Sarosh Kuruvilla is currently Professor of Industrial Relations, Asian Studies and Public Affairs at Cornell University. He joined Cornell’s faculty in 1990 after obtaining a doctorate in business administration from the University of Iowa in 1989, and after a career as a labor relations manager in the industry in India. He currently directs the New Conversations Project: Sustainable Labor Standards In Global Supply Chains.
COURSE OVERVIEW
Research from Cornell’s New Conversations Project shows that despite 25 years of sustainability efforts through codes of conduct, factory auditing, and remediation, there has been little improvement overall in labor conditions in global supply chains.
Data from leading firms demonstrate that sustainable improvement in supplier labor practices occurs when companies integrate their sustainability practices with their sourcing practices. While many organizations have already begun to do this, the COVID-19 crisis has hastened the process, forcing companies to reexamine their supply chains and reconfigure relationships among buyers, suppliers, and workers.
How can sustainable improvements in working conditions be made in the COVID era with its rapid reorganization of supply chains? What factors limit an organization’s abilities to integrate sourcing and sustainability strategies? How will global companies in apparel and other sectors navigate the necessary changes in relationships with suppliers and workers? What does Cornell’s new analysis tell us about supply chain resiliency generally and how to achieve better results in labor and human rights programs?
In this live interactive online program, you’ll explore how rigorous analysis of supply chain data and evidence-based decision making can be scaled up to produce better labor practices, sourcing decisions, and responsible business strategy.
PROGRAM SCHEDULE
- Session 1:
- 25 Years of Codes of Conduct: Data on Failures and Successes
- Wednesday, November 11, 11:00am – 1:00pm EST
- Session 2:
- Causes of Failure: Decoupling Organizational Policies and Practices From Worker Outcomes
- Wednesday, November 18, 11:00am – 1:00pm EST
- Session 3:
- How Best to Align Sourcing and Compliance Strategies Inside Companies
- Wednesday, December 2, 11:00am – 1:00pm EST
- Session 4:
- What Next? Towards Systemic Change and Evidence-Based Decisions
- Wednesday, December 9, 11:00am – 1:00pm EST
As this program is highly interactive, participants are expected to fully participate in all four live sessions. To review the detailed schedule and individual session descriptions, please download the brochure.
- Discover barriers to the effectiveness of current labor policies and practices based on new industry research by Cornell's New Conversations Project
- Use best practices, predictive analysis, and evidence-based decision making to assess and improve the effectiveness of your organization's global labor supply chain
- Get up to speed on emerging models, coming changes in public regulation of supply chains, and new evidence about what works to improve supply chain labor practices

How It Works
Course Authors
Jason Judd is Executive Director of the Cornell ILR New Conversations Project which focuses on improving global labor practices. He previously led the Ship to Shore Rights Project at the International Labor Organization in Bangkok and served as Vice President of the Fair Labor Association in Washington, DC, where he directed all accountability programs including the FLA’s Fair Compensation work. He has worked in senior roles for the ILO’s Better Work program, Demos (New York), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the AFL-CIO, the Solidarity Center, and the Industrial Areas Foundation. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Financial Times, and on PBS. He is a former Fulbright Fellow, and holds an A.B. in Economics from Duke University and an M.P.A. from l’École Nationale d’Administration (ENA/RULE).
Who Should Enroll
- Senior employees (VPs, AVPs, department heads, deputy department heads, etc.) of buyer, supplier, civil society, government sustainability, and labor practice programs involving global supply chains
- Senior employees with corporate social responsibilities for a company with global supply chains

- Sustainable Supply Chains Letter of Completion from the Cornell ILR School
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