How Can Employment Relations in Global Value Networks Be Managed Towards Social Responsibility?

Abstract

Ensuring social responsibility is a continued challenge in value creation processes that are globally dispersed among multiple organizations. We use the literature on interorganizational network management to shed new light on the question of how employment relations can be managed more responsibly in global value networks (GVN). In contrast to the structure oriented global value chain perspective, a network management perspective highlights the practices by which employment relations can be addressed in the context of plural forms of network governance. Using examples of GVN in the automotive and garment industries we illustrate how the network management practices of selecting, allocating, regulating and evaluating can enable lead firms and suppliers to effectively deal with social responsibility challenges on the level of whole networks. We also discuss how network management practices can address field-level and firm-level constraints for the management of multiemployer relations in GVN.

Keywords: employment relations, labour standards, global value networks, corporate social

JEL Classification: L20