Social assessment and management of conflict minerals: A systematic literature review

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschungbegutachtet

Authors

Purpose: The necessity to assess and manage supply chains to be free from social problems such as human and labour rights abuses has become particularly apparent since the introduction of conflict minerals regulations in the United States (Dodd-Frank Act) and the European Union. Similarly, stakeholders demand that products are free from social problems. Ever more companies are therefore challenged to assess and manage social issues in their supply chains. At the same time, the increasing literature on assessment and management of social issues is disperse and an overview missing. This paper aims to provide an overview of the existing literature on social assessment and management approaches relating to conflict minerals and connected to social issues in supply chains. Design/methodology/approach: A review of the academic literature on social assessment and management of conflict minerals to provide an overview is currently missing. This paper addresses this gap by systematically reviewing the existing research literature on approaches for the social assessment and management of conflict minerals from a supply chain perspective. Findings: The systematic literature review found 21 social assessment and 30 social management approaches with reference to conflict minerals, with the most referenced approach being the OECD guidelines. Overall, the conflict mineral related literature discusses rather general social assessment and management approaches, such as codes of conduct, while the effectiveness of the approaches is not analysed in depth. The paper finds that an analysis of the effectiveness and interlinkages of different approaches is missing. The large variety of social and human rights issues addressed in the academic literature ranges from corruption to violence, going beyond the scope of regulations focused on conflict minerals. This indicates that regulations on conflict minerals and the consequences for management are seen as a specific case with wider implications for future regulations and the necessity for management to solve social problems in supply chains in an effective way. Research limitations/implications: The review paper is conceptual and develops a framework to classify social assessment and management approaches for conflict minerals, drawing on the supply chain management literature. Practical implications: The overview reveals that research refers to broader social assessment and management approaches indicating wider implications for assessing and managing social issues in supply chains in general, irrespective of whether they are conflict mineral related. Research has, however, so far not addressed the effectiveness and interlinkages between social assessment and management approaches. The aim of the emerging regulations, however, is to foster more effective management of social issues in supply chains. Management is therefore challenged to develop and implement innovative approaches to effectively reduce social problems in supply chains beyond conflict minerals. Conclusions are drawn for management and research. Social implications: The paper highlights the need for collaboration with NGOs, industry associations and suppliers, recommending to engage in supplier development. Originality/value: The paper conducts the first systematic review of academic literature on conflict mineral related social assessment and management approaches. A framework is proposed to classify social assessment and management approaches based on supply chain management literature. While conflict minerals often represent a small fraction of components in a product, they can have huge and costly implications for companies, which require (potentially) large changes for the sourcing and supply strategy of a company. Conflict mineral regulations represent the first attempt to regulate social and human rights abuses in supply chains holding companies responsible for misconduct caused by suppliers abroad.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
ZeitschriftSustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal
Jahrgang10
Ausgabenummer1
Seiten (von - bis)157-182
Anzahl der Seiten26
ISSN2040-8021
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 08.03.2019

Zugehörige Aktivitäten

DOI

Zuletzt angesehen

Forschende

  1. Fritjof Karnani

Publikationen

  1. Between Fostering and Outsourcing Educational Justice: The EU-Turkey Statement and its Impacts on the Education of "Refugee Students" in Turkey
  2. Complexities and Nuances in Radical Right Voters' (Anti)Feminism
  3. § 328 Beschränkung der Rechte
  4. Rethinking AI
  5. An extended kalman filter for time delays inspired by a fractional order model
  6. Falling “fortresses”
  7. The Stakes of the Stage
  8. Evaluation of the OECD P OV and LRTP screening tool for estimating the long-range transport of organophosphate esters
  9. Obdachlosigkeit und Wohnungsnot unter weiblichem Blickwinkel
  10. Functional flower traits and their diversity drive pollinator visitation
  11. Internetgestützte Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung
  12. Kinderliterarisches Übersetzen
  13. Exploring teachers' mental health literacy: An exploratory study on teachers' experiences, cooperation partners, self-efficacy, and knowledge related to students' mental health problems
  14. Education for Sustainable Development Goals
  15. The day after mowing: Time and type of mowing influence grassland arthropods
  16. Shifting alliances: The radicalization of Sweden's mainstream right and implications for (social) democracy
  17. Editorial overview: Selected articles from green and sustainable chemistry conference
  18. Berufsprofile in der IT-Beratung
  19. Screening for Start-up Potential in Universities and Research Institutions - Or How to Map Invisible Innovation Potentials.
  20. Offene Fragen
  21. Mittelstand 2008
  22. Leading and Influencing in Organisations
  23. Meaning making in cancer survivors
  24. Defaunation through the eyes of the Tsimane’
  25. Crossing borders
  26. Stirbt Daily Mail langsam?
  27. Least-Cost Transportation Planning - Eine Konzeptidee
  28. Unraveling the relationship between presidential approval and the economy
  29. Single mothers figuring out their future family life – understanding family development after separation and divorce drawing upon the concept of configuration
  30. MediaArtHistories, ed. by Oliver Grau
  31. The role of belief in a just world for (dis)honest behavior
  32. § 395: Verschwiegensheitspflicht
  33. Arendt i Kant: ravnopravni drugi i “prosireni nacin misljenja“ (Arendt and Kant: the Equal Others and an “Extended Way of Thinking”)
  34. Trembling Time
  35. Jacobi-Otto-Diesel
  36. The contagion effect of environmental violations
  37. Strategy as staged performance
  38. Repräsentation und Partizipation in Organisationen
  39. Transforming Well-Being in Wuppertal - Conditions and Constraints
  40. Die Zukunftsbäckerei
  41. Rationalität, Naturbeherrschung und Mythos
  42. Desecularising Culture in Method
  43. Pricing decisions in peer-to-peer and prosumer-centred electricity markets
  44. Managing Interorganizational Relations
  45. Resistance in the Environment