Sustainability, risk and performance in textile and apparel supply chains

Abstract

This study systematically reviews 127 papers on sustainable supply chain management in the textile and apparel (T&A) industry. Gaps and trends in related research are determined in a content analysis according to structural dimensions and analytic categories of research method, supply chain management and sustainability and also risk and performance. We observe a methodological focus on empirical research and a geographical one on (South) East Asia. We find a balance between intra- and inter-organizational studies and between studies on financial and reputational impacts. Assessments of environmental risks and green performance dominate over social factors. A contingency analysis reveals that the management of economic risks on the one hand and non-economic, i.e. environmental and social ones, on the other hand is disjoint. The two topics show hardly any integration with each other. Based on the detected contingent factors, we conceptualize a framework for sustainable supply chain risk management in the T&A industry.