King’s College London Researcher Bags Financial Times Award For Real-World Impact
Dr Gabriela Gutierrez-Huerter O, Lecturer in International Management at King’s Business School, has been named as a winner in the Financial Times Responsible Business Education Awards academic research category. She has been recognised for work informing the British Standards Institute’s standard on organisational responses to modern slavery, believed to be the first of its kind globally.
Dr Gutierrez-Huerter O’s research into the construction sector in the wake of the introduction of the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 uncovered how different attitudes to the nature and underlying causes of labour exploitation influence the kind of solutions that organisations put forward. This work led to her appointment to the technical committee on modern slavery established by the British Standards Institute (BSI). The BSI is the national standards body of the United Kingdom and develops and certifies voluntary technical standards on a wide range of products and services that act as a marker of a company’s quality and operational effectiveness.
Dr Gutierrez Huerter O’ advised on the BSI’s new BS 25700, which gives organisations guidance on how to manage the risk of modern slavery in their in their operations, supply chains and wider operating environment.
My research showed that depicting modern slavery as an inevitable consequence of globalisation tended to inhibit collective action by businesses. This evidence was an important influence on the development of a standard that emphasises that this is an issue where organisations can and must make a difference. I am proud to have been recognised by the Financial Times for my work on the standard, and proud to have been part of a project that will show organisations the practical steps they can take to make progress on modern slavery.
– Dr Gabriela Gutierrez-Huerter O’, Lecturer in International Management at King’s Business School
BS 25700, which will be launched today at the House of Lords, will be available to organisations to download free of charge. Organisations will be able to apply the standards to how they prevent, identify, respond to, address and report on modern slavery.