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Social Values and Sustainability: A Survey on Drivers, Barriers and Benefits of SA8000 Certification in Italian Firms

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  • Roberto Merli

    (Department of Business Studies, Roma Tre University, Via Silvio D'Amico, 77, 00145 Rome, Italy)

  • Michele Preziosi

    (Department of Business Studies, Roma Tre University, Via Silvio D'Amico, 77, 00145 Rome, Italy)

  • Ilaria Massa

    (Management Department, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Via del Castro Laurenziano 9, 00161 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

Companies are increasingly required to deal with sustainability issues through the adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices. Among the different CSR aspects, workers securities fulfill a necessary issue. SA8000 is an internationally accepted tool that aims to guarantee decent workplace across all industrial sectors. Italian companies represent more than 30% of certified organizations on a global level. Company size is a key factor in the definition of managerial strategies. A survey that involved more than 600 SA8000 certified companies has been conducted. Company dimension has been used as a parameter to interpret survey results. The aspects analyzed mainly consisted of drivers, barriers and benefits in SA8000 certification pathway. The study showed a high level of homogeneity among firms. According to SA8000 requirements, one of the main issues is the implementation of control and awareness mechanisms addressed to suppliers. Survey results highlight that all respondents recognize the importance of suppliers’ involvement, considered as one of the most difficult phases in implementing certification. However, there were no significant differences among Micro, Small, Medium and Large companies.

Suggested Citation

  • Roberto Merli & Michele Preziosi & Ilaria Massa, 2015. "Social Values and Sustainability: A Survey on Drivers, Barriers and Benefits of SA8000 Certification in Italian Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-11, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:4:p:4120-4130:d:47872
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Stigzelius, Ingrid & Mark-Herbert, Cecilia, 2009. "Tailoring corporate responsibility to suppliers: Managing SA8000 in Indian garment manufacturing," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 46-56, March.
    2. Ciliberti, Francesco & Pontrandolfo, Pierpaolo & Scozzi, Barbara, 2008. "Logistics social responsibility: Standard adoption and practices in Italian companies," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 88-106, May.
    3. Rupert J. Baumgartner & Daniela Ebner, 2010. "Corporate sustainability strategies: sustainability profiles and maturity levels," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(2), pages 76-89.
    4. Massimo Battaglia & Lara Bianchi & Marco Frey & Fabio Iraldo, 2010. "An innovative model to promote CSR among SMEs operating in industrial clusters: evidence from an EU project," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(3), pages 133-141, May.
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    1. Gregorio Rius-Sorolla & Sofía Estelles-Miguel & Carlos Rueda-Armengot, 2020. "Multivariable Supplier Segmentation in Sustainable Supply Chain Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-16, June.
    2. Annalisa De Boni & Pietro Pulina & Rocco Roma, 2016. "Adaptation processes of agro-food companies toward responsibility," Economia agro-alimentare, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 18(1), pages 13-38.
    3. Nelly Oelze & Tim Gruchmann & Marcus Brandenburg, 2020. "Motivating Factors for Implementing Apparel Certification Schemes—A Sustainable Supply Chain Management Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-15, June.
    4. Irene Marcuzzi & Matteo Podrecca & Marco Sartor & Guido Nassimbeni, 2023. "Out of social accountability: Reasons and alternative paths for SA8000 decertification," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(6), pages 3140-3158, November.
    5. Arnaud Lacan, 2022. "Value-Based Governance as a Performance Element in Social and Solidarity Economy Organizations: A French Sustainable Post-Modern Proposal," Post-Print hal-03620280, HAL.
    6. Gilberto Santos & Federica Murmura & Laura Bravi, 2018. "SA 8000 as a Tool for a Sustainable Development Strategy," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(1), pages 95-105, January.
    7. Luthra, Sunil & Mangla, Sachin Kumar & Xu, Lei & Diabat, Ali, 2016. "Using AHP to evaluate barriers in adopting sustainable consumption and production initiatives in a supply chain," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 181(PB), pages 342-349.
    8. Shivam Goyal & Dixit Garg & Sunil Luthra, 2021. "Sustainable production and consumption: analysing barriers and solutions for maintaining green tomorrow by using fuzzy-AHP–fuzzy-TOPSIS hybrid framework," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(11), pages 16934-16980, November.
    9. Arnaud Lacan, 2022. "Value-Based Governance as a Performance Element in Social and Solidarity Economy Organizations: A French Sustainable Post-Modern Proposal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-11, February.

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    Keywords

    SA8000; Corporate Social Responsibility; CSR; Survey; Italy;
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