Provided by Elke Schüßler, Johannes Kepler University Linz
Guiding questions: Why are corporate responsibility concerns particularly prevalent in global supply chains? How can global supply chains be made more responsible and, at the same time, resilient to crisis and conflict?
Lecture
Core readings
Gereffi, G. (2014). Global value chains in a post-Washington Consensus world. Review of International Political Economy, 21(1), 9-37. PDF
Helfen, M., Schüßler, E., & Sydow, J. (2018). How can employment relations in global value networks be managed towards social responsibility? Human Relations, 71(12), 1640-1665. PDF
Contemporary news articles
Harvey, F. (2022). Ukraine invasion may lead to worldwide food crisis, warns UN. The Guardian, March 14.
Simchi-Levi, D. & Haren, P. (2022). How the war in Ukraine Is further disrupting global supply chains. Harvard Business Review, March 17.
Post-lecture assignment
Pick a lead firm of your choice and analyze its response to the Russian invasion in Ukraine based on the Business & Human Rights Resource Center’s information. Doing further desk research, try to answer the following questions: What are the firm’s main supply chains? How – referring to which principles – does it justify its response? Which network management practices could it use to make its supply chain(s) more resilient and responsible (see also the interview with Dorothée Baumann-Pauly in this regard)? How does it relate to different stakeholders, including the state? (500 words)
Background readings
Gereffi, G., Posthuma, A. C., & Rossi, A. (2021). Introduction: Disruptions in global value chains–Continuity or change for labour governance? International Labour Review, 160(4), 501-517. PDF
Gereffi, G., Pananond, P., & Pedersen, T. (2022). Resilience decoded: The role of firms, global value chains, and the state in COVID-19 medical supplies. California Management Review, in print. PDF
Background videos
Elke Schüßler, Johannes Kepler University Linz talks with Dorothée Baumann-Pauly, Geneva Center for Business and Human Rights, University of Geneva
Wang, K. (2021). We decoded the global shipping crisis and supply chain backlog that’s causing the ‘everything shortage’. Business Insider, December 1.
TedX Talk on “Responsible consumption — the soft power of story telling” by Guido Palazzo
Background sources
UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
FAU Human Rights Podcast
Organizing in Times of Crisis 