Gerald F. Davis is the Wilbur K. Pierpont Professor of Management at the Ross School of Business and Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan. He has published widely in management, sociology, and finance. His most recent book is Managed by the Markets: How Finance Reshaped America (Oxford University Press, 2009), which won the Terry Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Advancement of Management Knowledge in 2010.
On May 16, 2013 he published an article on YaleGlobal Online entitled, “Can Global Supply Chains be Accountable?”
The abstract reads as follows: “A factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed more than 1,100 workers may be a wakeup call for apparel manufacturers, retailers and consumers. More than 90 percent of US apparel is made outside the country, and the unending quest for low prices and profits encourages crowded factories with brutal work conditions. Corporate leaders orchestrating long supply chains can shrug and claim ignorance about appalling wages, long hours, child labor, safety violations, attacks on union leaders and whistleblowers. Yet consumers are increasingly informed by the same information technology that allows apparel makers to spread around the globe. Dropping technology prices on barcodes and QR codes will allow consumers to scan labels and review not only prices but factory conditions, explains Jerry Davis, professor of management with the University of Michigan. Concern for fairness could become fashionable, and the brands that appeal to consumer consciences could shame other retailers and entire countries into raising standards.”
You may read the article on the YaleGlobal Online internet site.