ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Foreign production comprises an essential element of global business that helps build socioeconomic linkages among nations. The increased connections, forged through both FDI and trade, also amplify the range and nature of resulting ethical dilemmas. Although many issues have long existed, the 1990s’ highly publicized debate over “sweatshops” gained unprecedented public attention, highlighting a new assertion that even retail firms, far removed from foreign production sites, bear an ethical “supply chain” responsibility for overseas employment practices and workplace conditions. This chapter explores the rationale for asserted “supply chain” responsibilities, using ethical analysis to examine whether or how business linkages affect judgments regarding who should do what, where and when, to address problems associated with foreign production processes.
