Rising above Sweatshops: Innovative Approaches to Global Labor Challenges

Abstract

Journal of International Business Studies (2005) 36, 246–249. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400130 In a world of organizationally disaggregated but global supply chains, the responsibility of consumers and upstream distributors for the lower end of their product chain has increasingly captured the minds of the interested public as well as corporate executives. Multinational enterprises are under pressure to increase the labor, health, and environmental standards in not only their operations abroad but also in the operations of their suppliers and subsuppliers. However, there is no clear guidance for well-meaning managers about what constitutes good labor practice and how it should be implemented. Hartman, Arnold and Wokutch aim to fill this gap and present the state of the art of the scholarly debate on international labor issue and provide case studies of companies that have taken innovative initiatives that may serve as best practice for others wishing to raise their labor standards, and thus their corporate reputation. The focus of the book is on actions initiated at corporate headquarters, and on global management practices that may amend the conditions faced by those at the bottom of the supply chain. The editors have succeeded in tying together the current state of the debate, and providing ideas and management tools for corporate executives. Following the editors’ introduction, Jill Murray sets the stage with an excellent summary of the key arguments in the sweatshop debate, and the evolution of the debate in recent years. This chapter on its own provides good introductory reading for students of international business at any level. Chapter 3 is supposed to discuss the economic context, yet Jonathan London limits himself to the interesting but somewhat narrow issue of industrial relations in developing countries. At this stage, I would have liked a critical discussion of two propositions frequently advanced by economists: ‘managers social responsibility is to serve shareholders – which eventually will be best for all’, and ‘sweatshops are good for economic development – see how Taiwan and Korea progressed over the past 30 years. In consequence, economists would often take an instrumental view of ethics, that is, higher labor standards are good if they directly (e.g., via increased productivity) or indirectly (e.g., via reputation effects) benefit the company’s share value. The contributors to this volume Journal of International Business Studies (2005) 36, 246–249 & 2005 Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. All rights reserved 0047-2506 $30.00