Non Sibi, Sed Omnibus: Influence of Supplier Collective Behaviour on Corporate Social Responsibility in the Bangladeshi Apparel Supply Chain

Enrico Fontana,Niklas Egels-Zandén

doi:10.1007/s10551-018-3828-z

Abstract

Local supplier corporate social responsibility (CSR) in developing countries represents a powerful tool to improve labour conditions. This paper pursues an inter-organizational network approach to the global value chain (GVC) literature to understand the influence of suppliers’ collective behaviour on their CSR engagement. This exploratory study of 30 export-oriented and first-tier apparel suppliers in Bangladesh, a developing country, makes three relevant contributions to GVC scholarship. First, we show that suppliers are interlinked in a horizontal network that restricts unilateral CSR engagement. This is justified in that unilateral CSR engagement is a source of heterogeneity in labour practices; consequently, it triggers worker unrest. Second, we present and discuss an exploratory framework based on four scenarios of how suppliers currently engage in CSR given their network’s pressure toward collective behaviour: unofficial CSR engagement, geographic isolation, size and competitive differentiation, and external pressure. Finally, we show the need to spread CSR homogeneously among suppliers and to reconceptualize the meaning of CSR in developing countries, encouraging more scrutiny toward horizontal dynamics.

Highlights

The literature highlights multiple drivers behind corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement in global value chains (GVCs) (e.g. Gereffi et al 2005; Lund-Thomsen and Lindgreen 2014), poor labour conditions in developing countries remain a major concern (Brammer et al 2011)
Our findings show that suppliers engage in CSR in Bangladesh when driven by buyers and/or industry associations (BGMEA and/or Bangladesh Knit Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA))
Our paper extends the scrutiny of CSR engagement in the GVC literature by detailing an in-depth and horizontal study of suppliers’ collective behaviour on CSR engagement in the Bangladeshi apparel industry

Summary

Introduction

The literature highlights multiple drivers behind corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement in global value chains (GVCs) (e.g. Gereffi et al 2005; Lund-Thomsen and Lindgreen 2014), poor labour conditions in developing countries remain a major concern (Brammer et al 2011). In particular, play a pivotal role in improving labour conditions through their own CSR (Perez-Batres et al 2012; Reed 2002; Yawar and Seuring 2017). This is thanks to their ability to aggregate capital (Naeem and Welford 2009; Welford and Frost 2006), and to replace, or complement, weak local or national governments (Mair et al 2012; Rahim 2017; Visser 2008). This lack of scrutiny is problematic, since such horizontal influence is increasingly recognized as central to understanding labour conditions in GVCs (Lund-Thomsen and Coe 2015; Niforou 2015)

Methods

Results

Conclusion