Implementing Codes of Conduct

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Implementing Codes of Conduct

Ivanka Mamic

Implementing Codes of Conduct: How Businesses Manage Social Performance in Global Supply Chains presents field research conducted by the International Labour Office (ILO) into the global sports footwear, apparel and retail sectors

This book is based on hundreds of interviews with managers, activists, government officials, factory workers and labor representatives.

She begins with a history of corporate codes of ethics on supply chains, which began to emerge in the 1990s, as media and NGO attention forced companies to address abuses in the factories that they didn't necessarily own, but supplied the apparel that they sold.

There is a particularly useful section on the types of codes of conduct, divided into company codes, multi-stakeholder initiatives, intergovernmental codes and framework agreements.

In the footwear sector, Mamie sees consolidation of suppliers and companies staying loyal to suppliers, which has had a positive effect on corporate responsibility practices. "It has led to better relationships with footwear factory managers and a much greater ability to influence supply chain management (as compared with other industries, such as the apparel industry for example, where small factory size and the practice of producing for several brands simultaneously makes closer ties with a particular brand more difficult)... It's exactly this kind of relationship that can be held up as an example for other industries to follow, in that it allows for the more effective implementation of labor, social and ethical standards of corporate social responsibility."

The author finds that there are elements that are always present in companies that have been most successful in implementing codes of conduct with global suppliers:

* Creating a shared vision;

* Developing understanding and ability;

* Integrating code into operations;

* Feedback, improvement and remediation, with a permeating theme of dialogue both internally and externally throughout these elements.

In general, Mamie writes, "many similarities exist in the approach that companies in the footwear, apparel and retail sectors utilize for the design, implementation and management of CR and codes of conduct across their supply chains. Across all three sectors, more consistencies were found than differences."

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