IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i7p2595-d336763.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social Sustainability Empowering the Economic Sustainability in the Global Apparel Supply Chain

Author

Listed:
  • Jayani Ishara Sudusinghe

    (Department of Transport & Logistics Management, Faculty of Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Katubedda, Moratuwa 10400, Sri Lanka
    Chair of Supply Chain Management, University of Kassel, Kleine Rosenstraße 1–3, 34109 Kassel, Germany)

  • Stefan Seuring

    (Chair of Supply Chain Management, University of Kassel, Kleine Rosenstraße 1–3, 34109 Kassel, Germany)

Abstract

Scholarly discussion on the amalgamation of sustainability and supply chain management has been growing in the last decade. However, an integrated social and economic sustainability performance measurement in supply chains is an emerging avenue in the Sustainable Supply Chain Management discourse. Hence, the purpose of this study is to understand how socially sustainable practices affect economic sustainability performances in supply chains. A survey questionnaire and a conceptual framework were developed to explore this relationship. Survey data collected based on responses from 119 managers in the Sri Lankan apparel-manufacturing sector was analyzed using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling. We observed that the practices conducted by apparel manufacturers ensuring the social sustainability of the human factor inside the company (Internally influencing Social Sustainability Practices-ISSP) and in society (Externally Influencing Social Sustainability Practices-ESSP) create a positive impact on the economic performance. However, the effect produced by ISSP was higher compared to the ESSP. This study is based on a single developing country and, thus, should be extended to other countries considering the different institution environments when studying this interrelation between the social and economic sustainability dimensions.

Suggested Citation

  • Jayani Ishara Sudusinghe & Stefan Seuring, 2020. "Social Sustainability Empowering the Economic Sustainability in the Global Apparel Supply Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-18, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:7:p:2595-:d:336763
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/7/2595/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/7/2595/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anilkumar E.N. & Sridharan R., 2019. "Sustainable Supply Chain Management: A Literature Review and Implications for Future Research," International Journal of System Dynamics Applications (IJSDA), IGI Global, vol. 8(3), pages 15-52, July.
    2. Alireza Tajbakhsh & Elkafi Hassini, 2015. "Performance measurement of sustainable supply chains: a review and research questions," International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 64(6), pages 744-783, July.
    3. Gopalakrishnan, Kavitha & Yusuf, Yahaya Y. & Musa, Ahmed & Abubakar, Tijjani & Ambursa, Hafsat M., 2012. "Sustainable supply chain management: A case study of British Aerospace (BAe) Systems," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 193-203.
    4. Rahima Akter, 2016. "Business Sustainability in Bangladesh: An Analysis of Economic Sustainability in Ready-made Garments Industries," Journal of Management and Sustainability, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 6(1), pages 149-162, March.
    5. Gladys Lopez-Acevedo & Raymond Robertson, 2016. "Stitches to Riches?," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 23961.
    6. Mani, Venkatesh & Gunasekaran, Angappa & Delgado, Catarina, 2018. "Enhancing supply chain performance through supplier social sustainability: An emerging economy perspective," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 259-272.
    7. Sauer, Philipp C. & Seuring, Stefan, 2019. "Extending the reach of multi-tier sustainable supply chain management – Insights from mineral supply chains," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 31-43.
    8. Gladys Lopez Acevedo & Raymond Robertson, 2016. "Stitches to Riches? Apparel Employment, Trade, and Economic Development in South Asia," Working Papers id:10650, eSocialSciences.
    9. Helen Goworek, 2011. "Social and environmental sustainability in the clothing industry: a case study of a fair trade retailer," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 7(1), pages 74-86, March.
    10. ManMohan S. Sodhi & Christopher S. Tang, 2018. "Corporate social sustainability in supply chains: a thematic analysis of the literature," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(1-2), pages 882-901, January.
    11. Catherine M. Paul & Donald Siegel, 2006. "Corporate social responsibility and economic performance," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 207-211, December.
    12. Sadaat Ali Yawar & Stefan Seuring, 2017. "Management of Social Issues in Supply Chains: A Literature Review Exploring Social Issues, Actions and Performance Outcomes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 621-643, March.
    13. Helen Goworek, 2011. "Social and environmental sustainability in the clothing industry: a case study of a fair trade retailer," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 7(2), pages 74-86, February.
    14. V. Mani & Catarina Delgado, 2019. "Supply Chain Social Sustainability for Manufacturing," India Studies in Business and Economics, Springer, number 978-981-13-1241-0, March.
    15. Weber, Manuela, 2008. "The business case for corporate social responsibility: A company-level measurement approach for CSR," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 247-261, August.
    16. Jayatilleke S. Bandara & Athula Naranpanawa, 2015. "Garment Industry in Sri Lanka and the Removal of GSP Plus by EU," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(9), pages 1438-1461, September.
    17. Zailani, Suhaiza & Jeyaraman, K. & Vengadasan, G. & Premkumar, R., 2012. "Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) in Malaysia: A survey," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 330-340.
    18. Tang, Christopher S. & Zhou, Sean, 2012. "Research advances in environmentally and socially sustainable operations," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 223(3), pages 585-594.
    19. Georg von Schnurbein & Peter Seele & Irina Lock, 2016. "Exclusive corporate philanthropy: rethinking the nexus of CSR and corporate philanthropy," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(2), pages 280-294, June.
    20. Klassen, Robert D. & Vereecke, Ann, 2012. "Social issues in supply chains: Capabilities link responsibility, risk (opportunity), and performance," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 103-115.
    21. Knight, Louise & Tu, Yi-Hsi & Preston, Jude, 2014. "Integrating skills profiling and purchasing portfolio management: An opportunity for building purchasing capability," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(PB), pages 271-283.
    22. Zhihong Wang & Joseph Sarkis, 2013. "Investigating the relationship of sustainable supply chain management with corporate financial performance," International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 62(8), pages 871-888, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mohammad Heydari & Kin Keung Lai & Xiaohu Zhou, 2020. "Creating Sustainable Order Fulfillment Processes through Managing the Risk: Evidence from the Disposable Products Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-32, April.
    2. Miguel Reyna-Castillo & Alejandro Santiago & Salvador Ibarra Martínez & José Antonio Castán Rocha, 2022. "Social Sustainability and Resilience in Supply Chains of Latin America on COVID-19 Times: Classification Using Evolutionary Fuzzy Knowledge," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(14), pages 1-18, July.
    3. Sumit Paul & Syed Mithun Ali & Mohd Asif Hasan & Sanjoy Kumar Paul & Golam Kabir, 2022. "Critical Success Factors for Supply Chain Sustainability in the Wood Industry: An Integrated PCA-ISM Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-18, February.
    4. Monrudee Theeraworawit & Suparak Suriyankietkaew & Philip Hallinger, 2022. "Sustainable Supply Chain Management in a Circular Economy: A Bibliometric Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-21, July.
    5. Patanjal Kumar & Sachin Kumar Mangla & Yigit Kazancoglu & Ali Emrouznejad, 2023. "A decision framework for incorporating the coordination and behavioural issues in sustainable supply chains in digital economy," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 326(2), pages 721-749, July.
    6. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard & Bas Hooijmaaijers, 2021. "Connecting into the Social Sustainability Effects of Infrastructure through China’s Digital Silk Road: Issues, Indices, and Indications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-24, November.
    7. Wang Jiatong & Cai Li & Majid Murad & Fakhar Shahzad & Sheikh Farhan Ashraf, 2021. "Impact of Social Entrepreneurial Factors on Sustainable Enterprise Development: Mediating Role of Social Network and Moderating Effect of Government Regulations," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, July.
    8. Chayada Kanokphanvanich & Wanchai Rattanawong & Varin Vongmanee, 2023. "A New Model for a Sustainable Healthcare Supply Chain Prioritizes Patient Safety: Using the Fuzzy Delphi Method to Identify Healthcare Workers’ Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-23, April.
    9. Robin Hogrefe & Sabine Bohnet-Joschko, 2023. "The Social Dimension of Corporate Sustainability: Review of an Evolving Research Field," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-22, February.
    10. Miguel Reyna-Castillo & Paola Selene Vera Martínez & Lisette Farah-Simón & Nadima Simón, 2023. "Social Sustainability Orientation and Supply Chain Performance in Mexico, Colombia and Chile: A Social-Resource-Based View (SRBV)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-21, February.
    11. Madushan Madhava Jayalath & H. Niles Perera & Stefan Seuring & Amila Thibbotuwawa, 2024. "Social drivers affecting job design in apparel supply chains: Inferences from a discrete choice experiment," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(4), pages 3395-3413, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mohammad Najjar & Michael H. Small & Mahmoud M. Yasin, 2020. "Social Sustainability Strategy across the Supply Chain: A Conceptual Approach from the Organisational Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-16, December.
    2. Noorliza Karia & Ruben Charles Davadas Michael, 2022. "Environmental Practices That Have Positive Impacts on Social Performance: An Empirical Study of Malaysian Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-17, March.
    3. Rebeca B. Sánchez-Flores & Samantha E. Cruz-Sotelo & Sara Ojeda-Benitez & Ma. Elizabeth Ramírez-Barreto, 2020. "Sustainable Supply Chain Management—A Literature Review on Emerging Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-27, August.
    4. Mani, Venkatesh & Gunasekaran, Angappa & Delgado, Catarina, 2018. "Supply chain social sustainability: Standard adoption practices in Portuguese manufacturing firms," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 149-164.
    5. Jamalnia, Aboozar & Gong, Yu & Govindan, Kannan, 2023. "Sub-supplier's sustainability management in multi-tier supply chains: A systematic literature review on the contingency variables, and a conceptual framework," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    6. Venkatesh, V.G. & Zhang, Abraham & Deakins, Eric & Mani, Venkatesh, 2021. "Antecedents of social sustainability noncompliance in the Indian apparel sector," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    7. Luthra, Sunil & Garg, Dixit & Haleem, Abid, 2015. "An analysis of interactions among critical success factors to implement green supply chain management towards sustainability: An Indian perspective," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(P1), pages 37-50.
    8. Burritt, Roger & Schaltegger, Stefan, 2014. "Accounting towards sustainability in production and supply chains," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 327-343.
    9. Luzzini, Davide & Brandon-Jones, Emma & Brandon-Jones, Alistair & Spina, Gianluca, 2015. "From sustainability commitment to performance: The role of intra- and inter-firm collaborative capabilities in the upstream supply chain," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 51-63.
    10. V.G. Venkatesh & Abraham Zhang & Eric Deakins & Venkatesh Mani, 2021. "Antecedents of social sustainability noncompliance in the Indian apparel sector," Post-Print hal-04455594, HAL.
    11. Guoqing Zhao & Shaofeng Liu & Carmen Lopez & Yi Wang & Haiyan Lu & Jinhua Zhang, 2024. "Identification, establishment of connection, and clustering of social risks involved in the agri-food supply chains: a cross-country comparative study," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 338(2), pages 1241-1282, July.
    12. Mariana Toussaint & Pablo Cabanelas & Alicia Blanco‐González, 2021. "Social sustainability in the food value chain: An integrative approach beyond corporate social responsibility," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 103-115, January.
    13. Ardian Qorri & Saranda Gashi & Andrzej Kraslawski, 2021. "Performance outcomes of supply chain practices for sustainable development: A meta‐analysis of moderators," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(1), pages 194-216, January.
    14. Shafiq, Asad & Ahmed, Muhammad Usman & Mahmoodi, Farzad, 2020. "Impact of supply chain analytics and customer pressure for ethical conduct on socially responsible practices and performance: An exploratory study," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    15. Siemieniako, Dariusz & Kubacki, Krzysztof & Mitręga, Maciej, 2021. "Inter-organisational relationships for social impact: A systematic literature review," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 453-469.
    16. Nikolas K. Kelling & Philipp C. Sauer & Stefan Gold & Stefan Seuring, 2021. "The Role of Institutional Uncertainty for Social Sustainability of Companies and Supply Chains," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(4), pages 813-833, November.
    17. Ding, Huiping & Zhao, Qilan & An, Zhirong & Tang, Ou, 2016. "Collaborative mechanism of a sustainable supply chain with environmental constraints and carbon caps," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 181(PA), pages 191-207.
    18. Wei Zong & Huazhong Tu & Fang Luo & Ikramuddin Junejo & Ashraf Ud Din & Darui Zhou & Andi Luo & Haiyang He, 2024. "Social Factors Affecting Sustainable Socially Responsible Purchasing: A Mediating Role of Corporate Social Responsibility," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(1), pages 21582440231, February.
    19. Deniz Köksal & Jochen Strähle & Martin Müller & Matthias Freise, 2017. "Social Sustainable Supply Chain Management in the Textile and Apparel Industry—A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-32, January.
    20. Sheikh I. Ishrat & Nigel P. Grigg & Carel N. Bezuidenhout & Nihal P. Jayamaha, 2020. "Sustainability Issues in the Traditional Cashmere Supply Chain: Empirical Evidence from Kashmir, India," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-25, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:7:p:2595-:d:336763. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.