Private governance responsibilisation in global supply chains: the case of Rana Plaza

Siddiqui, Javed; McPhail, Kenneth; Rahman, Sharmin

doi:10.1108/aaaj-05-2019-3993

“…This study contributes to these debates. Consistent with the findings of the previous studies (e.g., Alamgir and Banerjee, 2019;Barrientos and Smith, 2007;Egels-Zandén and Merk, 2014;Frenkel, 2001;Siddiqui et al, 2020), the implementation of the accountability initiatives has brought some improvement in "outcome standards". However, it has had very limited impact on "process rights".…”

Section: Accountability Remains 'Elusive'supporting

confidence: 87%

“…There was no consensus among stakeholders on who should be accountable for protecting workers' rights. Thus, workers and unions perceive securing accountability to and for marginalised workers in Bangladesh's RMG industry remains "elusive", as claimed by others (e.g., Alamgir and Banerjee, 2019;Alamgir and Alakavukhlar, 2018;Belal et al, 2015, p. 55;Siddiqui et al, 2020;Siddiqui and Uddin, 2016).…”

Section: Accountability Remains 'Elusive'mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Politics and Struggle of Accountability: A Case Study of Bangladesh’s Ready-Made Garment (RMG) Industry

Quraishi¹

2021

Preprint

0

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<p>Accountability mechanisms such as multi-stakeholder accountability initiatives are commonly considered important to improve workers’ rights in developing countries where such rights are allegedly weak and corporate accountability practices often ignore workers’ interests. Several accountability mechanisms have been proposed and developed, but critical accounting and development literature shows accountability remains “elusive” (Belal et al., 2015, p. 55). The focus of this multi-disciplinary study is on codes of conduct (COCs) as an accountability initiative. Existing research points to problems associated with the design and operation of COCs in both developed and developing country contexts. However, these are often treated in a technical and apolitical way with little attention paid to the socio-political contexts in which accountability initiatives are embedded. This study focuses on Bangladesh’s ready-made garment (RMG) industry as a case study. The study critically evaluates the multi-stakeholder accountability initiatives and analyses the views, perspectives, ideologies, contestations and adversarial relations of the key stakeholders regarding the accountability initiatives. To achieve this, the study draws upon Brown’s (2009) dialogic accounting and other scholarly works (i.e., Fougère and Solitander, 2020; Goetz and Jenkins, 2005 and Newell, 2006) based on agonistic democracy theory. This research applies qualitative data collection methods, including interviews with a diverse range of actors and documentary sources. This study extends the recent research that emphasises the possibilities of dialogic accounting to facilitate critiques of neoliberalism and to support democratic development in accounting and accountability practice . In particular, this study extends the previous work by applying dialogic accounting in analysing the accountability initiatives (e.g., Accord and Alliance) within the context of a developing country. By identifying the discourses between powerholders (e.g., multinational brands and retailers, local factory owners) and marginalised groups (e.g., workers) in accountability practices, this study helps to surface the political contestation and provides a basis for advancing understanding of the most effective ways to ensure accountability to and for the marginalised workers. Drawing on the works of dialogic accounting scholars, this study provides an alternative perspective to reimagine accounting and accountability practices. </p>

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“…al, , 2009, and even that MNCs may step up to fulfill that role as increased globalization leads to a decline in the power of the state (Whelan, 2012). There are not many critical studies conducted on politically motivated CSR except for Whelan (2012), Gu et al (2013) and Siddiqui et al (2020). Whelan (2012) criticizes prior research by arguing it is wrong to equate globalization with diminishing capacities of states and by questioning whether MNCs are capable of oscillating between rational profit-seeking and pro social logics.…”

Section: Corporate Political Activity (Cpa) Versus Corporate Politicamentioning

confidence: 99%

Emergence of corporate political activities in the guise of social responsibility: dispatches from a developing economy

Siddiqui

¹

,

Mehjabeen

²

,

Stapleton

³

2021

AAAJ

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PurposeThe objective of this paper is to investigate the emergence of corporate political activities (CPAs) in the form of social responsibility in the banking sector in Bangladesh. The use of institutional logics allows the authors to explore not only the motivations underlying this sudden shift in corporate approach towards corporate social reporting (CSR) disclosure but also to investigate whether a logical plurality exists in this new approach.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is based on 21 in-depth interviews with policymakers, regulatory bodies and top management and members of boards of directors in the banking sector.FindingsThe findings of this study are both consistent with and different to those of Uddin et al. (2018). While their findings show that Bangladeshi companies engage in CSR activities primarily to demonstrate their allegiance with the ruling political regime driven by notions of traditionalism, this study’s findings show the existence of a logical pluralism across industries in the manner they engage with CSR activities and disclosures. In addition to the dominant market logic, the authors also find the co-existence of community and family logics shaping the nature of CSR disclosures made by banking companies in Bangladesh.Originality/valueThe authors contribute to the accounting and management literature by providing first-hand evidence of the motivations underlying the emergence of CPAs in the context of a developing country. The adoption of an alternative theoretical framework allows the authors to identify the multiple logics that dictate corporate attitude towards CSR engagement and disclosure.

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“…This study contributes to these debates. Consistent with the findings of the previous studies (e.g., Alamgir and Banerjee, 2019;Barrientos and Smith, 2007;Egels-Zandén and Merk, 2014;Frenkel, 2001;Siddiqui et al, 2020), the implementation of the accountability initiatives has brought some improvement in "outcome standards". However, it has had very limited impact on "process rights".…”

Section: Accountability Remains 'Elusive'supporting

confidence: 86%

“…There was no consensus among stakeholders on who should be accountable for protecting workers' rights. Thus, workers and unions perceive securing accountability to and for marginalised workers in Bangladesh's RMG industry remains "elusive", as claimed by others (e.g., Alamgir and Banerjee, 2019;Alamgir and Alakavukhlar, 2018;Belal et al, 2015, p. 55;Siddiqui et al, 2020;Siddiqui and Uddin, 2016).…”

Section: Accountability Remains 'Elusive'mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Politics and Struggle of Accountability: A Case Study of Bangladesh’s Ready-Made Garment (RMG) Industry

Quraishi¹

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

<p>Accountability mechanisms such as multi-stakeholder accountability initiatives are commonly considered important to improve workers’ rights in developing countries where such rights are allegedly weak and corporate accountability practices often ignore workers’ interests. Several accountability mechanisms have been proposed and developed, but critical accounting and development literature shows accountability remains “elusive” (Belal et al., 2015, p. 55). The focus of this multi-disciplinary study is on codes of conduct (COCs) as an accountability initiative. Existing research points to problems associated with the design and operation of COCs in both developed and developing country contexts. However, these are often treated in a technical and apolitical way with little attention paid to the socio-political contexts in which accountability initiatives are embedded. This study focuses on Bangladesh’s ready-made garment (RMG) industry as a case study. The study critically evaluates the multi-stakeholder accountability initiatives and analyses the views, perspectives, ideologies, contestations and adversarial relations of the key stakeholders regarding the accountability initiatives. To achieve this, the study draws upon Brown’s (2009) dialogic accounting and other scholarly works (i.e., Fougère and Solitander, 2020; Goetz and Jenkins, 2005 and Newell, 2006) based on agonistic democracy theory. This research applies qualitative data collection methods, including interviews with a diverse range of actors and documentary sources. This study extends the recent research that emphasises the possibilities of dialogic accounting to facilitate critiques of neoliberalism and to support democratic development in accounting and accountability practice . In particular, this study extends the previous work by applying dialogic accounting in analysing the accountability initiatives (e.g., Accord and Alliance) within the context of a developing country. By identifying the discourses between powerholders (e.g., multinational brands and retailers, local factory owners) and marginalised groups (e.g., workers) in accountability practices, this study helps to surface the political contestation and provides a basis for advancing understanding of the most effective ways to ensure accountability to and for the marginalised workers. Drawing on the works of dialogic accounting scholars, this study provides an alternative perspective to reimagine accounting and accountability practices. </p>

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Private governance responsibilisation in global supply chains: the case of Rana Plaza

Cited by 27 publications

References 56 publications

The Politics and Struggle of Accountability: A Case Study of Bangladesh’s Ready-Made Garment (RMG) Industry

The Politics and Struggle of Accountability: A Case Study of Bangladesh’s Ready-Made Garment (RMG) Industry

Emergence of corporate political activities in the guise of social responsibility: dispatches from a developing economy

The Politics and Struggle of Accountability: A Case Study of Bangladesh’s Ready-Made Garment (RMG) Industry

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