Global value chains and supplier perceptions of corporate social responsibility: a case study of garment manufacturers in Myanmar
Corresponding Author
Jinsun Bae
Sprott School of Business, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6 Canada
Sprott School of Business, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6, Canada Jinsun.Bae@carleton.ca (corresponding author)Search for more papers by this authorPeter Lund-Thomsen
Center for Business and Development Studies, Department of Management, Society and Communication, Copenhagen Business School, Dalgas Have 15, 2000 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
Search for more papers by this authorAdam Lindgreen
Department of Marketing, Copenhagen Business School, Solbjerg Plads 3, 2000 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
University of Pretoria's Gordon Institute of Business Science, 26 Melville Road, Illovo, Johannesburg, South Africa
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Jinsun Bae
Sprott School of Business, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6 Canada
Sprott School of Business, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6, Canada Jinsun.Bae@carleton.ca (corresponding author)Search for more papers by this authorPeter Lund-Thomsen
Center for Business and Development Studies, Department of Management, Society and Communication, Copenhagen Business School, Dalgas Have 15, 2000 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
Search for more papers by this authorAdam Lindgreen
Department of Marketing, Copenhagen Business School, Solbjerg Plads 3, 2000 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
University of Pretoria's Gordon Institute of Business Science, 26 Melville Road, Illovo, Johannesburg, South Africa
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Suppliers are embedded simultaneously in the global value chains (GVCs) of their lead firms and in the countries in which they conduct their production activities. To explain supplier perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in GVCs, in this article, we develop a new typology by integrating buyer governance modes in GVCs and forms of supplier embeddedness (societal, network, and territorial). We advance literature on supplier perspectives on CSR in GVCs through an analysis of 19 garment manufacturers in Myanmar and their CSR perceptions, using in-depth field-work, interviews, and secondary data. The empirical findings indicate a variety of supplier perceptions of CSR, depending on the governance mode of the GVCs and the variegated combinations of societal, network, and territorial embeddedness. Understanding supplier CSR perceptions and their implementation in GVCs thus requires moving away from a sole focus on supplier responses to standardized codes of conduct and towards a greater consideration of different types of supplier embeddedness.
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