Nora Große

What sparked your interest in researching sustainability in global value chains?

Already in 2011, I wrote my B.A. thesis on the limits of Corporate Codes of Conduct in regulating labour rights in GVCs. I remember watching documentaries about sweatshop conditions and boycotting garment retailers, but soon realised that a focus on individual consumer behaviour is distracting from more structural changes. At the same time, I’ve been puzzled about extreme global inequalities, so my continuing interest is if and under which conditions particular regions and actors in the Global South can benefit from historically unequal trade relations in global supply chains. The role of multinational corporations has been particularly striking to me in that context, due to their massive (in-)direct influence on investment and policy-making decisions in many countries.

What is the focus of your current research, and what impact do you hope it will have?

Since I started my PhD position with Prof. Elke Schüßler in March 2025, I’ve been adopting a management and organization (M&O) science perspective on sustainability governance in GVCs. I will be looking at intra- and interorganizational management practices contributing to (or impeding) the realization of sustainability and human rights in selected GVC, while of course taking legal, political and regional context factors into account. So I hope to contribute to the Wissenschaftsraum with concrete empirical insights on corporate sourcing practices, while hopefully also making a theoretical contribution to M&O sciences and the sustainable supply chain management literature.

What do you see as the biggest knowledge gaps in sustainable global value chains?

Since I am still at the start of my PhD journey, I consider this to be my task for the coming months. So far (including my previous NGO work on the topic), my impression is that knowledge on the main socio-ecological risks and challenges within most GVCs in most sourcing countries is already out there, but systemic, holistic solutions are still missing. I personally think that we need to go beyond the current jungle of certificates and labels that mainly confuse consumers, are vulnerable to corruption and demand high initial investments, so they often don’t reach the poorest workers or smallest farmers.

How do you hope to collaborate with others in this research network?

The network’s multidisciplinarity is a big asset, so I hope to learn from and integrate some other perspectives into my research – from geography, politics/law and supply chain management, for instance. I can imagine this via regular inputs and critical discussions at meetings or conferences, common publications and further outreach formats. What exactly makes sense will also depend on everyone’s research focus.

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