Read our new report: Unlocking Equity in Innovation: Balancing the Scales in Supply chain Partnerships
2024
Collective Action Reimagined:
A Call For Fair Process And Supplier Inclusion In Fashion’s Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives
Discover the findings of Collective Action Reimagined: A Call for Fair Process and Supplier Inclusion in Fashion’s Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives. This Deep Dive report examines fashion's Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives (MSIs), specifically Cascale, Textile Exchange, SLCP, and ZDHC. Drawing on supplier experiences, the research reveals that surprisingly few suppliers are actively engaged due to systemic issues. Functional exclusion and structural inequity fuel supplier distrust and disengagement, limiting MSI effectiveness.
Commissioned by Transformers Foundation, the report presents a critical solution: applying the organizational theory of fair process to enhance stakeholder engagement. Fair process emphasizes non-biased decision-making, equitable engagement, and transparency around the process. This framework is essential for MSIs to drive genuine progress toward an inclusive and sustainable fashion industry.
WHAT WE DISCOVERED: FOR SYSTEMIC REASONS, FEW SUPPLIERS ARE ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN MSIs...
Structural tension, which stems from deep-rooted inequities in global supply chains, seep into MSI dynamics. Suppliers, especially those from the Global South, face significant resource disparities that severely limits their participation relative to brands and retailers. Moreover, implicit bias further warps outcomes and can lead to deep wounds and silencing.
Functional tension refers to MSIs own rules and processes, including how they develop their tools and standards, distribute power, facilitate meetings, and organize their activities. These factors profoundly impacts suppliers’ ability to engage–and can either alleviate or exacerbate structural exclusion.
Structural and functional exclusion combine to lead to supplier burnout and
disengagement. With a key stakeholder disengaged, MSIs are more likely to produce biased, one-sided strategies that fuels the cycle of supplier exclusion.
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Our research shows that for suppliers to participate meaningfully in MSIs, they need significant time, money, and staff, resources that many simply don’t have. While MSIs differ in structure, only a few well-resourced suppliers can shape decisions. In contrast, brands often have large sustainability teams, leaving smaller suppliers struggling to keep up. A former ESG manager at a small supplier commented:
“A major barrier for me has been that if we want to engage proactively, we’re expected to do so in this with the same capacity of a brand, but we just don’t have that capacity...”
