Ethics in the Supply Chain: Follow-Up Processes to Audit Results

Abstract

Ethics and sustainability audits are a common practice to evaluate the social and environmental performance of vendors, but firms struggle with proper follow-up to the auditing results. In a supply chain workshop, business participants identified four challenges that relate to communication and collaboration among the actors of a supplier audit. The first challenge is managing information from the supply chain, the second is motivating suppliers to pay for audits and complete questionnaires, the third is responding to audit results uncovering ethical violations in the supply chain, and the fourth is increasing awareness for a responsible supply chain among buyers. Considering the marketing, supply chain, and ethics literature, this article explores the ethical issues of a supply chain that drive supplier audits and defines the actors of a supplier audit. Core marketing theories on interorganizational relationships guide a research agenda for responding to challenges in effective follow-up to supplier audits.