Multinational corporations (MNCs) are increasingly judged not only on their own social impacts but also on those of their supply chain partners. To reduce this environmental dependence, many MNCs implement social evaluations and codes of conduct which suppliers must follow. But how do MNCs legitimise and implement social evaluations in their supply chains? To address this, we draw on and augment resource dependence and legitimacy theories, to analyse a multinational grocery retailer’s implementation of labour standards for its fruit and vegetable (...) suppliers. The case study utilises interviews, analysis of a database of audits, internal documents, and observational data. It provides the basis for theorizing corporate reputation as a resource dependency, with social evaluations a distinct means to co-opt external actors to preserve the focal organization’s autonomy while reducing environmental contingencies. The legitimacy of social evaluations of supply chain partners depends on processes that reconcile both moral and pragmatic concerns, allowing the focal organization to mitigate resource dependencies without ceding control over enforcement and enabling actions. (shrink)

Corporate Reputation (CR) is essential to value generation and is co-created between a company and its stakeholders, including supply chain actors. Consequently, CR is a critical and valuable resource that should be managed carefully along supply chains. However, the current CR literature is fragmented, and a general definition of CR is elusive. Besides, the academic CR debate largely lacks a supply chain perspective. This is not surprising, as it is very difficult to collect reliable data along supply chains. When supply (...) chains span the globe, data collection is especially challenging, as the chain consists of multiple suppliers and subcontractors, positioned at different tier levels. Recognizing this, the paper examines firstly the current state of CR research through a systematic literature review from a business perspective. The review is combined with a bibliometric mapping approach to show the most influential research clusters, representative of CR research streams and their contributors. This process highlights that the connection between CR and supply chain issues represents a major research gap. Consequently, this paper introduces a research agenda connecting these the two traditionally separated research fields. (shrink)

Philosophers and geographers have converged on the topic of public space, fascinated and in many ways alarmed by fundamental changes in the way post-industrial societies produce space for public use, and in the way citizens of these same societies perceive and constitute themselves as a public. This volume advances this inquiry, making extensive use of political and social theory, while drawing intimate connections between political principles, social processes, and the commonplaces of our everyday environments.