Value Chain Responsibility: A Farewell to Arm's Length*

This article discusses the evolving conception of responsibility within value chains from the perspective of stakeholder research. The recent managerial challenges to claims of arm's length transaction are examined following a brief discussion of stakeholder theory and a review of the related literature on supply chain ethics. Increased globalization of business is another factor that has raised attention to value chain responsibility. The ethical challenges for commodity value chains are magnified for purveyors of highly branded products. In addition to cases involving fraudulent claims, activists and attorneys are increasingly using lawsuits to hold firms responsible for acts committed in foreign countries.