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I had the opportunity to attend the ESF (an Intertek shindig) in NY.  So much of my last two years have been tied up with worker safety efforts in Bangladesh, that I took note of the presentation given by Sarah Labowitz of NYU Stern.  The Sourcing Journal has a piece on her presentation that may be of interest: https://www.sourcingjournalonline.com/ethical-sourcing-forum-subcontracting-prevalent-brands-believe-td/ Labowitz describes Bangladesh’s RMG sector as a hub and spoke model of production, where the hub factories are the ones that have direct relationships with foreign brands, are often in good condition, with their own power plants, and are well lit and ventilated. And those hub factories have a lot of relationships with spoke factories. “The spoke factories are the invisible factories,” Labowitz said. They are often in mixed-use buildings, above auto repair shops, for example, and some don’t appear on any registry of factories in Bangladesh. Labowitz and her...

The cotton harvest was just completed in Uzbekistan. See a summary of events below. With Bangladesh, India and Russia being the largest importer of Uzbek cotton, will you be looking at your clothing labels different this Christmas season? If you understand the cotton supply chain, you'll realize that there is no easily discernible way of segregating cotton from one country. It's a commodity that is purchased, mixed, processed, mixed, processed, etc., before ever ending up in the hands of the cutters and sewers. Traceability is a huge hurdle to overcome. 2014-12-04 2014 Uzbek Cotton Harvest Update Webinar from As You Sow on Vimeo . Source: https://ethicallysourced.wordpress.com/

Source: http://www.osler.com/uploadedFiles/Gender-Diversity-on-Boards-and-in-Senior-Management.pdf Osler (law firm) has an update on gender diversity on boards/senior management at publicly traded companies in Canada. Specifically, updates to securities law in 2015 brings new disclosure requirements -- which Osler suggests, may change the diversity of boards. The old adage of what is measured gets changed is in play here. The under-representation of women on boards and in senior management roles has long been a concern. however, a confluence of better tools for communication and recruitment, a regulatory focus on the issue, and media interest in the topic, have highlighted the need to take steps to redress the imbalance. new disclosure requirements under Canadian securities laws which come into effect in 2015 are expected to have an impact on disclosure and practice. Additional info: Women on Boards: A Competitive Edge - Status of Women Canada At current rates we are generations away...