Title: Exploring sustainable behaviour in international footwear supply chain management

Authors: Maria Vincenza Ciasullo; Silvio Cardinali; Silvia Cosimato

Addresses: Department of Management and Innovation Systems, University of Salerno, Italy ' Department of Management, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy ' Department of Management and Innovation Systems, University of Salerno, Italy

Abstract: The fashion industry is commonly considered to be unsustainable, being responsible for several economic, social and environmental burdens in which companies and their supply chains are involved. Scholars refer to fashion as a cross-sector, grouping companies active in different and highly competitive businesses, such as clothing, accessories, eyewear, jewellery, textiles and footwear. Among these, fashion footwear is still under investigated. Consequently, this study aims at exploring a fashion footwear company's orientation towards sustainability, and the way it affects the configuration and management of its supply chain. More in depth, the paper aims to explore the main drivers of a fashion footwear company's sustainable behaviour and their influence on the emergence of new business opportunities. The findings have revealed the importance of particular capabilities embedded in sustainable behaviour. These capabilities are constantly developed through synergistic actions with employees, suppliers, business clients, consumers and NGOs, which are able in this way to nourish the business sustainability. Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) orientation has led to a general reshaping of both inbound and outbound supply chains, configuring an integrated supply chain in which a new sustainable business model is configured.

Keywords: footwear industry; fashion footwear; sustainable behaviour; sustainable supply chain management; SSCM.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2018.091526

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2018 Vol.20 No.3, pp.416 - 436

Received: 02 Mar 2017
Accepted: 22 Jun 2017
Published online: 04 May 2018 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article