Traceability management systems and capacity building as new approaches for improving sustainability in the fashion multi-tier supply chain

Fast fashion companies have been working over the last decade to reduce harmful impacts in their global supply chains (SC); nevertheless, the literature shows that the sustainability of operations in their multi-tier SC beyond the traditional tier-1 level is still a challenge. This paper aims to contribute to filling this gap: first, by finding out how leading fast fashion companies are promoting sustainability in terms of relationships and practices developed upstream in SC. Second, by assessing the level of commitment with their Code of Conduct that those four companies perceive in their suppliers, aiming at identifying the factors that may contribute to achieve the best performance. With this purpose, we conduct a content analysis on the last six sustainability reports of the four largest companies in the fast fashion industry. We have developed a multi-criteria decision-making approach to assess which company has reached the best performance according to sustainability criteria, checking the robustness of the assessment with a sensitivity analysis. Results show companies are mainly implementing traceability management systems, training and capacity building teams, and joint long-term planning programmes to improve SC performance. However, performance assessment is no easy task due to the lack of transparency about the level of identification, compliance with CoC and relationships developed in the tier-1 position and beyond.