Ethical Sourcing And The Supply Chain

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is something that affects all companies and should be an active factor in the company’s decision making. It is something all corporations need to care about. CSR is when business’ or corporations take part in an initiative or campaign for a cause that will benefit society and/or in some way make the world a better place (Taylor, 2015). Initially, Corporate Social Responsibility started to take shape around the 1950’s, but some say that it dates all the way back to the 1800s, the idea of CSR was seen (Carroll, 2007). One may think that because it is dated so long ago, it doesn’t have an important impact today nevertheless, it is proven that Corporate Social Responsibility is a pathway for entities to self benefit as they are in the process of benefitting society.

Rangan, K., Chase, L., & Karim, S. (2015, January 1). The Truth About CSR. Harvard Business Review, 40-49.

Recently an opening of the economies of developing nations, especially China, has allowed a huge shift in outsourced production. For the most part the products of the outsourcing are destined for North American consumption, which creates interesting obstacles to the realizations of improvements predicted. Mega Bloks Inc is a Canadian example of this trend, having recently made their own foray into outsourcing to China. An examination of supply chain issues reveals the overall complexity and number of issues which could develop for a company like Mega Bloks. More specifically, for Mega Bloks issues of logistics, regulation, control (in general and specifically of quality) come to the forefront. All of these issues can individually and

During the past decades many academics strived to conceptualise a framework that explain what a global supply chain is and how it is managed. GSC is an old phenomenon as it derives from colonialism, where European countries threatened weaker populations in Asia and Africa taking advantage of their resources, but it strongly developed in contemporary times thanks to the globalisation and the enhancement of IT, resulting in the habit of firms to outsource production when they see a benefit.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR)1 has become a hot topic in boardrooms across the world. Changes in corporate value systems are being driven by pressures from different actors, including governments, consumers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and institutional investors (diagram 1). Multinational corporations (MNCs) have operations spread across the globe, relying on both foreign affiliates and arm’s-length suppliers arrayed along global supply chains, many of which encompass developing countries. What then does the growing CSR movement mean for developing country producers? The chapter addresses this

Carroll defines corporate social responsibility (CSR) encompasses the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary (philanthropic) expectations that society has of organizations at a given point in time. “Several authors have pointed to Walmart as an important emerging private actor in the transformation of lawmaking in the CSR field, referring to it as a ‘global legislator.’ They highlight how Walmart is able to use its contractual relationships to regulate behaviour among its suppliers around the globe with respect to product quality, working conditions for the suppliers’ employees, and ethical conduct” (Cedilla Torres). Walmart has a strong philanthropic responsibility,

Manufactures must understand the obstacles and challenges they face, understand their jobs to fit into larger organizational objectives (Kazmer 2014). Global challenges for the managers is to understand the process of suppliers and getting their feedback. Motivating them to exploit new manufacturing technologies and establishing close relation in work (Olausson, Magnusson and Lakemond 2009). One of the main global challenge for the manufactures is the two available outsourcing strategies. Advantages can be gained with respect to cost when domestic outsourcing option remain competitive across the globe. Understanding the challenges in domestic versus international outsourcing options and at the same time managers have the challenge in how to reach a particular decision (Pearce 2014). Another global challenge for Chinese manufactures is how to optimize their gross profits.

According to Wagner, Lutz and Wietz, “the importance for firms to communicate their social responsibility not only has risen substantially over the last few years but also continues to increase dramatically as a result of current worldwide economic conditions and the resultant skepticism of how corporate practices affect the well-being of societies”. In addition, media and technology advances allow for immediate dissemination of both positive and negative messages about a company. When company actions are different than CSR statements, the company’s image and sales suffer. I believe as result of the improved CSR statements and the Wal-Mart bribe situation, American businesses working on foreign soil will improve.

Furthermore, Walmart isn’t alone in its international influence and there are several other companies that have resources greater than many countries and there is little evidence that might suggest that this is a fleeting position in global affairs. Thus, given the influence of the corporate form in the modern international economic system, one of the most interesting ethical developments is the establishment of the discipline of corporate social responsibility (CSR). This analysis will consider how the CSR model fits with a broader global effort to

Apple. A multinational corporation and a gleaming example of success in the American dream, coming from humble beginnings in 1976 to becoming one of the world’s highest valued companies at $850bn (The Guardian, 2017). Through becoming a titan within the tech industry Apple has become instantly recognisable worldwide through innovation in computer software and consumer electronics and of course its legendary iPhone. However, the bigger Apple becomes, the more visible it is to the public and at the height of its ethical dilemmas is the 2010 Foxconn scandal. This was where Apple’s biggest supplier Foxconn Technology co ltd had eighteen workers commit suicide and another three killed in a work accident (Huffington Post, 2012) causing a 5% drop in Apple’s stock price after a massive public outcry. Following the scandal Apple began to take the social responsibility seriously and introduced their supplier responsibly guidelines to guard those in their globalised supply chain. However, how effective have these measures been?

However, modern theory known as corporate social responsibility (CSR), has complicated the situation in that stating that companies are not only responsible to its shareholders, but also to the stakeholders which its actions may impact (Freeman 1984). While this may seem to contradict the mantra of profit maximisation, Russo and Perrini (2010) suggest that in today’s conscience-minded society, success is based not only on maximising profit but also on a corporation’s stakeholder relationships, which include social and environmental issues.

Multinational corporations have operations in multiple countries which in turn brings together many cultures. Saying a multinational corporation has no moral or social responsibility to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs goes against what a company should strive to be. In recent years, firms have undertaken corporate social responsibility programs due to pressure from their stakeholders as well as their shareholders (McWilliams & Siegel, 2000). If a company does not believe they have to be morally and socially responsible, that company will not be around long.

One notable example of an organization that adopts significant CSR initiatives from a developed country is Starbucks which is an American multinational corporation. On the other hand, a considerable example of a company with significant CSR from a developing country is China Mobile which is still in its global expansion stage. The China mobile company is a Chinese multinational corporation. The two different companies offer an effective platform for comparing the CSR understanding and initiatives of different organizations from the developed world and from developing countries. What makes the examples even more effective is the fact that the two companies are different stages of development in the global business environment. This makes it

ABSTRACT. Although a number of studies have shown that corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities often lead to greater organisational performance in western developed economies, researchers are yet to examine the strategic value of CSR in emerging economies. Using survey data from 280 firms operating in Dubai, this study examines the link between CSR activities and organisational performance. The results show that CSR has a positive relationship with all

As the globalization are happening faster and the scale is more worldwide and intensive, international business is more the concerned subjects for a lot of researches. And among factors that related to that field, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is considering as a very essential and key feature in doing business internationally (Werther & Chandler, 2005). Therefore, there are numerous and wide range of studies in associated with defining CSR, figuring out the relationship between CSR and organization performance, etc. Moreover, while applying CSR as a phenomenon or as an integral part of operations, overestimate or misunderstanding of CSR is one of the significant problem (Blomgren, 2010). My paper aim at conducting a fairly depth understanding of CSR in form of four main points: 1. Definition of CSR, 2.The effects of CSR on International Business, 3. Different perspective toward CSR, 5. Pros and cons when implementing CSR in Vietnam conditions.