Understanding Focal Firms’ Response Strategies to Upstream Socially Unsustainable Practices

Current trends towards low-cost outsourcing, has given rise to complex global supply chains and left focal firms vulnerable to upstream socially unsustainable practices. When such an incident occurs, firms need to shape effective response strategies. Firms must understand the mechanisms that formulate stakeholders’ perceptions and views toward the level of responsibility assigned to the firm. A qualitative content analysis approach was used to study stakeholders’ attributions and focal firms’ initial response (when the unsustainable upstream behaviour was first exposed to public) and post response (when stakeholders required explanations for the upstream unsustainable practice) strategies based on 76 upstream unsustainable incidents.