Miller Center Fellowship

Document Type

Research Report

Publication Date

11-2014

Abstract

Good World Solutions (GWS) is a social enterprise at the cutting edge of building transparency in global supply chains by connecting factory workers at the base of the pyramid with supply chain managers through affordable, scalable web and mobile technologies. GWS is supporting clothing brands that source from India through conducting mobile surveys in clothing factories through their innovative technology, Labor Link. By enabling workers to take a short mobile survey on banking, working conditions, and other subjects, GWS is able to gather a significant amount of quantitative data from workers that does not get skewed by factory management or other intermediaries, which is often the case with other surveys directed by factory management. In this way, GWS is able to guarantee anonymity to workers participating in surveys and communicate valid findings to brands that therefore become aware of the issues facing their workers at the base of their supply chain.

While this quantitative data that GWS collects is useful in making supply chain managers aware of the conditions in their contracted factories, GWS’s impact can grow through supplementing quantitative with qualitative research aimed at understanding factory workers’ lives and their perception of Labor Link surveys. With this in mind, GWS partnered with Santa Clara University Global Social Benefit Fellows, Matt Stockamp and Holly McKenna, who spent five weeks in India to research factory workers, in an effort to collect data on workers’ lives, their engagement with technology, and their experience with Labor Link. The fellows interviewed a total of 16 individuals in five factories from Delhi to Bangalore. Of these respondents, 14 were workers and two were managers. To supplement the interviews’ contents, one fellow documented the factory visits with photographs and video clips, which allows the reader to glimpse into the world where this research was conducted.

This report contains the limitations and methodology of this research and the quantitative and qualitative data that has been extracted from interview transcriptions, observations made in the factory, and conversations with NGOs based in India. From the research conducted, findings have been deduced, which focus on how workers interact with Labor Link and the survey’s impact on workers’ lives. They are particularly relevant as they provide a good lens for how Labor Link works in the field. From these findings, recommendations have been compiled that address some possible ways for Labor Link to improve in India’s evolving tech market.

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