Messy governance: Global supply chains, working conditions and developing countries.

Despite the expansion of international trade and advancements in global monitoring systems, poor working conditions remain a serious problem in supplier facilities in developing countries. We explore this phenomenon from a stakeholder-theoretic lens, and discuss the assumptions of voluntary governance mechanisms that lead to messy governance under conventional global supply chain management. Utilizing qualitative data from a major knitwear exporting cluster in India, we show how success in governing global supply chains is dependent on concepts of primary stakeholder utility that is often it is at odds with the realities of locus of power, information asymmetry and compliance/reward systems inherent in the framework of global supply chains. As a result, while voluntary governance mechanisms are conducive to CSR best practices, they often fall short within the subcontracting stage, where a stakeholder management mindset is elusive to most participants.