Sourcing in an Increasingly Expensive China: Four Swedish Cases

China has long enjoyed its position as the world’s cheapest production country. However, this position is being shaken due to the increasingly rising costs in China in pace with China’s rapid economic development. China’s New Labour Contract Law which took effect from 1 January 2008 has further push...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs: Fang, Tony (Auteur) ; Gunterberg, Caroline (Auteur) ; Larsson, Emma (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
Vérifier la disponibilité: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Publié: 2010
Dans: Journal of business ethics
Année: 2010, Volume: 97, Numéro: 1, Pages: 119-138
Sujets non-standardisés:B CSR
B Price
B Swedish companies
B China
B textile and clothing industry (TCI)
B Manufacturing
B sourcing
Accès en ligne: Volltext (JSTOR)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Résumé:China has long enjoyed its position as the world’s cheapest production country. However, this position is being shaken due to the increasingly rising costs in China in pace with China’s rapid economic development. China’s New Labour Contract Law which took effect from 1 January 2008 has further pushed the labour costs in China in general. The purpose of this article is to arrive at an in-depth understanding of why foreign firms conduct sourcing in China where sourcing is becoming increasingly expensive. The experiences of four Swedish companies in the textile and clothing industry (TCI) conducting sourcing in China are presented. Our findings show that sourcing in China is becoming both cost- and strategy-driven. Companies purely chasing the cheapest production would most probably consider leaving China, whereas companies with a long-term strategic intent and a high level of business ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices will retain all or most of their sourcing activities on the Chinese soil despite the rising costs.
ISSN:1573-0697
Contient:Enthalten in: Journal of business ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10551-010-0499-9