Corporate social responsibility in global supply chains has become an increasingly salient issue for many organisations. In a response to this, the aim of this research is to consider the influence of strategic management, and in particular the role of business strategy, in shaping socially and environmentally responsible purchasing and supply management activities. In examining this theme, this research draws heavily upon recent conceptualisations of the relationship between strategic management and corporate social responsibility, and empirically assesses this relationship with a focus on such practices within the supply chain. Using a novel data collection approach to capture firms’ actual social and environmental supply management activities, these data draw on interviews with 178 UK-based firms and observations of 340 separate buyer-supplier relationships. Primary data were supplemented with secondary data to capture both industry and firm characteristics. This methodology minimises social desirability bias and common source bias. The findings suggest that responsible purchasing and supply management is strongly driven by business strategy in the business to consumer market. In contrast, in the business to business market such initiatives are largely influenced by firms’ financial resources and economic obligations. In both the business to consumer and business to business sector, however, business strategy and financial resources are contingent on the industry environment. Hence, the industry environment plays a significant, albeit indirect, role in shaping socially and environmentally responsible purchasing and supply management activities. This research offers one of the first insights into how strategic management, and in particular how business strategy, influences firms’ investments in socially and environmentally responsible purchasing and supply management initiatives. Through conceptual and empirical investigations this research highlights this relationship and notes the importance of integrating business strategy with general supplier practices, with a focus on the implementation of corporate social responsibility in individual buyer-supplier relationships.

The apparel industry is one of the first industries being criticized and publicly shamed for not taking enough social responsibility for the workers in their supply chain. Today, most of the apparel production takes place in developing countries such as Bangladesh, China, Cambodia and Vietnam. Social issues in the apparel supply chain are often related to health and safety, minimum wages, overtime, child labor and the lack of freedom of association. Controlling these social issues is difficult since the apparel companies and their suppliers are geographically and culturally separated. Furthermore, the production of apparel takes place in countries with weaker legal frameworks not being strict enough to protect the workers' rights. Hence, the apparel companies face major challenges in controlling the fulfillment of international standards from the International Labor Organization and United Nations. There is a lack of research on the topic related to social sustainability practices in the supply chain and researchers state that it requires more attention, by focusing on how companies' code of conducts (CoC) and international standards can be used more effectively in the context of sourcing and social responsibility. To address the research gap, the purpose of the study is to understand how brand-owning apparel companies in Scandinavia control social sustainability in their supplier networks. Based on those findings, we will compare the relation between the empirical data and what theories and international standards illustrate as critical aspects for controlling social sustainability. In the study, we have conducted semi-structured interviews with seven Scandinavian apparel companies. Since social sustainability can be a sensitive topic for companies to share information on, we have also conducted an interview with Nina Wertholz, working at the non-profit organization Fair Action, providing a different perspective. By using a thematic analysis, two main themes have been identified that together answer the research question, namely control measures and factors affecting control. Firstly, control measures relate to what the companies' control consists of and our findings demonstrate risk assessments, code of conduct, audits, and measurement as the main tools. Still, we conclude that these control measures are not sufficient to control social sustainability in the supplier network. Secondly, factors affecting control can explain the outcome of controlling social sustainability. Findings advocate that a good collaboration, providing support and a shared interest can facilitate a higher degree of control. Additionally, our findings shows that companies with smaller order quantities have less influence and control over their supplier's social sustainability practices. We also infer that the number of suppliers and which countries the companies choose to source from will affect the obtained level of control. Furthermore, decisions regarding the supplier base and the sourcing country are active choices made by the companies. Lastly, we conclude that the companies' purchasing behavior can affect the level of control related to wages, incomes, and overtime for the workers in the apparel supply chain.