Grounded theory-based analysis of occupational health and safety management modes in supply chain by core enterprises ——evidence from China

Abstract

The implementation of occupational health and safety management in the supply chain by core enterprises is a significant step towards improving the working conditions of their suppliers. To guide core enterprises to adopt active and effective management modes, it is crucial to identify the characteristics of different management modes and classify them accordingly. This paper employs the grounded theory method to conduct an in-depth analysis of occupational health and safety management modes within the supply chain of core enterprises. This research mainly adopts semi-structured interview method. A total of 16 person-times are interviewed, and 210,000 words of in-depth interview scripts are obtained. After three coding process of the grounded theory，the evolution model of occupational health and safety management modes in supply chain by core enterprises was established. The research results indicate that core enterprises currently employ three modes of occupational health and safety management for their suppliers: defensive mode, passive mode, and strategic mode. Different modes have distinct characteristics in four dimensions of cognition, motivation, strategy and result. This research may provide strategic guidelines for core enterprises to evolve from the defensive mode to the strategic mode.