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From Chain Liability to Chain Responsibility

MNE Approaches to Implement Safety and Health Codes in International Supply Chains

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Abstract

This article examines whether the involvement of stakeholders in the design of corporate codes of conduct leads to a higher implementation likelihood of the code. The empirical focus is on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH). The article compares the inclusion of OSH issues in the codes of conduct of 30 companies involved in International Framework Agreements (IFAs), agreed upon by trade unions and multinational enterprises, with those of a benchmark sample of 38 leading Multinational Enterprises in comparable industries. It is found that codes of the IFA group have a higher implementation likelihood in OSH than the codes of the benchmark group. Further, European firms, culturally more used to stakeholder involvement, score higher than their US and Japanese competitors, and hence are more capable of addressing the safety and health issues in international supply chains. The implementation likelihood of codes seems closely related to the type of corporate CSR approach.

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Abbreviations

CSR:

Corporate Social Responsibility

ICFTU:

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions

IFA:

International Framework Agreement

ILO:

International Labour Organization

MNE:

Multinational Enterprise

NGO:

Non-Governmental Organization

OSH:

Occupational Health and Safety

WHO:

World Health Organization

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Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank Dolf Bruins for data collection and research assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business-Society Management, RSM Erasmus University, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Rob van Tulder & Jeroen van Wijk

  2. University of Amsterdam Business School, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Ans Kolk

Authors
  1. Rob van Tulder
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  2. Jeroen van Wijk
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  3. Ans Kolk
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Correspondence to Rob van Tulder.

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van Tulder, R., van Wijk, J. & Kolk, A. From Chain Liability to Chain Responsibility. J Bus Ethics 85 (Suppl 2), 399–412 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9742-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9742-z

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