10 Voices, 10 Strategies: Breaking the chains of injustice in global supply chains

Featuring Professor Richard Wilding, Emeritus Professor of Supply Chain Strategy at Cranfield University.

I’m Professor Richard Wilding, Emeritus Professor of Supply Chain Strategy at Cranfield University and a trustee of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply. I also serve as a non-executive director for several procurement organisations. Back in 2013, I had the privilege of chairing a modern slavery conference for the Home Office. At that time, supply chain vulnerabilities regarding modern slavery were hardly discussed, but it was a concern of mine even then. I’ve been passionate about the risks supply chains pose to human rights. I’m also the author of LinkedIn Learning’s Supply Chain Fundamentals, Risk and Resilience, which addresses some of these risks.

Now, when we talk about modern slavery, it can be boiled down to this equation: vulnerable people meet manipulative and/or violently greedy people who think they can get away with it. And that equals slavery. Credit to the International Justice Mission for that definition.

From a supply chain perspective, the key is to break one part of that equation—specifically, the idea that people can get away with it. Let me share some real-world examples, many of which are closer to home than we might think and have been covered by the main stream media in recent years, for brevity I share three diverse examples:

1. Late Payment Practices: Supply chains driven by lowest-cost tendering and late payment practices create opportunities for abuse. For example, systemic exploitation of Eastern European drivers in the transport sector, where they can earn as little as €1.70 per hour, live in their trucks for months, and are provided with fake papers.
2. Fishing Industry: Permit schemes have facilitated slavery on Irish fishing boats, as reported by The Guardian.
3. Shipping Industry: Thousands of seafarers have been abandoned on ships due to contract cancellations by Western companies.

The key takeaway here is that modern slavery is not just a distant issue—it happens right here in Europe and the UK.

One of the strategies we can adopt is redesigning supply chains to mitigate risk. For example, choosing a different technology or chemistry for and using  lithium manganese oxide batteries over lithium cobalt oxide can lower the risk of exploited labour in the production of rare earth metals. It’s crucial to map and understand our supply chains deeply, including who our suppliers are down to the third or even lower tiers.

With AI tools, we can now trace supply chains more effectively using readily available shipping data. This gives us better intelligence on what’s happening in every part of the chain, and proactive auditing is essential to ensure transparency.

We must also ensure that business leaders understand their legal responsibilities. EU legislation makes directors personally responsible for human rights abuses in their extended supply chains. It’s no longer acceptable to plead ignorance when technology enables us to know what’s happening.

In conclusion, modern slavery is a pervasive issue that persists both near and far. To combat this, we must ensure transparency, enforce consequences, and design more ethical supply chains. As it’s been said, history repeats itself—Isaiah 58:6-9, written nearly 2,700 years ago, speaks of breaking the chains of injustice, freeing the oppressed, and eliminating exploitation in the workplace.