Key Factors of Social Responsible Governance Mechanisms in the Global Apparel Industry

  • Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify and prioritise social responsible mechanisms in apparel supply chains to extend social responsibility from large retailers in developed countries to producers in developing nations. Design/methodology/approach A framework that consists of supplier qualification and supplier relational mechanisms as two socially responsible mechanisms, with five factors and 18 dimensions is proposed. To prioritise the dimensions, analytic hierarchy process is employed by using a case study methodology of a major Australian retailer sourcing from Bangladesh manufacturers. Findings Results indicate that at the mechanism level, both retailer and manufacturers perceive qualification of manufacturer as by far the most critical element compared to the relational mechanism. However, substantial differences exist at the factor level; namely, that the social factor is critical for the retailer, whereas the economic factor is critical for the manufacturer. Within the relational mechanism, evaluationPurpose The purpose of this paper is to identify and prioritise social responsible mechanisms in apparel supply chains to extend social responsibility from large retailers in developed countries to producers in developing nations. Design/methodology/approach A framework that consists of supplier qualification and supplier relational mechanisms as two socially responsible mechanisms, with five factors and 18 dimensions is proposed. To prioritise the dimensions, analytic hierarchy process is employed by using a case study methodology of a major Australian retailer sourcing from Bangladesh manufacturers. Findings Results indicate that at the mechanism level, both retailer and manufacturers perceive qualification of manufacturer as by far the most critical element compared to the relational mechanism. However, substantial differences exist at the factor level; namely, that the social factor is critical for the retailer, whereas the economic factor is critical for the manufacturer. Within the relational mechanism, evaluation helps retailers to enforce social responsibility, while manufacturers believe collaboration helps. Research limitations/implications The major limitation of this study is the generalisation of the findings. The results obtained by focusing on a particular context in the Australian retail sector importing from Bangladesh, may not be applicable to other nations. Practical implications By highlighting the difference of opinion, this study assists managers in developing guidelines to better understand the socially responsible mechanisms in the retailer-manufacturer dyadic relationship and to propose strategies to address the differences. Originality/value This study advances the literature on inter-organisational relationship to retailer-manufacturer dyad for the implementation of social responsibility by including supplier qualification along with supplier relational mechanism.show moreshow less

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Metadaten
Author:Aswini Yadlapalli, Shams Rahman, Helen RogersORCiD
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPDLM-03-2018-0154
ISSN:0960-0035
Parent Title (English):International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management
Subtitle (English):A Dyadic Perspective
Publisher:Emerald
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Date of first Publication:2019/04/16
Reviewed:Begutachtet/Reviewed
Release Date:2025/01/08
Tag:Analytic hierarchy process; Apparel industry; Qualification mechanism; Relational mechanism; Retailer-manufacturer dyads; Socially responsible
Volume:49
Issue:3
Article Number:25
First Page:242
Last Page:266
institutes:Fakultät Betriebswirtschaft
Research Themes:Nachhaltigkeit
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