While the research design criteria described in this chapter are not easy to implement, they are nonetheless standard practice in other domains of program evaluation. The number of organizations becoming certified under SA 8000 and similar codes continues to rise, while additional codes governing working conditions continue to emerge. At the same time, a fierce debate is raging about whether these codes represent substantive efforts to improve working conditions or merely symbolic efforts that allow organizations to score marketing points and counteract stakeholder pressure by merely filing some paperwork. Many critics have also raised questions about the skills and incentives of those charged with monitoring and certifying organizations as being in compliance with all the terms of these codes. Until more rigorous evaluations are conducted, these debates will continue unresolved. We believe evaluations designed with the features described in this chapter will help introduce systematic evidence to these important debates. This could help identify which particular codes are best able to distinguish those organizations with superior working conditions. Just as importantly, such evaluations may shed light on which elements of the codes are most effective and which types of monitoring systems represent best practices, and which areas are most in need of improvement.
While the research design criteria described in this chapter are not easy to implement, they are nonetheless standard practice in other domains of program evaluation. The number of organizations becoming certified under SA 8000 and similar codes continues to rise, while additional codes governing working conditions continue to emerge. At the same time, a fierce debate is raging about whether these codes represent substantive efforts to improve working conditions or merely symbolic efforts that allow organizations to score marketing points and counteract stakeholder pressure by merely filing some paperwork. Many critics have also raised questions about the skills and incentives of those charged with monitoring and certifying organizations as being in compliance with all the terms of these codes. Until more rigorous evaluations are conducted, these debates will continue unresolved. We believe evaluations designed with the features described in this chapter will help introduce systematic evidence to these important debates. This could help identify which particular codes are best able to distinguish those organizations with superior working conditions. Just as importantly, such evaluations may shed light on which elements of the codes are most effective and which types of monitoring systems represent best practices, and which areas are most in need of improvement.
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