Word: audits
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Suddenly it was clear that bogus parts were out there in great numbers. One of the first steps had to be to determine the scope of the problem. We crafted a series of audits and went to repair stations to count their stock. One of those was the FAA's own Logistics Center, where the agency kept the parts inventory for its own fleet. I felt considerable satisfaction at finding that 39% of the FAA's own spare parts were suspect. Inevitably, this finding outraged the FAA--they argued with us, insisting that our audit of random samples could...
...when I decided in 1995 that we should repeat our security audit, I expected that most of the more obvious breaches would prove to have been corrected. We decided to put particular emphasis on bomb detection this time. But I was bitterly disappointed: in 1995 my agents, together with FAA inspectors, carried fake bombs--strapped to their bodies or in briefcases with marzipan candy or other substances arrayed on boards to look like plastic explosives--and guns and knives through metal detectors. They got into secure areas at the big international airports around the country. They were not stopped...
...Nowhere is the struggle more apparent than in China, where many factory owners and some less reputable audit consultants have figured out dodges to get around auditors. On one Chinese-language website, factory bosses swap tips and ask questions such as: "Is it really a must to bribe auditors in order to pass audits?" The response: "You must first raise the standards of your falsified documents. Otherwise, auditors might not dare to take money from...
...Moreover, factory owners are frequently required to pay for their own audits - a fact that Auret Van Heerden of the Washington-based Fair Labor Association calls "something of a dirty little secret." One manufacturer with 15 factories in seven countries told Van Heerden that he had to deal with more than 250 audits a year, each costing an average of $1,600. Small wonder many factory managers see multinationals' codes of conduct as a plot to blunt their competitive edge. In a pre-audit pep talk to workers one Chinese factory manager railed: "Social responsibility is in essence trade barriers...
...firm's new thinking, says Dan Henkle, Gap's senior vice-president for social responsibility, is not simply about monitoring, but about collaborating with factory staff so that they too feel responsible for conditions on the factory floor. It's messier, costlier and longer-term than a quick audit - and it's potentially riskier from a p.r. standpoint. But this is CSR for grown-ups. "The world is a complicated place," says Impactt's Hurst. "Try putting that on a label...