Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Evaluation of certified B Corps in the apparel, footwear and accessory industry

Evaluation of certified B Corps in the apparel, footwear and accessory industry The purpose of this study is to investigate the sustainability performances of apparel, footwear and accessory (AFA) B Corps, providing companies, especially micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, with reasonable suggestions on how to incorporate the concept of sustainability efficiently.Design/methodology/approachThis study focused on 117 AFA B Corps. B Corps’ overall sustainability performances consist of their performances in the five areas of governance, workers, community, environment and customers. First, the 117 B Corps’ performances in these areas were compared. Second, multiple regression models were built to predict the B Corps’ sustainability performances based on their inherent characteristics (headquarter location, age, size and industry sector). Third, according to the B Corps’ performances in the five areas, the B Corps were clustered using the hieratical clustering method.FindingsThis study found that the B Corps’ performances in different areas were significantly different and their performances in the area of the community were better than in the other four areas. The B Corps’ characteristics were correlated to their sustainability performances. For example, company size was positively related to the B Corps’ performances in the area of workers. Additionally, Clusters 1, 2 and 3 were identified and characterized by their competitive performances in the areas of governance, workers and community, respectively.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the knowledge of AFA B Corps’ sustainability performances, identifying the weakness and strongness of the sustainable practices accepted by existing AFA B Corps and lending insights regarding how to predict and improve sustainability performances. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Research Journal of Textile and Apparel Emerald Publishing

Evaluation of certified B Corps in the apparel, footwear and accessory industry

Download PDF
21 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/evaluation-of-certified-b-corps-in-the-apparel-footwear-and-accessory-JraipDyNl6
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
1560-6074
DOI
10.1108/rjta-07-2020-0077
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the sustainability performances of apparel, footwear and accessory (AFA) B Corps, providing companies, especially micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, with reasonable suggestions on how to incorporate the concept of sustainability efficiently.Design/methodology/approachThis study focused on 117 AFA B Corps. B Corps’ overall sustainability performances consist of their performances in the five areas of governance, workers, community, environment and customers. First, the 117 B Corps’ performances in these areas were compared. Second, multiple regression models were built to predict the B Corps’ sustainability performances based on their inherent characteristics (headquarter location, age, size and industry sector). Third, according to the B Corps’ performances in the five areas, the B Corps were clustered using the hieratical clustering method.FindingsThis study found that the B Corps’ performances in different areas were significantly different and their performances in the area of the community were better than in the other four areas. The B Corps’ characteristics were correlated to their sustainability performances. For example, company size was positively related to the B Corps’ performances in the area of workers. Additionally, Clusters 1, 2 and 3 were identified and characterized by their competitive performances in the areas of governance, workers and community, respectively.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the knowledge of AFA B Corps’ sustainability performances, identifying the weakness and strongness of the sustainable practices accepted by existing AFA B Corps and lending insights regarding how to predict and improve sustainability performances.

Journal

Research Journal of Textile and Apparel – Emerald Publishing

Published: May 31, 2021

Keywords: B Corps; Clustering analysis; Corporate sustainability performance; Apparel; Footwear and apparel industry; Micro small and medium-sized enterprises

References

  • Tukey’s honestly significant difference (HSD) test
    Abdi, H.; Williams, L.J.
  • Corporate accountability and the privatization of labor standards: struggles over codes of conduct in the apparel industry
    Bartley, T.
  • Corporate social responsibility and competitiveness within SMEs of the fashion industry: evidence from Italy and France
    Battaglia, M.; Testa, F.; Bianchi, L.; Iraldo, F.; Frey, M.
  • Strategy, strategic management accounting and performance: a configurational analysis
    Cadez, S.; Guilding, C.
  • Sustainability knowledge and behaviors of apparel and textile undergraduates
    Connell, K.Y.H.; Kozar, J.M.
  • Business models, intangibles and firm performance: evidence on corporate entrepreneurship from Italian manufacturing SMEs
    Cucculelli, M.; Bettinelli, C.
  • Social responsibility: the concept as defined by apparel and textile scholars
    Dickson, M.A.; Eckman, M.
  • Measurement of corporate social responsibility: a review of corporate sustainability indexes
    Diez-Cañamero, B.; Bishara, T.; Otegi-Olaso, J.R.; Minguez, R.; Fernández, J.M.
  • Partnerships from cannibals with forks: the triple bottom line of 21st‐century business
    Elkington, J.
  • A new textiles economy: redesigning fashion’s future
  • Fuzzy topsis for an integrative sustainability performance assessment: a proposal for wearing apparel industry
    Escrig-Olmedo, E.; Fernández-Izquierdo, M.Á.; Muñoz-Torres, M.J.; Rivera-Lirio, J.M.
  • What is an SME?
  • Sustainable development goal 12 and its relationship with the textile industry
    Gabriel, M.; Luque, M.L.D.
  • Dendextend: an R package for visualizing, adjusting and comparing trees of hierarchical clustering
    Galili, T.
  • Pulse of the fashion industry report 2017
  • Pulse of the fashion industry report 2018
  • Pulse of the fashion industry report 2019 update
  • About GRI
  • G4 sustainability reporting guidelines
  • Virtual worlds: a gateway for SMEs toward internationalization
    Hassouneh, D.; Brengman, M.
  • Explaining the location of mission-driven businesses: an examination of B-Corps
    Hickman, L.; Byrd, J.; Hickman, K.
  • Corporate governance and sustainability performance: analysis of triple bottom line performance
    Hussain, N.; Rigoni, U.; Orij, R.P.
  • Strategies for sustainable cotton: comparing niche with mainstream markets
    Illge, L.; Preuss, L.
  • 2020 MSMEs day: a day of action
  • Why companies are becoming B corporations?
    Kim, S.; Karlesky, M.J.; Myers, C.G.; Schifeling, T.
  • Trends of sustainable development among luxury industry
    Li, J.; Leonas, K.K.
  • Assessment of leading apparel specialty retailers’ CSR practices as communicated on corporate websites: problems and opportunities
    Mann, M.; Byun, S.E.; Kim, H.; Hoggle, K.
  • Strategy development in small and medium sized enterprises for sustainability and increased value creation
    Moore, S.B.; Manring, S.L.
  • Sustainable fashion supply chain management under oligopolistic competition and brand differentiation
    Nagurney, A.; Yu, M.
  • The environmental price of fast fashion
    Niinimäki, K.; Peters, G.; Dahlbo, H.; Perry, P.; Rissanen, T.; Gwilt, A.
  • Modeling of niche market behavior of US textile and apparel firms
    Parrish, E.D.; Cassill, N.L.; Oxenham, W.; Jones, M.R.
  • Corporate social responsibility in garment sourcing networks: factory management perspectives on ethical trade in Sri Lanka
    Perry, P.; Wood, S.; Fernie, J.
  • Sustainable practices in luxury apparel industry
    Rahman, S.; Yadlapalli, A.
  • Challenges in sustainable wet processing of textiles
    Saxena, S.; Raja, A.S.M.; Arputharaj, A.
  • Sustainable fashion supply chain: lessons from H&M
    Shen, B.
  • A method to launch sustainability reporting in SMEs: the B corp impact assessment framework
    Shields, J.F.; Shelleman, J.M.
  • The impact of corporate governance on sustainability performance
    Shrivastava, P.; Addas, A.
  • The triple bottom line: what is it and how does it work
    Slaper, T.F.; Hall, T.J.
  • Motivations for success: case of US textile and apparel small-and medium-sized enterprises
    Stoll, E.E.; Ha-Brookshire, J.E.
  • Characterising B corps as a sustainable business model: an exploratory study of B corps in Australia
    Stubbs, W.
  • Social disclosure rating system for assessing firms’ CSR reports
    Sutantoputra, A.W.
  • The state of fashion 2020
  • Pulse report spotlight: SMEs are the fashion industry’s blind spot
    Thorsmark, C.
  • 2017 Economic census
  • Size standards
  • Beyond size: predicting engagement in environmental management practices of Dutch SMEs
    Uhlaner, L.M.; Berent-Braun, M.M.; Jeurissen, R.J.; de Wit, G.
  • What is the UN alliance for sustainable fashion?
  • Sustainability management of SMEs and the UN sustainable development goals
    Verboven, H.; Vanherck, L.