CAUGHT IN THE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY CUL-DE-SAC: LABORVOICES SEEKS A PATH FORWARD FOR SUPPLY CHAIN LABOR RIGHTS TRANSPARENCY

Abstract

LaborVoices was a small business Kohl Gill, founder and CEO, started in 2010 to provide a new solution for gaining labor and human rights transparency in supply chains. LaborVoices achieved several major contracts with global brands, exposed evidence of human rights abuses in multiple countries, and helped inspire accountability in the darker recesses of global supply chains. By 2017, LaborVoices found itself to be rather stuck—pilot projects had not grown into larger and longer-term commitments; there was constant shifting of the labor issues to address; and the realities of corporate social responsibility (CSR) prevented the company from growing revenue despite good performance. Amidst this backdrop, Gill was presented an opportunity with the United States Federal Government to study working conditions in Bangladesh. The potential contract was much larger than any contract LaborVoices had executed before and would enable the data collection for which Gill had always hoped. However, accepting the contract would mean focusing almost all of the company’s efforts on it, leading to the wind down of LaborVoices’ existing private business contracts.