Ethical sourcing: a contribution to sustainability or a diversion?

Abstract

There is a plethora of codes of practice emerging to help business manage and communicate social and environmental performance, particularly the relationship with suppliers in developing countries. These codes lie at the heart of ethical trading or ethical sourcing, and often tackle issues central to sustainable business. However, there are often separate codes addressing social and environmental criteria, and no real coherence in either their development or implementation. Consequently, the contribution of ethical sourcing to the sustainable business agenda is open to question. This paper, drawing on the work in developing countries of the Natural Resources and Ethical Trade programme as well as others in the field, examines the reasons behind the divergence in social and environmental codes of practice (see note). It explores the contribution ethical sourcing has made to increasing business responsibility, but argues that greater cohesion between social and environmental standards is necessary if this approach to value chain management is to help achieve sustainable business goals. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Roles and drivers of agribusiness shaping C limate‐ S mart L andscapes: A review

“…Taken together, these first two results highlight that agribusiness companies see potential in scaling a CSL approach across their operations and their practices fit with the overall CSL objectives. Nevertheless, critical questions persist in relation to the balance that companies may find in practice among environmental sustainability, social development, and profitability (Barkemeyer et al, ; Blowfield, ). From this perspective, despite the tensions inherent in finding a balance between corporate and landscape objectives, agribusiness companies' reports remain quite acritical in the narrative of their CSL practices.…”

“…Nevertheless, critical questions persist in relation to the balance that companies may find in practice among environmental sustainability, social development, and profitability (Barkemeyer et al, 2014;Blowfield, 2000). From this perspective, despite the tensions inherent in finding a balance between corporate and landscape objectives, agribusiness companies' reports remain quite acritical in the narrative of their CSL practices.…”

Roles and drivers of agribusiness shaping C limate‐ S mart L andscapes: A review

“…Taken together, these first two results highlight that agribusiness companies see potential in scaling a CSL approach across their operations and their practices fit with the overall CSL objectives. Nevertheless, critical questions persist in relation to the balance that companies may find in practice among environmental sustainability, social development, and profitability (Barkemeyer et al, ; Blowfield, ). From this perspective, despite the tensions inherent in finding a balance between corporate and landscape objectives, agribusiness companies' reports remain quite acritical in the narrative of their CSL practices.…”

“…Nevertheless, critical questions persist in relation to the balance that companies may find in practice among environmental sustainability, social development, and profitability (Barkemeyer et al, 2014;Blowfield, 2000). From this perspective, despite the tensions inherent in finding a balance between corporate and landscape objectives, agribusiness companies' reports remain quite acritical in the narrative of their CSL practices.…”

Voluntary Sustainability Standards: A Squandered Opportunity to Improve Workers' Wages

“…FI) would be more likely to adopt rigorous labor standards than environmental organizations (e.g. MSC) (see Blowfield, , p. 192; Fridell, , p. 90). Future research might compare the content of organizations' missions with the results presented here to examine the relationship between mission and income equality provisions.…”

Standardization and accuracy of race and ethnicity data: Equity implications for medical AI

“…We recognize that the entities and individuals developing medical AI models will often be distinct from those who are gathering demographic information. Inspired by the longstanding practice of “ethical sourcing” of materials in the field of corporate social responsibility [ 49 ], our approach places the onus on AI developers to use reasonable efforts to identify the source(s) and quality of the r/e data they deploy in their models. For example, missing r/e data is regularly imputed in healthcare datasets [ 50 – 52 ].…”

Roles and drivers of agribusiness shaping C limate‐ S mart L andscapes: A review

“…Taken together, these first two results highlight that agribusiness companies see potential in scaling a CSL approach across their operations and their practices fit with the overall CSL objectives. Nevertheless, critical questions persist in relation to the balance that companies may find in practice among environmental sustainability, social development, and profitability (Barkemeyer et al, ; Blowfield, ). From this perspective, despite the tensions inherent in finding a balance between corporate and landscape objectives, agribusiness companies' reports remain quite acritical in the narrative of their CSL practices.…”

“…Nevertheless, critical questions persist in relation to the balance that companies may find in practice among environmental sustainability, social development, and profitability (Barkemeyer et al, 2014;Blowfield, 2000). From this perspective, despite the tensions inherent in finding a balance between corporate and landscape objectives, agribusiness companies' reports remain quite acritical in the narrative of their CSL practices.…”

Voluntary Sustainability Standards: A Squandered Opportunity to Improve Workers' Wages

“…FI) would be more likely to adopt rigorous labor standards than environmental organizations (e.g. MSC) (see Blowfield, , p. 192; Fridell, , p. 90). Future research might compare the content of organizations' missions with the results presented here to examine the relationship between mission and income equality provisions.…”

Standardization and accuracy of race and ethnicity data: Equity implications for medical AI

“…We recognize that the entities and individuals developing medical AI models will often be distinct from those who are gathering demographic information. Inspired by the longstanding practice of “ethical sourcing” of materials in the field of corporate social responsibility [ 49 ], our approach places the onus on AI developers to use reasonable efforts to identify the source(s) and quality of the r/e data they deploy in their models. For example, missing r/e data is regularly imputed in healthcare datasets [ 50 – 52 ].…”

Roles and drivers of agribusiness shaping C limate‐ S mart L andscapes: A review

“…Taken together, these first two results highlight that agribusiness companies see potential in scaling a CSL approach across their operations and their practices fit with the overall CSL objectives. Nevertheless, critical questions persist in relation to the balance that companies may find in practice among environmental sustainability, social development, and profitability (Barkemeyer et al, ; Blowfield, ). From this perspective, despite the tensions inherent in finding a balance between corporate and landscape objectives, agribusiness companies' reports remain quite acritical in the narrative of their CSL practices.…”

“…Nevertheless, critical questions persist in relation to the balance that companies may find in practice among environmental sustainability, social development, and profitability (Barkemeyer et al, 2014;Blowfield, 2000). From this perspective, despite the tensions inherent in finding a balance between corporate and landscape objectives, agribusiness companies' reports remain quite acritical in the narrative of their CSL practices.…”

Voluntary Sustainability Standards: A Squandered Opportunity to Improve Workers' Wages

“…FI) would be more likely to adopt rigorous labor standards than environmental organizations (e.g. MSC) (see Blowfield, , p. 192; Fridell, , p. 90). Future research might compare the content of organizations' missions with the results presented here to examine the relationship between mission and income equality provisions.…”

Standardization and accuracy of race and ethnicity data: Equity implications for medical AI

“…We recognize that the entities and individuals developing medical AI models will often be distinct from those who are gathering demographic information. Inspired by the longstanding practice of “ethical sourcing” of materials in the field of corporate social responsibility [ 49 ], our approach places the onus on AI developers to use reasonable efforts to identify the source(s) and quality of the r/e data they deploy in their models. For example, missing r/e data is regularly imputed in healthcare datasets [ 50 – 52 ].…”