Implementing codes of conduct: How business manage social performance in global supply chains

This book details the findings of International Labour Office (ILO) field research conducted under funding from the United States Department of State on the global sports footwear, apparel and retail sectors between 2000 ands 2002. The goal of this research was to identify and examine the ways in which companies adopt, implement and evaluate policies regarding codes of conduct in their global business operations. The main objective was to illustrate the different methods and strategies by which multinational enterprises achieve their labour practice objective sand thereby provide a learning platform.The research was conducted in two parts. The pilot phase of the research focused on the sports footwear sector and was conducted during the second half of calendar year 2000. Subsequently our understanding of the issues under consideration increased as is reflected in our fine-tuning of areas of focus in the apparel and retail sectors. The purpose of the pilot research was to help identify issues and provide a focal point for our analysis, rather than a definitive platform of findings, while simultaneously strengthening the capacity of the ILO team to carry out the research. Consequently, there were a number of changes made to the original research approach including a revision of the methodology as well as a broadening of inputs to incorporate expert advice from leading academics and practitioners active in this field.The footwear sector was chosen for the pilot phase of research due to the fact that the relevant policies and management systems in that sector are relatively well developed. It is acknowledged that the selection of multinational enterprises reviewed in this sector was limited to a subsection of firms that have been actively involved in code implementation for a number of year. An attempt was made to widen the scope of our coverage in the apparel and footwear sectors by increasing sample size. However, given the specific objective of this research, namely to document the management systems in use, our focus was limited to those firms that actually have codes of conduct together with an established implementation process.In conducting the research, the ILO research team, together with assistance from various academic experts, interviewed managers regarding the techniques and systems used by three sports footwear multinationals, nine apparel multinationals and eight retail multinationals in carrying out their social performance objectives, tracking progress, and determining the means by which enterprises respond to shortcomings when they are identified. Particular emphasis was placed on understanding the institutionalised structures of corporate oversight, ranging from those dedicated systems explicitly focused on achieving social objectives, to adaptations of pre-existing corporate institutions, including human resource management, quality assurance, communications and personnel evaluation systems.