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| Tekijä: | Yu, X. |
| Otsikko: | Impacts of corporate code of conduct on labor standards: A case Study of Reebok's athletic footwear supplier factory in China |
| Lehti: | Journal of Business Ethics
2008 : SEP I, VOL. 81:3, p. 513-529 |
| Asiasana: | footwear industry corporate responsibility social responsibility trade unions industrial relations pay case studies companies Asia China |
| Vapaa asiasana: | workers human rights |
| Kieli: | eng |
| Tiivistelmä: | This study examines the social impacts of labour-related (henceforth as: l-rtd.) corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies or corporate codes of conduct on upholding labour standards (here as: l-stds.) based on a case study of CSR discourses and codes implementation of Reebok, a leading branded company enjoying a high-profiled image for its human rights achievement, in a large Taiwanese-invested athletic footwear factory located in South China. It is found that although implementation of Reebok l-rtd. codes has resulted in a "race to ethical and legal minimum" l-stds. when previous seriously illegal labour rights abuses were curbed, Chinese workers were forced to work harder and faster but, earned less payment and the employee-elected trade union installed through codes implementation operated more like a "company union" rather than an autonomous workers' organization representing workers' interests. The result is argued to be determined by both structural forces and agency-related factors embedded in industrial, national and local contexts. It is found that the effectiveness of Reebok l-rtd. codes is constrained not only by unsolved tension btw. Reebok's incitement for profit maximization and commitment to workers' human rights, but also by hard-nosed competition realities at marketplace, and Chinese government's insufficient protection of labour rights. Despite based on a single case study, these findings illuminate key determinants inhibiting the effectiveness of l-rtd. CSR policies or codes in upholding l-stds., and thus two possible way-outs of the deadlock: 1. sharing cost for improving l-stds. among key players in global supply chain, and 2. combining regulatory power of voluntary codes and compulsory state legislations. |
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