15 Sustainable Supply Chain Management of Clothing Industry …
201
15.1.2 Lack of Government Interventions and Emergence
of Multi-stakeholder Initiatives
Production of garments, however, typically go through a long and complicated web of
supply chain comprising actors of various sizes and crossing many national borders
(Kogg 2009), posing challenges for individual companies to take effective measures
that are economically feasible and arguably requiring multiple actors to collaborate
(Van Tulder 2012). Negative impacts found in producing countries indicate lack
of effective domestic measures, or effective enforcement thereof, to address such
impacts. Meanwhile, fundamental principles governing public international law (e.g.
state sovereignty) as well as free trade regime put limits to the type of policy measures
that could be introduced at the country where garments are consumed. Without
having an international law that both producing and consuming countries adhere
to, as of today, we lack government interventions effectively addressing various
environmental and social impacts arising from clothing supply chain.
Among the measures that emerged in this context is the formulation of so-called
multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs). Despite their variations in terms of, for instance,
participating stakeholders, scope (e.g. targeted sectors, issues), aims and functions,
governance, administrative and enforcement mechanisms (Jastram and Schneider
2015; Baumann-Pauly et al. 2017; Mena and Palazzo 2012), MSIs are generally
understood as arrangements consisting of various stakeholders such as companies,
NGOs, academia and at times government, who come together on a voluntary basis
to “define, implement, and enforce rules that direct corporations’ behavior with
regard to social and environmental issues” (Rasche 2012). While some hail MSIs for
their potential to fill governance gaps especially in complex issues such as SSCM
(Searcy 2017), others are more critical due to its voluntary nature (Van Tulder 2012),
frequent missing voices of upstream actors and conflicting interests and demands
of brands and the like (Lund-Thomsen and Lindgren 2014). Others are also critical
towards the potential expansion of global brands’ influence over the market and
global policy setting, and that MSIs may serve as a vehicle to protect those large
brands’ interests, or prevent damage to their reputation, rather than actually enhancing
sustainability of supply chain (O’Rourke 2006; Locke 2013; Martens 2007). There
is limited knowledge related to what extent and in which way companies employ
MSIs and what are their perception (Lund-Thomsen and Lindgren 2014).
This paper seeks to explore possible means of governance to enhance sustainable
supply chain management (SSCM) of clothing industry, focusing on the case of EU
and especially Sweden. The paper consists of two main building blocks:
1. Overview and analysis of recent policy development in the EU and Sweden
pertaining to SSCM of clothing industry
2. Exploration of the role of multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) in enhancing
SSCM of clothing industry, by analyzing the perception of Swedish brands
participating in three selected MSIs.
201
15.1.2 Lack of Government Interventions and Emergence
of Multi-stakeholder Initiatives
Production of garments, however, typically go through a long and complicated web of
supply chain comprising actors of various sizes and crossing many national borders
(Kogg 2009), posing challenges for individual companies to take effective measures
that are economically feasible and arguably requiring multiple actors to collaborate
(Van Tulder 2012). Negative impacts found in producing countries indicate lack
of effective domestic measures, or effective enforcement thereof, to address such
impacts. Meanwhile, fundamental principles governing public international law (e.g.
state sovereignty) as well as free trade regime put limits to the type of policy measures
that could be introduced at the country where garments are consumed. Without
having an international law that both producing and consuming countries adhere
to, as of today, we lack government interventions effectively addressing various
environmental and social impacts arising from clothing supply chain.
Among the measures that emerged in this context is the formulation of so-called
multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs). Despite their variations in terms of, for instance,
participating stakeholders, scope (e.g. targeted sectors, issues), aims and functions,
governance, administrative and enforcement mechanisms (Jastram and Schneider
2015; Baumann-Pauly et al. 2017; Mena and Palazzo 2012), MSIs are generally
understood as arrangements consisting of various stakeholders such as companies,
NGOs, academia and at times government, who come together on a voluntary basis
to “define, implement, and enforce rules that direct corporations’ behavior with
regard to social and environmental issues” (Rasche 2012). While some hail MSIs for
their potential to fill governance gaps especially in complex issues such as SSCM
(Searcy 2017), others are more critical due to its voluntary nature (Van Tulder 2012),
frequent missing voices of upstream actors and conflicting interests and demands
of brands and the like (Lund-Thomsen and Lindgren 2014). Others are also critical
towards the potential expansion of global brands’ influence over the market and
global policy setting, and that MSIs may serve as a vehicle to protect those large
brands’ interests, or prevent damage to their reputation, rather than actually enhancing
sustainability of supply chain (O’Rourke 2006; Locke 2013; Martens 2007). There
is limited knowledge related to what extent and in which way companies employ
MSIs and what are their perception (Lund-Thomsen and Lindgren 2014).
This paper seeks to explore possible means of governance to enhance sustainable
supply chain management (SSCM) of clothing industry, focusing on the case of EU
and especially Sweden. The paper consists of two main building blocks:
1. Overview and analysis of recent policy development in the EU and Sweden
pertaining to SSCM of clothing industry
2. Exploration of the role of multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) in enhancing
SSCM of clothing industry, by analyzing the perception of Swedish brands
participating in three selected MSIs.