Harvard Business School Features SHINE and Levi Strauss & Co. Worker Well-being Research

Harvard Business School’s Working Conditions in Supply Chains site, which focuses on providing key managerial insights from research on assessing and improving working conditions in supply chains, features SHINE’s work with Levi Strauss & Co.

The highlighted SHINE study focused on 4,600 workers in eight garment factories in Sri Lanka, Mexico, Cambodia, and China that supplied Levi Strauss & Co.  The comprehensive worker survey assessed worker well-being and working conditions in factories, yielding data that can supplement knowledge gained from third-party compliance audits. The authors Dorota Weziak-Bialowolska, Tamar Koosed, Carlued Leon, and Eileen McNeely examined the relationships between workers’ physical health, mental health, working conditions, work-related injuries, and job satisfaction.

Survey results indicate several relationships between working conditions and physical health. For example, workers expressing concerns about the factory’s temperature are more likely to also suffer job-related pain, fatigue, and injuries—and report lower job satisfaction. Those concerned with noise are more likely to report job-related fatigue ad report lower satisfaction.

Additional findings reveal relationships between worker perceptions of their work and their mental and physical health. For example, those who find their work meaningful report higher job satisfaction and less depression. Those who feel they can rely on their coworkers and who can trust management report higher job satisfaction and less stress. Workers who suffered verbal abuse over the prior year report lower job satisfaction, more depression and stress, and are more likely to report a work-related injury.

Find further insights from the report on the Harvard Business School Working Conditions in Supply Chains site and view the original paper published by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in their report Measuring the Impacts of Business on Well-being and Sustainability (on page 132).