Date of Conferral

2016

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Management

Advisor

Karla Phlypo

Abstract

The United States jewelry industry recognized that the illegal import and trade of conflict diamonds is a matter of serious international and national concern, leading to human rights abuse. As such, human rights and conflicts became the primary impetus for establishing the Kimberly Process (KP) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the effectiveness of the KP and CSR policies in deterring the use of conflict diamonds in the U.S. jewelry industry. This study was an investigation as to whether conflict diamonds are entering the U.S. jewelry supply chain and a review of the ethics of the U.S. jewelry industry in light of the conflict diamond issue. Conflict theory provided the theoretical framework used to gather data on conflict diamond protocols and on corporate social responsibilities within the U.S. jewelry industry. The sample was composed of 59 randomly selected participants from the U.S. jewelry industry whose opinions were indicative of that industry. Data were analyzed descriptively and inferentially. Multiple statistical tests were used for the data analysis that included regression and the Mann-Whitney U test. The overall results indicated that the KP and the CSR policies were insignificant in deterring the use of conflict diamonds in the U.S. jewelry industry; therefore, the null hypothesis was retained. This study contributed to a better understanding of the ethical dimensions of conflict diamonds and the committed management practices of the U.S. jewelry industry. Positive social change can be realized when respect for fundamental human rights is achieved by the global diamond industry and becomes a requisite foundation for every society to bring an end to the flow of conflict diamonds.

Download

Share

 
COinS