Dr. Nils Kruse, Head of Institute for Business Ethics & Sustainable Strategy (IBES) at FHWien der WKW, was a keynote speaker at the Austrian National Contact Point of the OECD on March 30, 2023. The roundtable on workers’ representation focused on “Due diligence along the corporate value chain”.
In his presentation, Nils Kruse discussed the risks and opportunities for companies in view of corporate due diligence in the downstream supply chain. The presentation referred, among other things, to the study on “Supply Chain Responsibility in Austria” published in August 2022. Its results show that Austrian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are currently mainly affected indirectly by supply chain regulations in other countries. But since corporate responsibility for human rights and environmental issues is expected to gain further relevance in the coming years, addressing the issue early on can also bring first-mover advantages to Austrian SMEs.
The entire study can be found on the website of the competence centre “Forschungsschwerpunkt Internationale Wirtschaft” (FIW) of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy (German abbreviation: BMAW) .