Tag Archives: CSR

Modern Slavery Risks in the Cleaning and Security Industry

August 8, 2022Uncategorizedaddressing modern slavery, civil society, cleaning accountability frae, companies, consumers, Corporate Governance, corporate social responsibility, CSR, exploitation, forced labour, governance, labour standards, modern slavery act, regulation, Reporting, Supply Chain, supply chains, trafficking, transparency, Unions, vulnerable workers, worker exploitation, working conditionsmartijn

This briefing session brings together academic experts in the fields of modern slavery, labour law compliance, supply chain due diligence and temporary migrant workers, to share insights and advice on how universities can demonstrate leadership in promoting good labour practices. The aim of this briefing is to assist relevant stakeholders in the higher education sector to understand their role in promoting good labour practices, and provide guidance on practically how to do this. This briefing is aimed at professionals working in university procurement and contract management, university modern slavery working groups, university risk and compliance, cleaning and security contractors that currently hold contracts at university campuses.

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Why a degree in modern slavery is a valuable addition to your CV

June 15, 2022Uncategorizedaddressing modern slavery, Australia, civil society, companies, Corporate Governance, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ethics, exploitation, Fair Work Ombudsman, forced labour, global supply chains, governance, government, human rights, human rights abuses, labour, labour standards, legislation, Martijn Boersma, migrant workers, modern slavery, modern slavery act, regulation, stakeholders, Supply Chain, supply chains, trade unions, trafficking, transparency, vulnerable workers, work, worker exploitation, working conditionsmartijn

Modern slavery may seem a distant issue in Australia, but a new course will teach graduates why an understanding of it is increasingly important in every business

It might be easy to imagine, especially in Australia, that slavery is a thing of the past. But an estimated 15,000 people were living in conditions of modern slavery here in 2016, through forced marriage and labour, sexual exploitation, debt bondage and human trafficking – exploitation that disproportionately affects women, children, asylum seekers and migrants. Globally, in that same year, 40.3 million victims were being abused.

Martijn Boersma is an associate professor of human trafficking and modern slavery at the University of Notre Dame Australia, where a new course aims to provide the skills and knowledge that will enable people to work proactively to put an end to the exploitation of vulnerable people.

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Modern Slavery and Climate Change – Towards an Integrated Approach

July 30, 2022Uncategorizedaddressing modern slavery, civil society, Climate change, companies, consumers, Corporate Governance, corporate social responsibility, CSR, environment, exploitation, forced labour, global supply chains, human rights, human rights abuses, migrant workersmartijn

Climate change has made millions vulnerable to modern slavery. Displacement and migration because of climate change creates a nexus of harm that pushes people to accept work that actively contributes to environmental destruction of forests, fisheries, waterways and land. Weak regulation and enforcement, corruption, a lack of political will and the lure of profits combined with vulnerability of people creates a vicious circle of opportunity for forced labour, child labour, debt bondage and slavery. In this webinar, speakers explored how an integrated approach to addressing modern slavery, climate change and environmental destruction can lead to impactful interventions by governments, communities, workers and business.

Hosted by: Jenny Stanger, Anti-slavery Taskforce, Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney

Facilitated by: Dr Martijn Boersma, Associate Professor of Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking at University of Notre Dame Australia

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Child Labour in Hyundai’s Supply Chain

July 30, 2022Uncategorizedchild labour, companies, Corporate Governance, corporate social responsibility, CSR, forced labour, human rights, Hyundai, labour, vulnerable workers, working conditionsmartijn

The carmaker is facing questions after serious allegations of child labour being used in one of its US subsidiary steel plants. Australia’s Hyundai Motor Company has distanced itself from serious allegations of child labour in its US company’s subsidiary steel plant.

The allegations come after an investigation from Reuters revealed that several children, one as young as 12, have missed school to work at the Korean carmaker’s subsidiary, called SMART Alabama LLC.

According to the Reuters report, local police, three underage children, eight former and current employees of SMART have all said the flagship assembly employed underage staff to work long shifts.

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2SER Radio Interview – The Myth of the Social License to Operate

July 21, 2022UncategorizedCorporate Governance, corporate social responsibility, CSR, environment, governance, legitimising myths, myth, myths, social, social license to operate, stakeholdersmartijn

In this radio interview on 2SER, I discuss the chapter published in the “Research Handbook on the Sociology of Organizations” on “Organizational Legitimacy and Legitimizing Myths.” It suggests that companies, as an influential and dominant group, want to maintain how they are held to account for their social and environmental impacts, which is through market forces. The research contends that the social license to operate and other concepts such as corporate purpose are hierarchy-enhancing legitimizing myths that uphold this status quo in favour of companies, at the detriment of society.

martijnboersma · 2SER Razor’s Edge – The Myth of the Social License to Operate

The Myth of the Social License to Operate

June 14, 2022Uncategorizedconsumers, Corporate Governance, corporate purpose, corporate social responsibility, CSR, environment, ethics, governance, governments, legitimacy theory, legitimizing myth, Martijn Boersma, myth, regulation, Reporting, social, social dominance theory, social license to operate, stakeholders, Sustainability, transparencymartijn

Over the last two decades many of the world’s largest companies have been involved in scandals, misconduct and dubious ethics. Rather than relying on interventions by public authorities, the dominant governing rationality is informed by the belief that the market is able to balance social, environmental, and financial interests. However, the vast majority of companies that have been involved in ethical transgressions have survived – and have even thrived. Potential damage to the reputation of companies, or threats to their ‘social license to operate’, seems to have had a limited effect. There is therefore reason to believe that market forces are not adequate by themselves to correct corporate misbehaviour.

This chapter from the upcoming ‘Research Handbook on the Sociology of Organizations’ explores the reliance on market forces to correct corporate actions that are not aligned with the common good. It examines to what extent legitimacy theory adequately explains the dynamics around organizational legitimacy, and it proposes an expansion of legitimacy theory to increase its explanatory power: the use of social dominance theory and legitimizing myths expands (organizational) legitimacy as a theoretical construct. In explaining why antagonistic stakeholders continue to rely on market-based approaches, this research suggests that they have either bought into the hierarchy-enhancing myths, or they have not yet developed compelling hierarchy-attenuating myths to challenge the status quo. The chapter concludes with the suggestion that the ‘social license to operate’ and ‘corporate purpose’ are legitimizing myths that uphold the idea that the market can balance social, environmental, and financial interests.

Boersma - Organizational legitimacy and legitimizing myths

‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ is a Band-Aid for a Broken System

April 16, 2018Uncategorizedcorporate social responsibility, CSR, exploitation, Foxconn, gender equality, government, invisible hand, labour, social license to operate, stakeholders, Supply Chain, too big to shamemartijn

When it comes to doing what is morally right, there are some things that are best not left to the market, writes Martijn Boersma, lecturer in the UTS Management Discipline Group.

Last week, CNBC reported that a Goldman Sachs analyst wrote in a note to clients: “Is curing patients a sustainable business model?” The argument he allegedly put forward was that healing people with a one-shot cure does not bring in the same revenue stream that chronic therapies do and is therefore bad for business in the long run.

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Changing Approaches to Child Labour in Global Supply Chains

October 4, 2017Uncategorizedchild labour, child labourers, CSR, due diligence, Guiding Principles, holistic approach, human rights, multistakeholder collaboration, multistakeholder governance, prevention and remediation, stakeholders, Supply Chain, supply chains, UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, UNGPsmartijn

My latest research finds that effective approaches to child labour in global supply chains are characterised by companies engaging with a broad range of stakeholders, taking a contextual and holistic approach by considering local circumstances and broader human rights, and by focusing on prevention and remediation. By shifting from code of conduct and auditing based approaches towards stakeholder collaboration and due diligence, companies are moving away from reactive and paternalistic approaches to child labour and instead increasingly adopt proactive and pluralistic strategies. The influence of the UNGPs has the potential to ameliorate some the tensions in multi-stakeholder partnerships by requiring companies to be first movers and using this advantage to include stakeholders rather than exclude them in developing CSR strategies. While these developments can help to elevate child labourers from latent and discretionary stakeholders to expectant and dependent stakeholders, they continue to rely on CSOs to add weight to their claims.

Best and Worst Companies for Women on Boards Revealed

March 8, 2016UncategorizedASX, catalyst, Corporate Governance, CSR, diversity, gender, governancemartijn

Medibank Private, Mirvac Group, DUET Group, Spark Infrastructure and Woolworths are among the top ASX 100 companies for appointing women to boards, a new report says.

Some of the worst in the same index include TPG Telecom and Qube Holdings, with no female board members. Westfield had one woman on its board out of 12 spots and Oil Search has one out of nine, the Catalyst think tank report released on Tuesday shows.

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Companies Prefer Ticking Boxes to Breaking the Glass Ceiling

March 8, 2016UncategorizedASX, Catalyst Australia, companies, Corporate Governance, CSR, diversity, gender, gender equality, glass ceiling, governance, TheConversationmartijn

Research shows when there are three women on a board, as opposed to one, they are seen as individuals rather than the “female voice”. Image: Shutterstock

“Empowerment of the world’s women is a global imperative,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said at the 2016 World Economic Forum. Although the worldwide trend to promote equal opportunities has also impacted Australia, progress in the corporate world is slow and a change in pace is required. Improving disclosures is a good place to start.

In 2010, the ASX Corporate Governance Council made several amendments to its Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations. The most prominent change was that companies should publicly disclose the number of female directors, senior managers and total number of women in the workforce, as well as progress against diversity objectives established by the board.

New research by Catalyst Australia finds that ASX50 listed companies – Australia’s largest companies and industry leaders – tick all the gender reporting boxes. But while some progress is made concerning women on boards, facilitating the career advancement of women into executive positions remains a problem area.

Likewise, while ASX50 companies do refer to pay equity, our research finds their disclosures are limited and often do not include figures for management or the workforce.

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