Why do corporate codes of conduct fail? Women workers and clothing supply chains in Vietnam
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12688291 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Dong Hoang (0000-0003-4466-6296, University of Bath, corresponding author), Bryn Jones (0000-0001-9296-367X, University of Bath, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 67-85 |
| Publication date | 2012-04-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Global Social Policy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1468-0181 • E-ISSN: 1741-2803 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1468018111431757 |
| OpenAlex | W2115040366 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 35 |
Despite criticisms of their derivation and implementation, corporate codes of conduct (CoCs) continue to dominate debates on Corporate Social Responsibility and the informal regulation of worker exploitation and abuse by ‘sweatshops’ supplying northern multinational corporations (MNCs). Through analytical interrogation of existing literature and empirical evidence from Vietnamese case studies, two propositions are made to clarify the poor performance of CoCs. It is argued, firstly, that the extent of the control of MNCs over their subcontracting suppliers is misconceived and over-estimated because supply chains function more like networks than the hierarchies assumed by ‘principal-agent’ preconceptions. Conceptualizing such relationships instead as networks of conflicting political and economic imperatives amongst various sets of actors generates a second proposition derived from our case studies. The factory workers, their subcontractor employers, intermediary vendors and even the MNCs seeking CoC commitments, have convergent interests in violating key aspects of the codes and deceiving their auditors. The analysis evaluates the residual value of CoCs in light of these constraints and the options for improving labour regulation, with particular reference to the plight of disadvantaged women workers
Business · Disadvantaged · Economic growth · Economics · Industrial organization · Multinational corporation · Political science · Politics · Value (mathematics · Global trade, sustainability, and social impact · Innovation and Socioeconomic Development · International Labor and Employment Law · Law
Sustainability Standards
The portrayal of effectiveness of supplier codes of conduct in improving labor conditions in global supply chains
Global production, CSR and human rights
Labour Standards in the Global Supply Chain
Upholding labour standards through corporate social responsibility policies in China
Labour Networks under Supply Chain Capitalism
The politics of pro-worker reforms
Global Value Chains in a Postcrisis World
The Private Regulation of Global Corporate Conduct
The Impact of the State on Workers' Conditions—Comparing Taiwanese Factories in China and Vietnam
Threads of Labour
Citizens, Partners or Patrons? Corporate Power and Patronage Capitalism
A China Paradox
Safeguarding corporate social responsibility (CSR) in global supply chains
Too Weak for the Job
Garment exports from Vietnam
The governance of global value chains
Columbia Journal of Transnational Law
The Market for Virtue
Women Working Worldwide
| Citations per year | 0.64 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2015 - 2024 (10) |
| Highly cited | No |