments that impact global security. Founded by Manhattan Project Scientists, the Bulletin's iconic "Doomsday Clock" stimulates solutions for a safer world.
When thinking about lowering or changing consumption to lower carbon footprints, the obvious offenders come easily to mind: petroleum and petroleum products, paper and plastic, even food. But not clothes. Although the clothing industry is the second largest polluter after agriculture, most consumers do not think of clothes as a source of environmen
The largest work ever published in the social and behavioural sciences. It contains 4000 signed articles, 15 million words of text, 90,000 bibliographic references and 150 biographical entries.
Globalization has transformed how nations, firms and workers compete in the international economy over the past half century. This book by Gary Gereffi, one of the founders of the global value chains (GVC) framework, traces the emergence of arguably the most influential approach used to analyze globalization and its impacts. It studies the conceptual foundations of GVC analysis, the twin pillars of 'governance' and 'upgrading', along with detailed case studies of China, Mexico and other emerging economies as main beneficiaries of export-oriented industrialization, and addresses potential solutions to the deleterious impact of globalization on workers and communities.
This book is designed to introduce doctoral and graduate students to the process of conducting scientific research in the social sciences, business, education, public health, and related disciplines. It is a one-stop, comprehensive, and compact source for foundational concepts in behavioral research, and can serve as a stand-alone text or as a supplement to research readings in any doctoral seminar or research methods class. This book is currently used as a research text at universities on six continents and will shortly be available in nine different languages.