Business Ethics, Accountability and Governance Research Cluster

Staff involved: Tim Freeman and Lilian Miles (external cluster member)

Our suite of work related to Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) in SE Asia marshals the collective efforts of academics in the UK and Malaysia, local NGO practitioners, and staff from international relief agencies. Focused on UN Sustainable Development Goals #3 (health and well-being) and #5 (gender equality), these projects support the development, delivery and evaluation of SRH interventions to migrant and refugee communities within Malaysia. 

The research has had demonstrable impact on policy and practice alongside academic impact through publication in academic journals ranked highly in the ABS list (ABS 3* and 4*). Project materials were included in an Impact Case Study submitted to Business and Management (UOA17) in REF2021 – and our ongoing projects are building strong impact and outputs for the future.

Recent projects:

• NGO capacity building for sustainable management of SRH needs among the Rohingya in Malaysia. Sponsor: UNFPA
• Social media sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) awareness for urban Rohingya adolescents in Malaysia. Sponsor: University of Cyberjaya Research Grant Scheme (URGS)
• Supporting the Reproductive Health Needs of Women Migrant Workers in the service and hospitality industries, women migrant domestic workers and women Rohingya refugees in Malaysia. Sponsor: UK Research and Innovation
• Knowledge exchange for societal benefit: Piloting a toolkit to support the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs of women migrant workers in Malaysia. Sponsor MDX University (HEIF)
• Piloting Health Interventions to advance the Sexual and Reproductive Health of Women Migrant Workers in Malaysia. Sponsor: Newton Fund Impact Scheme. 

Staff involved: Andrea Werner, Siân Stephens

Building on long-standing research within Middlesex University Business School on the national minimum wage and ethical and social responsibility of business, this research stream investigates employers’ adoption of the voluntary or real Living Wage. A key research focus has been the engagement of small and medium-sized enterprises with the real Living Wage, with the Barrow Cadbury Trust funding our seminal study in 2016; the impact of which is outlined in a REF2021 case study. Ongoing sector-specific studies, funded by the Living Wage Foundation focuses on the adoption of the real Living Wage in the social care sector and hospitality sector in London. This work has formed the basis of the Living Wage Foundation toolkits, used to reach out and engage with employers.

Staff involved: Andrea Werner, Patrick Elf, Fergus Lyon

This cross-university research collaboration between the Centre for Sustainable Fashion (London College of Fashion) and Middlesex University focuses on the transformation of the fashion sector towards sustainability. An Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded project investigated the role of creative entrepreneurship and design in micro and small fashion enterprises (MSEs) as a driver for a more sustainable fashion industry. The research analysed business models and practices in the fashion sector that foster a balance between environmental, social, cultural and economic considerations. The research team produced a policy briefing and journal article outlining sustainable fashion businesses’ contribution to the circular economy. Our recent collaborative project, ‘Governance for Tomorrow’ funded by Kering, focuses on new and alternative governance models for luxury fashion.

Staff Involved: Sepideh Parsa, Ian Roper (external cluster member), Chandima Hettiarachchi, Daniel Ozarow

Our research focuses on how large corporations govern and report their labour rights practices. Funded by various external bodies, including the British Academy, we examine evolving regulatory landscapes and the challenges corporations face in upholding human rights for employees within their direct operations and supply chain workforce, domestically and internationally. We address the governance mechanisms and processes that guide these reporting practices, exploring how effective oversight and accountability frameworks support ethical labour standards in corporate structures and relate to the public governance of labour rights at lower tiers of supply chains across diverse geographical locations. Our findings have contributed to the reporting landscape internationally (e.g., the GRI) and domestically [e.g. in relation to Local Authorities].

Staff involved: Siân Stephens, Lisa Schulte

This project builds on expertise in the more traditional extractive industry, to identify opportunities and challenges facing the renewable energy industry and their host communities. Completed work includes research on the social license to operate in onshore wind farm communities in Scotland and South Africa, and participation in a British Academy funded project on the just transition in Denmark, England, Germany and South Africa. Our current research is considering less high-profile sources of alternative energy, including an internally funded pilot study on energy-from-waste, and the impact of this on urban communities.

• Aliyu, S. (2024) Issues in sustainability reporting assurance: evidence from interviews. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal. 15 (3), pp. 628-653. https://doi.org/10.1108/sampj-07-2023-0457
• Au, W., Stephens, S. and Ahmed, P.K. (2024) Relational HR Practices in Malaysian SMEs: An Ethics of Care Perspective. Journal of Business Ethics 191, pp. 323–336. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-023-05458-1
• Elf, P., and Werner, A. (2024) The (only) future of fashion? The role of small sustainable entrepreneurship in driving transformational change In: Scott, K., Curtis, B. and Pajaczkowska, C. (eds) The Future of Fashion Education: Speculation, Experience and Collaboration (pp. 199-207). Routledge DOI: 10.4324/9781003505426-21
• Freeman, T., Miles, L. and Ying, K. (2024) Self-surveillance practices of factory women migrant workers receiving SRH interventions in Malaysia: The effects of salience, gendered subjectivity and universalism Economic and Industrial Democracy 
  https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0143831X231225098
• Hettiarachchi, C., Parsa, S. and Roper, I. (2024). Benevolent authoritarianism, paternalism and religious humanitarianism in Sri Lanka: a dependent or autonomous HR?. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, pp.1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2024.2421343

• Au, W.C., Stephens, S., Pervaiz, K. A. (2023) I Am Not Just a Nurse –The Need for a Boundaried Ethic of Care in the Context of Prolific Relationality, Journal of Business Ethics 186,  pp. 493-510 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-022-05246-3
• Freeman, T., Miles, L., Ying, K., Mat-Yasin, S., and Lai, W.T. (2023) At the limits of 'Capability': The sexual and reproductive health of women migrant workers in Malaysia, Sociology of Health and Illness, 45(5), pp. 947-970 DOI:10.1111/1467-9566.13323 
• Parsa, S., Roper, I., Maurer, I., and Mueller-Camen, M. (2023). Soft law regulation and labour rights reporting: a deficit in moral legitimacy?. In Accounting Forum (pp. 1-25) https://doi.org/10.1080/01559982.2023.2250030
• Parsa, S. and Werner, A. (2023) Addressing challenges to labour rights reporting on global value chains: social governance mechanisms as a way forward. In: Kacanski, S. , Kabderian Dreyer, J. and Sund, K. J. , eds. Measuring Sustainability and CSR: From Reporting to Decision-Making (Ethical Economy, 64). ‎Springer, Cham, pp. 95-106 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26959-2_10
• Rohani, A, Jabbour, M, and Aliyu, S (2023) Corporate incentives for obtaining higher level of carbon assurance: seeking legitimacy or improving performance? Journal of Applied Accounting Research 24(4), pp. 701-725 https://doi.org/10.1108/JAAR-03-2022-0055

• Elf, P., Werner, A., Black, S. (2022) Advancing the circular economy through dynamic capabilities and extended customer engagement: Insights from small sustainable fashion enterprises in the UK. Business Strategy and the Environment, 31 (6), 2682-2699. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2999
• Miles, L., Endut, N., Freeman, T., Ying, K., Lai, W. and Mat-Yasin, S. (2022) A handbook to support the sexual and reproductive health needs of factory women migrant workers. Pulau Pinang, Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia. https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/item/89z71
• Parsa, S., Roper, I. and Hettiarachchi, C. (2022) Transparency and disclosure in supply chains: modern slavery and worker voice. Project Report. Middlesex University, London & University of Essex, Colchester, UK https://doi.org/10.57685/EPRINTS.MDX.AC.UK.00034618
• Schulte, L., Stephens, S., Klindt, M. P., Umney, C. and Robinson, B. (2022). Final report: Wind Energy and the just transition. Political and socio-economic pinch points in wind turbine manufacturing and windfarm communities in Europe and South Africa. Project Report. Middlesex University UK, Aalborg University DK, University of Leeds UK, Nelson Mandela University ZA. https://doi.org/10.57685/EPRINTS.MDX.AC.UK.00036755

• Miles L., Freeman, T., Lai, W.T., Mat-Yasin, S., and Ying, K. (2021) 'Empowerment as a pre-requisite to managing and influencing health in the workplace: The Sexual and Reproductive Health needs of factory women migrant workers in Malaysia', Economic and Industrial Democracy,  DOI:10.1177/0143831X211024725 [ABS 3*] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0143831X211024725
• Parsa, S., Dai, N., Belal, A., Li, T. and Tang, G., 2021. Corporate social responsibility reporting in China: Political, social and corporate influences. Accounting and Business Research, 51(1), pp. 36-64. https://doi.org/10.1080/00014788.2020.1780110
• Stephens, S. and Robinson, B. 2021. The social license to operate in the onshore wind energy industry: a comparative case study of Scotland and South Africa. Energy Policy. 148 (b). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111981
• Werner, A. (2021). Why do managers of small and medium-sized businesses seek voluntary Living Wage accreditation?–an exploration of choice rationales. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 30 (6), 778-789. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2021.1908417
• Werner, A. (2021). Living wage implementation in adult social care: challenges, solutions and benefits. Project Report. Middlesex University https://doi.org/10.22023/mdx.16610725