Abstract
Over the last few decades rapid advances in processes to collect, monitor, disclose, and disseminate information have contributed towards the development of entirely new modes of sustainability governance for global commodity supply chains. However, there has been very little critical appraisal of the contribution made by different transparency initiatives to sustainability and the ways in which they can (and cannot) influence new governance arrangements. Here we seek to strengthen the theoretical underpinning of research and action on supply chain transparency by addressing four questions: (1) What is meant by supply chain transparency? (2) What is the relevance of supply chain transparency to supply chain sustainability governance? (3) What is the current status of supply chain transparency, and what are the strengths and weaknesses of existing initiatives? and (4) What propositions can be advanced for how transparency can have a positive transformative effect on the governance interventions that seek to strengthen sustainability outcomes? We use examples from agricultural supply chains and the zero-deforestation agenda as a focus of our analysis but draw insights that are relevant to the transparency and sustainability of supply chains in general. We propose a typology to distinguish among types of supply chain information that are needed to support improvements in sustainability governance, and illustrate a number of major shortfalls and systematic biases in existing information systems. We also propose a set of ten propositions that, taken together, serve to expose some of the potential pitfalls and undesirable outcomes that may result from (inevitably) limited or poorly designed transparency systems, whilst offering guidance on some of the ways in which greater transparency can make a more effective, lasting and positive contribution to sustainability.
Highlights
International commodity trade is becoming the mainstay of many of the world’s economies
We seek to strengthen the theoretical underpinning of research and action on supply chain transparency by addressing four questions: (1) What is meant by supply chain transparency? (2) What is the relevance of supply chain transparency to supply chain sustainability governance? (3) What is the current status of supply chain transparency, and what are the strengths and weaknesses of existing initiatives? and (4) What propositions can be advanced for how transparency can have a positive transformative effect on the governance interventions that seek to strengthen sustainability outcomes? We use examples from agricultural supply chains and the zerodeforestation agenda as a focus of our analysis but draw insights that are relevant to the transparency and sustainability of supply chains in general
The aim of this paper is to address these knowledge gaps through four questions that are used to structure the following sections: (1) What is meant by supply chain transparency? (2) What is the relevance of supply chain transparency to supply chain sustainability governance? (3) What is the current status of supply chain transparency, and what are the strengths and weaknesses of existing initiatives? and (4) Based on experiences to date and the current literature, what propositions can be advanced for how transparency can have a positive, transformative effect on the governance interventions that seek to strengthen sustainability outcomes?
Summary
International commodity trade is becoming the mainstay of many of the world’s economies. There is growing recognition of the need for actors involved in every step of global supply chains, and producers and consumers, to share the responsibility of placing production systems on a more sustainable footing. The inherent complexity of global supply chains has undoubtedly played a central role in masking questionable and unsustainable production practices (Zyglidopoulos & Flemming, 2011) This same lack of transparency has confounded efforts to assess the effectiveness of sustainability commitments made by global actors. Increased public transparency is expected to help rebalance deeply entrenched asymmetries in who has access to information about the origin and impacts of traded commodities, helping to empower vulnerable and concerned actors in both producer and consumer economies (Hall-Matthews & Irby, 2016; Mol, 2010). We build our analysis primarily on examples from agricultural supply chains and the zero-deforestation agenda, but draw wider lessons for transparency and the sustainability governance of commodity supply chains in general
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