Does Lean Improve Labor Standards? Management and Social Performance in the Nike Supply Chain

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Distelhorst, Greg; Hainmueller, Jens; Locke, Richard M.
• 署名单位: University of Oxford; Stanford University; Stanford University; Brown University; Brown University
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2015.2369
• 发表日期: 2017
• 页码: 707-728
• 关键词: CORPORATE SOCIAL PERFORMANCE; Global supply chains; lean manufacturing; human resource management; labor standards

摘要

This study tests the hypothesis that lean manufacturing improves the social performance of manufacturers in emerging markets. We analyze an intervention by Nike, Inc., to promote the adoption of lean manufacturing in its apparel supply chain across 11 developing countries. Using difference-in-differences estimates from a panel of more than 300 factories, we find that lean adoption was associated with a 15 percentage point reduction in noncompliance with labor standards that primarily reflect factory wage and work hour practices. However, we find a null effect on factory health and safety standards. This pattern is consistent with a causal mechanism that links lean to improved social performance through changes in labor relations, rather than improved management systems. These findings offer evidence that capability-building interventions may reduce social harm in global supply chains.