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Article
Publication date: 17 May 2013

Eileen Davenport and William Low

There is a growing academic literature exploring the fair trade movement but, to date, there has been little explicit discussion of accountability within the movement. This paper…

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Abstract

Purpose

There is a growing academic literature exploring the fair trade movement but, to date, there has been little explicit discussion of accountability within the movement. This paper aims to cast the development of the fair trade movement within a shift from trust‐based relationships to standards‐based systems. The authors particularly aim to focus on the dominance of an external accountability approach being used for Fair Trade Labelling Organization International (FLO) certified products versus an internal accountability approach being adopted through organizational self‐assessment of World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) members.

Design/methodology/approach

While this is predominantly a conceptual paper, the authors draw on primary research with northern and southern fair trade organizations (FTOs). Five southern FTOs were interviewed along with three northern FTOs.

Findings

The paper illustrates the conflict that Power expressed about trust increasingly being placed in formalized “rituals” of auditing rather than in organizations. Standards‐based certification has played a crucial role in mainstreaming fair trade food which reduces the trust relationship to a label and relies on market‐based mechanisms of “ethical consumerism” to signal (dis)content with the operations of the certification system. By contrast, organizational self‐assessment under development by WFTO, which has proven popular amongst southern FTOs, fitting their organisational culture(s) and contributing to organisational learning and democracy, creates greater accountability to internal stakeholders such as producers.

Originality/value

This paper draws direct comparisons between the FLO system of certification of products and the WFTO process of self‐assessment of organizations. It demonstrates that the WFTO system builds on the movement's tradition of democracy and trust. Producers, southern FTOs, and northern FTOs must demonstrate their democratic principles throughout the supply chain up to consumers. Conversely the FLO system governs the products themselves and largely leaves the participants, other than producer groups, free of demands for corporate social responsibility and organizational learning.

Details

Social Enterprise Journal, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-8614

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Article
Publication date: 19 October 2012

Eileen Davenport and Will Low

This paper critically examines the marketing of fair trade, arguing that the use of the term producer conflates a number of categories of actors, not all of whom benefit equally…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper critically examines the marketing of fair trade, arguing that the use of the term producer conflates a number of categories of actors, not all of whom benefit equally. The authors contend that the two existing archetypes – the noble peasant farmer and the independent artisan – and the emerging archetype of the “empowered decision maker” serve to obscure and mask complex labour relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

This conceptual paper draws on a wide range of literature and original fieldwork conducted by the authors to illustrate the three marketing archetypes in the fair trade value chain.

Findings

Hidden behind the three dominant archetypes used to promote fair trade is a relationship between fair trade “producers” (small farmer, craft enterprise and plantations) and permanent and temporary/casual labourers. The trickle‐down of fair trade benefits to these workers is uneven at best and falls far short of the expectation of empowerment of all “producers” that fair trade promises.

Research limitations/implications

The fair trade project must look beyond the simple archetypes to engage more deeply with labour issues in the fair trade value chain, and to re‐engage with fair trade as a development strategy through which broader and more complex forms of empowerment can be realised.

Practical implications

Fair trade standards are not a substitute for organised labour's activities. Interactions between trade unions and fair trade bodies could ensure that existing labour standards are met, and improvements in the lives of all workers can occur.

Originality/value

This paper conceptualises three fair trade mainstream marketing archetypes and suggests why and how the fair trade movement must move beyond these to ensure empowerment amongst its least well‐off stakeholders.

Details

Critical perspectives on international business, vol. 8 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

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Article
Publication date: 1 October 2005

William Low and Eileen Davenport

This paper examines the ethics of marketing both fair trade products and the movement's message of change, as fair trade shifts from a distribution system that relied on…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper examines the ethics of marketing both fair trade products and the movement's message of change, as fair trade shifts from a distribution system that relied on alternative distribution channels to one that is increasingly reliant on the commercial mainstream. The marketing of fair trade through mainstream commercial distribution channels has been the major success and the major challenge for the fair trade movement over the past decade.

Design/methodology/approach

A conceptual approach and discussion are taken.

Findings

First, we introduce the term “Clean‐wash” to describe a range of ways in which marketing fair trade through mainstream distribution channels creates opportunities for commercial businesses to appropriate and regulate the terrain. Second, the paper illustrates how mainstream marketing of fair trade has shifted the message of fair trade from participation in an international programme of trade reform to one about “shopping for a better world”. Finally, the paper explores a number of innovations the movement is using that protects the integrity of the principles of fair trade and sells both products and the message of change.

Research limitations/implications

Innovations discussed in the paper termed “the Alternative High Street”, see the merging of consumption with social action, and counter‐pose them with the mainstream idea of ethical consumerism. The concept of an Alternative High Street describes the fair trade movement's attempts to address the challenges and dangers of mainstreaming, and presents a way of thinking about the co‐creation of value between producers, retailers and consumers.

Originality/value

This paper will be of interest to marketing professionals and “values‐driven organisations”, providing a case study of how a seemingly highly successful brand marketing strategy may actually undermine the original ethical interest of a venture.

Details

International Marketing Review, vol. 22 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-1335

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Article
Publication date: 17 May 2013

Bob Doherty and Benjamin Huybrechts

This paper seeks to pinpoint the role played by social enterprises in the growth and mainstreaming of fair trade.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to pinpoint the role played by social enterprises in the growth and mainstreaming of fair trade.

Design/methodology/approach

The review encompasses seminal papers on the growth and mainstreaming of fair trade.

Findings

A crucial role is played by social enterprises in establishing fair trade in the mainstream. However this mainstreaming is contested and is argued by some to also lead to potential mission drift.

Research limitations/implications

This review primarily investigates the Northern aspects of fair trade, in particular the role of social enterprise in the market growth of fair trade and its mainstreaming. However more research is required to unpack the producer perspectives of mainstreaming fair trade.

Practical implications

The article investigates one of the pioneering fields of social enterprise to see what lessons can be drawn for other social enterprise sectors that have mainstream ambitions.

Originality/value

This contribution provides a novel review to demonstrate the role played by social enterprise in the growth of fair trade. It argues that the dual mission of fair trade is out of balance and is in danger of becoming reduced to a certification scheme based on minimum compliance. However a rebalancing of social and commercial objectives and acknowledging the innovative approach of fair trade social enterprises would strengthen this pioneering social movement.

Details

Social Enterprise Journal, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-8614

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Article
Publication date: 1 October 2005

Marylyn Carrigan, Svetla Marinova and Isabelle Szmigin

This paper is a general review contextualising the current debate on ethics and international marketing. The aim of the paper is to present an overview of historical and current…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper is a general review contextualising the current debate on ethics and international marketing. The aim of the paper is to present an overview of historical and current trends as a background for this special issue edition of International Marketing Review focusing on international marketing ethics.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper examines how ethics in international marketing have evolved and progressed towards the current “ethics era” and presents discussion surrounding the role and value of an ethical approach towards marketing in a global marketplace.

Findings

Essentially the paper argues that marketers should creatively embrace the complex challenges of the international marketplace by rethinking their approach to marketing ethics.

Originality/value

Gives an overview of the special issue.

Details

International Marketing Review, vol. 22 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-1335

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Book part
Publication date: 30 November 2006

Daphnée Rentfrow

Writing in 1995, what seems from our vantage point an almost primitive moment in technological evolution, hypertext theorist, and fiction writer Catherine Marshall, with her…

Abstract

Writing in 1995, what seems from our vantage point an almost primitive moment in technological evolution, hypertext theorist, and fiction writer Catherine Marshall, with her colleague David Levy, presciently described modern libraries;The academic and public libraries most of us have grown up with are the products of innovation begun approximately 150 years ago. We would find libraries that existed prior to that time largely unrecognizable. It is certain that the introduction of digital technologies will again transform libraries, possibly beyond recognition by transforming the mix of materials in their collections and the methods by which these materials are maintained and used. But the better word for these evolving institutions is “libraries,” not digital libraries, for ultimately what must be preserved is the heterogeneity of materials and practices. As library materials and practices of the past have been diverse—more diverse than idealized accounts allow—so they no doubt will remain in the future (Levy and Marshall, 1995, p. 77).By reminding us that libraries were always much more than repositories of collated pages of print, Levy and Marshall highlight the characteristics of modern libraries that mark them not as something new and different, but as something wholly in keeping with the diversity of “traditional” library holdings. “Our idealized image of a library imbues it with qualities of fixity and permanence. This is hardly surprising, since the library is considered to be the Home of the Book, and books are by and large one of the more fixed, more permanent types of documents,” the authors write, but “libraries have always contained materials other than books. Special collections and archives are filled with unbound and handwritten ephemera—correspondence, photographs, and so on … [And] traditional libraries have long contained a diversity of technologies and media; today these include film and video, microfilm and microfiche, vellum and papyrus” (p.77). Now that libraries contain various forms of digital media as standard parts of their collections (electronic journals, electronic catalogs, digital images, digitized sound files), the distinction between “traditional” and “digital” libraries has lost much of its original use, and so has the distinction between traditional and new types of librarians, the stewards of the libraries in any and all forms.

Details

Advances in Librarianship
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-007-4

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Article
Publication date: 1 February 1974

Frances Neel Cheney

Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Term. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are…

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Abstract

Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Term. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

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Book part
Publication date: 14 December 2023

Francine Darroch, Sydney Smith, Audrey Giles and Heather Hillsburg

Mothers play important roles in their families' lives. When they are high performance athletes, they need specific supports that will enable them to excel in their roles as mother…

Abstract

Mothers play important roles in their families' lives. When they are high performance athletes, they need specific supports that will enable them to excel in their roles as mother athletes. The feminist qualitative research in this chapter is based on data from two studies drawn from semi-structured interviews with elite female distance runners: 14 in 2013–2014 and 11 in 2021. We address two questions: (1) what are the considerations that elite female distance runners make around planning their pregnancy(ies) and family lives? and (2) how have experiences shifted between athlete interviews in 2013–2014 and a new cohort of athletes in 2021? In order to address these questions, we drew on three complementary theoretical approaches: liberal feminism, radical feminism, and strategic essentialism. Further, we then used thematic analysis and generated three broader themes about elite female distance runners that aligned with both cohorts of athletes. First, athletes are forced to plan/strategize their pregnancies around finances, competitions, contracts, and spousal supports due to the lack of support from athletic governing bodies or corporate sponsors. Second, female athletes who choose to have children experience stress and uncertainty in their athletic careers that their male counterparts do not. Third, elite female athletes are demanding that further change occur to address these inequalities, and participants offered a number of potential solutions to improve supports for these athletes. Although solid progress has been noted in the timeframes of our two cohorts, further commitment from athletic governing bodies and corporate sponsors is needed to work toward gender equity in athletics.

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Article
Publication date: 8 January 2018

Mary B. Curtis and Eileen Z. Taylor

This study aims to examine how public accounting firms can use developmental mentoring to increase knowledge sharing (KS) among employees directly and indirectly through affective…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine how public accounting firms can use developmental mentoring to increase knowledge sharing (KS) among employees directly and indirectly through affective organizational commitment.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a survey of public accounting professionals to elicit participants’ demographics and their perceptions of KS, mentoring relationships and organizational commitment in their workplace.

Findings

The findings support that two categories of challenges found in developmental mentoring, demonstrating dedication and resilience and career goal and risk orientation, are directly associated with increased KS and they, along with a third, measuring up to mentor’s standards, indirectly influence KS through their positive effect on organizational commitment. Applying social exchange theory, these challenges contribute to a reciprocal relationship between the protégé and mentor, which builds the relationship between the protégé and organization.

Practical implications

This study provides information about developmental mentoring that human resource professionals and managers in public accounting firms can use to address two persistent challenges facing them: increasing employees’ organizational commitment and encouraging employees to share their knowledge with others at work.

Originality/value

This study examines the concept of developmental mentoring, adopting three categories of mentoring challenges and applying them in the context of public accounting to examine their effect on KS.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 22 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

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Article
Publication date: 1 July 1927

THE publication last month of the long‐anticipated Report of the Departmental Public Libraries Committee is, of course, the principal recent event. It is too long to allow us to…

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Abstract

THE publication last month of the long‐anticipated Report of the Departmental Public Libraries Committee is, of course, the principal recent event. It is too long to allow us to give a full account of its arguments and conclusions, and in common with all who work for libraries we must return to it again and again in the future. It may be said, however, that it will allay the fears of those who thought that one result of the Committee's deliberations would be to support and to suggest the implementing of the Report of the Adult Education Committee of the lamented Ministry of Reconstruction, which would have handed over the public libraries of the country as a gift to the directors of education. This report does nothing of the kind; it even suggests that as public opinion is clearly opposed to such a course, the libraries should remain in the hands of those who made them an admitted success even under the adverse conditions of the limited rate. Thus the way is open to real progress, and the very confined conditions which would be a necessary result of the absorption of libraries in the official education machinery are not immediately to be dreaded.

Details

New Library World, vol. 30 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4803

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