Social Responsibility In Supply Chains Research Articles

СОЦІАЛЬНІ ТА ЕТИЧНІ АСПЕКТИ ГЛОБАЛЬНИХ ЛАНЦЮГІВ ПОСТАЧАННЯ: РИЗИКИ І МОЖЛИВОСТІ

The globalized nature of supply chains has brought to the forefront various social and ethical implications, demanding heightened attention from researchers, businesses, and policymakers. The article delves into the critical realm of social and ethical considerations in supply chain management, shedding light on the risks, challenges, and opportunities associated with adopting sustainable practices. The article provides the overview of global supply chains’ impact on diverse stakeholders. It explores the multifaceted nature of sustainability and social responsibility in supply chains, encompassing aspects such as labour practices, human rights, environmental responsibility, and transparency. Drawing upon recent case studies and real-world examples, the research studies the risks and challenges that arise from ethical lapses within supply chains. It examines the financial repercussions faced by companies due to reputational damage, consumer backlash, and legal penalties when labour violations, environmental harm, or other unethical practices come to light. In addition to the risks, the article explores the underlying problems and obstacles in implementing socially and ethically responsible supply chain practices. It discusses the complexities of monitoring and auditing supply chains, particularly in regions with weaker regulatory frameworks, and the potential for exploitative practices to thrive unnoticed. The text discusses the increasing demand for socially and ethically responsible prac- tices in global supply chains, driven by consumers, activists, and investors. The article emphasizes the importance of transpar- ency in supply chains to identify potential ethical issues and implement sustainable practices. By exploring the risks, challenges, and opportunities associated with ethical and socially responsible practices, this article aims to contribute to the growing body of research advocating for a more sustainable and equitable approach to supply chain management in the modern era. Overall, the research advocates for ongoing efforts to address ethical and social issues in supply chains to preserve brand value, consumer trust, and financial stability.

Impacts of Distributive Comparison Behavior on Corporate Social Responsibility in Supply Chains: The Role of Small Firms

Problem definition: In this paper, we explore how a firm’s concern about profit distribution and the size of downstream firms in supply chains affect corporate social responsibility (CSR) investment strategy. Methodology/results: In a supply chain consisting of one supplier and one manufacturer, both players decide whether to invest to reduce CSR violations, and they negotiate over a wholesale price. Distributive comparison behavior makes the manufacturer compare the profit with his equitable payoff, which is determined by the supplier’s profit. Advantageous (resp. disadvantageous) inequality occurs when the manufacturer’s profit is higher (resp. lower) than the manufacturer’s equitable payoff. We compare this supply chain to the one without distributive comparison behavior. We find that when advantageous inequality occurs, or when neither inequality occurs and the manufacturer’s sensitivity to the supplier’s profit is low, the manufacturer’s distributive comparison behavior makes the manufacturer less (resp. supplier more) likely to invest in CSR, which we call negative (resp. positive) impacts of distributive comparison behavior; otherwise, it makes the manufacturer more (resp. supplier less) likely to invest. In most cases, the weak bargaining power of the small manufacturer leads to larger positive or smaller negative impacts of distributive comparison behavior. Also, the low efficiency of the small manufacturer to reduce CSR violations leads to smaller negative impacts of distributive comparison behavior. Managerial implications: Our results show that governments and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) should investigate firms’ distributive comparison behavior in supply chains. When downstream firms show the aversion to lower (resp. higher) profits than ones from upstream firms, the measures to monitor and support upstream (resp. downstream) firms’ CSR investments should be taken to avoid CSR violations. In the supply chains with small downstream firms, extra efforts should be made to induce firms’ distributive comparison behavior.Funding: M. Wang was supported partially by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grants 71931009 and 71671023]; X. Fang is grateful for the support under a Lee Kong Chian Fellowship and Retail Centre of Excellence Research Grant; Z. Wang was supported partially by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grants 72010107002, 71671023, and 72171212]; and Y. Chen was supported partially by the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China [HKUST C6020-21GF].Supplemental Material: The e-companion is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2022.1172 .

Dynamic game of corporate social responsibility in a supply chain with competition

In the background of economic globalization, the rapid development of information technology and the individualization of customer demand make it difficult for a single enterprise to cope with the increasingly complex market competition. The traditional competition mode between enterprises is difficult to continue. Instead, it is the competition between one supply chain and another supply chain that becomes important. To obtain a sustainable competitive advantage, corporate social responsibility has gradually become the focus of supply chain management. In reality, enterprises in supply chains generally have a long-term, dynamic and stable cooperative relationship, and their corporate social responsibilities have complexity characteristics, which would change with time. Therefore, it is more practical to conduct a dynamic research on the social responsibility decision-making in competitive supply chains under the continuous time background. This study contributes a new approach to the literatures on competitive supply chains and corporate social responsibilities in supply chains by extending the static perspective to a dynamic one, so as to analyze the application of corporate social responsibilities in competitive supply chains. By constructing competition models with two two-echelon supply chains, this paper uses differential game theory to study the decision-making related to corporate social responsibility in supply chains in three situations: decentralized decision-making, centralized decision-making and combined decision-making. This paper determine and contrast the optimal price and corporate social responsibility decision-making in each situation, and analyze the impacts of corporate social responsibility, supply chain reputation and supply chain competition on supply chain revenues. Through simulation analysis, this paper find that corporate social responsibility is an effective tool to realize sustainable supply chain. The corporate social responsibility effect of the centralized supply chain is the greatest. Consumer social responsibility preference, corporate social responsibility efficiency and competition intensity are positively correlated with corporate social responsibility effort. Discount rate and CSR cost coefficient are negatively correlated with corporate social responsibility effort. Finally, some managerial implications are put forward based on the research results.

Corporate Social Responsibility in Supply Chain: Green or Greenwashing?

Perception regarding a focal firm's corporate social responsibility (CSR) depends not only on itself but also on its known suppliers. This paper provides the first empirical evidence linking CSR and supply chain information disclosure together. We uncover robust evidence that listed firms voluntarily disclose environmentally responsible suppliers while selectively not disclosing ”bad ones, effectively greenwashing their supply chain image. This selective disclosure of green suppliers is prevalent among listed firms across the world. Such corporate behavior is increasing in public awareness of climate change, decreasing in regulations on CSR information transparency. It is more salient for firms who face higher competition or care more about their brand awareness, and for firms that are more profit-driven or held more by institutional investors. Firms that greenwash supply chains observe an increase in sales and valuation, suggesting that consumers and investors do not fully take greenwashing of listed firms into account.

Incentive Decision for Supply Chain with Corporate Social Responsibility and Lag Effect

With the deepening of economic globalization and international division of labor, enterprises gradually turn to supply chain management methods that aiming at win-win cooperation. An enterprise’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) behaviors will affect the interests of other enterprises in the supply chain through transmission, diffusion, amplification, feedback, etc. Therefore, scholars are currently focusing on helping supply chain enterprises to take social responsibility. This paper takes a two-echelon supply chain as an example, which is composed of one manufacturer and one retailer. Considering the influence of lag effect on the performance level of corporate social responsibility, we discuss the optimal strategy of corporate social responsibility in supply chain under centralized and decentralized decision-making. Three incentive models are proposed to improve the implementation effect of decentralized supply chain decision. Study finds that, in real life, decentralized supply chain is more in line with the decision-making mode of supply chain participants, even though centralized decision-making has better operation effect. Under certain circumstances, the mixed contract, which is composed of advertising cooperation, cost sharing and revenue sharing, could lead to supply chain coordination. As an external stakeholder, the government’s subsidy plays a positive role in promoting the fulfillment of corporate social responsibility. Multi-subsidy performs better than single-subsidy. Although the time lag promotes the manufacturer’s social responsibility efforts and the retailer’s advertising, it somehow compromises overall profit of the supply chain. Therefore, manufacturers should try to reduce the lag effect to maintain the overall profitability of the supply chain.

Social responsibility in supply chain: bibliometric analysis and literature review

The objective of this study is to map academic publications on the subject and the intellectual knowledge contained therein, while covering past research and identifying potential future trends and paths of research in the fields of corporate social responsibility and supply chain management, identifying some of the most relevant research in this field and a selection of the latest trends according to information found in the Web of Science database. It was performed a systematic review of the literature, with a specific focus on drafting maps for visualising an underlying intellectual structure. This analysis encompasses the scope of the articles published and the annual number of citations for the period between 1900 and 2018, as registered by the Web of Science database. The main contribution of this study thus arises from identifying the main research trends in this field and the respective shortcomings and specific opportunities for future research.

Social responsibility in supply chain: bibliometric analysis and literature review

Social responsibility in supply chain: bibliometric analysis and literature review

Drivers for and Obstacles to Corporate Social Responsibility Practice in Vietnam – A Study in Small and Medium Enterprise Exporters

Based on the fact that most of factories/manufacturers failed to comply with foreign customers’ requirements for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices from the first audits, the present study aims to explore SME exporters’ understanding of CSR requirements from foreign clients, motivations and obstacles for them to practice and implement CSR. In order to tackle the research objectives, qualitative approach is chosen and in-depth interview with owners, HR/CSR managers and production managers is employed to collect data. The research scope is firms/suppliers in hardlines (non-furniture and non-apparel) section. Thematic analysis is used to analyse and categorise data from interviews. The research findings show some crucial points. Firstly, CSR requirements from clients are not correctly understood. Secondly, there are seven drivers for CSR practices which match with previous studies. Lastly, six per ten obstacles to implement CSR are new findings in the present research context. From these findings, some recommendations are proposed to improve CSR practices in SMEs.
 Keywords
 Corporate social responsibility (CSR), motivations (motives), obstacles, SMEs
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A fuzzy supplier selection model considering social responsibility in supply chain

A fuzzy supplier selection model considering social responsibility in supply chain

Corporate Social Responsibility in Supply Chains of Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises

AbstractResearch has shown that implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practice represents a considerable challenge for small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). This research conceptualises the dimensions and contingencies of CSR in SME supply chains. Drawing on institutional theory and stakeholder theory, we investigated the degree of importance and implementation of CSR practices in SMEs. A large‐scale questionnaire survey with SMEs in manufacturing sectors and panel discussions were conducted in South Korea. The findings indicate that SMEs tend to focus on explicit CSR practices that can be easily identified by their customers. Consistent with this, stakeholder and institutional pressures were valid in the performance of CSR practices, but largely biased to customers, government, and regulatory pressures. Based on institutional theory and stakeholder theory as overarching theoretical lenses, this research contributes to a fuller understanding of the dimensions of CSR practices in the supply chains from an SME perspective. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Sustainability and corporate social responsibility in supply chains: The state of research in supply chain management and business ethics journals

Sustainability has become a popular topic, not only in business research at large, but specifically in the supply chain management (SCM) discipline. In addition, the business ethics (BE) field has an extensive stream of literature focusing on supply chain topics. While some exchange of ideas can be witnessed, the two streams developed largely independently. A key purpose of this article is to examine and contrast existing research and knowledge creation, focusing on sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues in supply chains, within and across these two disciplines. The in-depth systematic literature review covers 195 articles, published in 12 peer-reviewed journals from 2007 to 2013, examining the methodological and theoretical approaches, as well as the main research focus areas. We found highly complementary research topic areas but only limited synergy and dialogue between the disciplines. The research area at large would benefit from greater integration. Based on our findings, we propose a future research agenda that connects across the disciplines and highlights key areas that would benefit from further inquiry.

Elements affecting social responsibility in supply chains

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess elements that affect social responsibility in supply chains and beyond. The elements are classified into drivers, facilitators and inhibitors. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents an assessment of supply chain management research published over the period of 2009-2013. Findings – Sixteen elements are identified and presented in a framework along with their proposed constituents. The elements capture structures and management principles of supply chains that are important for social responsibility. Research limitations/implications – The elements provide a basis to better understand how social responsibility in supply chains is related to contextual factors. The framework of elements is still only an initial step toward enhanced understanding of how the context affects social responsibility in supply chains. Practical implications – The framework may guide companies to acknowledge elements that are known to improve or deteriorate social responsibility in supply chains. Originality/value – This paper contributes to capture the state-of-the-art knowledge based upon recent research. It is also a stepping stone toward improved insights on what drives, facilitates and inhibits individuals in social responsibility.

The Process of Responsibility, Decoupling Point, and Disengagement of Moral and Social Responsibility in Supply Chains: Empirical Findings and Prescriptive Thoughts

The aim of the paper is to explore and assess the process of responsibility, decoupling point, and disengagement of moral responsibility, in combination with business sustainability (BSus) in suppl ...

Environmental and social responsibility in supply chains: The practise of choice and inter-organisational management

The general concern for the state of the environment sets requirements on strategies developed by companies to curb environmental and social impacts of their activities. One of the most notable changes in the way companies work with sustainability issues is the shift of the focus from own operations to improving the performance of supply chains. This paper aims to analyse the practise of corporate responsibility in the supply chain through the lens of two distinct but related fields of research: Global Value Chain analysis and Supply Chain Management. Using data from two empirical studies that were designed to study the practise of Swedish buyers in addressing social and environmental issues in their respective supply chains, we demonstrate that both fields offer vital insights about how companies can and do exercise environmental and social responsibility in their respective supply chains. We suggest that one can better integrate these two perspectives on governance in the supply chain by acknowledging that responsibility in the supply chain can both be exercised through choice and through inter-organisational management. We discuss role of certification schemes in this context and provide recommendations for future research.

Analysing the barriers to corporate social responsibility in supply chains: an interpretive structural modelling approach

The purpose of this paper is to identify barriers to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in supply chains and understand their mutual relationships. Interpretive structural modelling was applied to present a hierarchy-based model and identify the contextual relationships among these barriers. The research shows that not all barriers to CSR in supply chain require the same amount of attention. There exists a group of barriers that have high driving power and low dependence, requiring maximum attention, and are of strategic importance and another group that has a high dependence but low driving power. This classification will help supply chain managers to differentiate between independent and dependent variables and further help them to focus on those variables that are most important for the transformation of the supply chain in a socially responsible entity.

The evolution from corporate social responsibility to supply chain responsibility: the case of Waitrose

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the evolution from corporate social responsibility to supply chain responsibility via the examination of Waitrose, a leading UK food retailer. These two concepts differ substantially and illustrate contrasting approaches in terms of social responsibility development and application.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative case study methodology is used where managers from Waitrose and its suppliers, industry experts and representatives from professional bodies are interviewed. An observation of an ethical audit with a Waitrose supplier was also conducted.FindingsFindings show an example of good practice in the area of corporate social responsibility in the supply chain and illustrate the substantive progress that can be made in achieving supply chain responsibility. At the same time, the paper provides the specific challenges in developing from a corporate social watchdog approach to one in which the power in the chain is more balanced and where a holistic approach requires to be taken to achieve social responsibility.Originality/valueConsidering the scarcity of work examining empirically the issue of corporate social responsibility in food supply chains, this study demonstrates an evolutionary process and its stages based on an examination of Waitrose's supply chain and the corporate social responsibility approach it has taken with its suppliers. The authors also illustrate a range of key implications that need to be considered by both managers and policy makers and it provides a range of areas where further research is required.

Investigating corporate social responsibility in supply chains: a SME perspective

This paper analyzes the practices adopted and difficulties experienced by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to transfer socially responsible behaviors to suppliers that operate in developing countries. In particular, a multiple case study was conducted on five Italian socially responsible SMEs. It was found that companies use different strategies as well as diverse management systems and tools to address Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues along their supply chains (SCs). The paper is innovative mainly since few are the existing studies that investigate the CSR practices adopted by SMEs in the SC. Furthermore, it is argued that our research can be helpful to SME managers willing to deal with CSR issues along their SCs, especially when developing countries are involved.

Marketing potential of corporate social responsibility in supply chains

AbstractThis paper provides a method to assess the customer value and marketing possibilities of increasing transparency about the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of supply chains. The willingness of small firms, in this study farmers in food supply chains, to make information available about certain CSR issues is measured and compared with CSR issues about which consumers value more information. This will identify the CSR issues about which it would be appropriate for supply chains to increase their transparency. Moreover, farmers in supply chains are grouped based on the information about CSR issues that they are willing to make available and matched with consumer segments that have a need for such information. The method is demonstrated for Dutch dairy supply chains, but it can easily be adapted to other (food) supply chains. Transparency about the CSR issue ‘food safety’ has marketing potential for Dutch dairy supply chains and can be increased relatively simply. Transparency about the CSR issue ‘animal welfare’ also has good marketing potential, but increasing the transparency about animal welfare is considered difficult. Transparency about the CSR issues ‘environment’ and ‘revenues and costs’ has little marketing potential for Dutch dairy supply chains. The existence of market segments that have a need for information about certain CSR issues and that can be matched with groups of farmers willing to provide this information shows that there are marketing opportunities for product differentiation and target marketing in the Dutch dairy supply chain.

Corporate Social Responsibility in Supply Chains of Global Brands: A Boundaryless Responsibility? Clarifications, Exceptions and Implications

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasingly becoming a popular business concept in developed economies. As typical of other business concepts, it is on its way to globalization through practices and structures of the globalized capitalist world order, typified in Multinational Corporations (MNCs). However, CSR often sits uncomfortably in this capitalist world order, as MNCs are often challenged by the global reach of their supply chains and the possible irresponsible practices inherent along these chains. The possibility of irresponsible practices puts global firms under pressure to protect their brands even if it means assuming responsibilities for the practices of their suppliers. Pressure groups understand this burden on firms and try to take advantage of the situation. This article seeks to challenge the often taken-for-granted-assumption that firms should be accountable for the practices of their suppliers by espousing the moral (and sometimes legal) underpinnings of the concept of responsibility. Except where corporate control and or corporate grouping exist, it identifies the use of power as a critical factor to be considered in allocating responsibility in firm–supplier relationship; and suggests that the more powerful in this relationship has a responsibility to exert some moral influence on the weaker party. The article highlights the use of code of conducts, corporate culture, anti-pressure group campaigns, personnel training and value reorientation as possible sources of wielding positive moral influence along supply chains.

An Empirical Study of Corporate Social Responsibility in Supply Chains

Today, the use of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives to influence consumers and differentiate product offerings has become an important aspect of overall corporate strategy. The main purpose of this paper is to understand corporate social responsibility in a supply chain setting. This paper identifies dimensions of the supply chain which are important to be considered for making the whole supply chain socially responsible. Drawing upon insights from available literature on CSR and supply chain, this article reports the major findings of an empirical study. The study reported in this paper highlights the viewpoint of small and medium enterprises with regard to CSR in supply chains.