Eliminating Modern Slavery from Supply Chains: Can Nestlé Lead the Way? 2 LINKAGES TO THEORY • Modern Slavery; Theoretical framework of modern slavery; Modern slavery and Corporate Social Responsibility; Human rights as a Management issue; Human rights and sustainability; Businesses as human rights advocates; • Carroll’s Pyramid of CSR; Managing change • Ethical supply chain; Supply chain mapping; Supply chain audit TEACHING THE CASE Ideally, the case may be distributed 2-5 days before the class. In the classroom, the case instructor can initiate the discussion by giving a brief introduction about the case and how companies are facing the heat related to modern slavery (5 minutes). This can be followed up with a discussion regarding Nestlé battling allegations of abetting child slavery in cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast while at the same time admitting to forced labor in its seafood supply chains in Thailand. The ethical dilemma facing Nestlé over the existence of slavery in its cocoa supply chains and the steps taken to combat it can also be touched upon. The instructor can take the discussion further with the help of the following questions. 1. What is modern slavery? Where does it fit in with a company’s CSR strategy? (10 minutes) 2. What are the conditions enabling slavery in cocoa supply chains in Ivory Coast? (10 minutes) 3. Why is tackling the issue of modern slavery so important for a company like Nestlé? (10 minutes) 4. Investigate the existence of modern slavery in Nestlé’s supply chains and its efforts to address the issue. (15 minutes) 5. Discuss the key challenges Nestlé faced while addressing modern slavery in its cocoa supply chain. (10 minutes) 6. What more should Nestlé do to mitigate the risk of modern slavery in its cocoa supply chain? (15 minutes) The learning from the case may be summarized at the end of the class (5 minutes). ANALYSIS 1. What is modern slavery? Where does it fit in with a company’s CSR strategy? The first modern definition of slavery appeared in the 1926 League of Nations Slavery Convention, which defined slavery as “the status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised” (Allain, 2009). Modern slavery can take several forms including forced labor, debt-bondage, child labor, wage exploitation, human trafficking, forced marriage, involuntary domestic servitude, or any other practice wherein victims are coerced through physical or mental threat to engage in unreasonable work. Increasing globalization means that nearly every corporation is exposed to the risk of forced labor and human trafficking in its supply chain. Modern slavery affects virtually all industries and can occur at any stage in the supply chain. It exists because it is profitable. Companies benefit hugely from cost savings through use of modern slavery (Crane, 2013). Forced labor within corporate global supply chains is a particularly elusive form of modern slavery that has been addressed the least. The ILO predicts that out of the 20.9 million victims of modern slavery globally, 14.2 million are victims of forced labor (See case exhibit).