Is supply chain thinking permeating the UK housebuilding industry? Findings from a survey of UK housebuilders

Today’s companies must understand and prevent the myriad problems flowing from labor issues. Increasingly demanding, serious compliance attention and resources are now being focused on the emerging area of human anti-trafficking and forced labor laws and regulations as they relate to business supply chains. These mandates include the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act, the Executive Order on Strengthening Protections Against Trafficking in Persons in Federal Contracts, and the UK Modern Slavery Act of 2015. By enlisting or conscripting companies into the fight against human trafficking, child labor, and other “forced” or “coerced” labor practices, these laws introduce a wholly new compliance reality requiring accountability and supply chain compliance.

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Documenting entrepreneurial opportunism in action

British Food Journal ◽

10.1108/bfj-07-2016-0324 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 119 (1) ◽

pp. 105-121 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Robert Smith

Keyword(s):

Supply Chain ◽

Design Methodology ◽

Historical Research ◽

Insurance Companies ◽

Criminal Enterprise ◽

Food Fraud ◽

Animal Products ◽

Content Type ◽

Food Integrity ◽

The Uk

Purpose The contemporary rustler is a shrewd businessman, or rogue farmer exploiting food supply chain anomalies. Indeed, the first conviction in the UK for 20 years was a farmer stealing from neighbouring farmers. The theft of sheep in the UK is an expanding criminal enterprise which remains under researched. The purpose of this paper is to examine what is known of the illegal trade and its links to food fraud from a supply chain perspective with an emphasis on food integrity issues. Design/methodology/approach There is a dearth of current viable literature on livestock theft in a western context making it necessary to turn to socio-historical research and to official documents such as those published by the NFU and other insurance companies to build up a picture of this illegal practice. This is supplemented by documentary research of articles published in the UK press. Findings From this raw data a typology of rustlers is developed. The findings point to insider “supply chain” knowledge being a key facet in the theft of livestock. Other examples in the typology relate to urban thieves wrestling live sheep into a car and to industry insiders associated with the abattoir sector. Research limitations/implications The obvious limitations is that as yet there are few detected cases of rustling in the UK so the developing typology of rustlers is sketchy. Another limitation is that much of the evidence upon which the typology is developed is anecdotal. Originality/value The typology should prove helpful to academics, insurance companies, investigators, industry insiders and farmers to help them understand this contemporary crime and how to prevent its spread. It also sheds light on food integrity in relation to the purchase and consumption of the end product in that customers expect to be purchasing legally and ethically reared animal products.

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