Business for Social Responsibility, the US-based membership organization working with the business community has published Beyond Monitoring, a report critical of the dominant model of supply chain codes monitored by factory social auditors.  These efforts are, BSR suggests, marked by ‘inconsistency, duplication and inefficiency, and too often reflect ad hoc decision making rather than a systems-based approach’. 

Beyond Monitoring presents a four-part alternative approach: Buyer Internal Alignment of purchasing practices with social and environmental objectives; Supplier Ownership of good working and environmental conditions in their workplaces; Empowerment of Workers who take a stronger role in asserting and protecting their own rights; Public Policy Frameworks that ensure wider and more even application of relevant laws.

www.bsr.org