Configurations of sustainability-oriented textile partnerships

Abstract

Firms configure their sustainability-oriented partnerships differently depending on the sustainability issue, partnership types, and mechanisms (product, process, policy, and awareness raising) and target change at various levels (firm, industry, supply chain, and society). We study how sustainability-oriented partnerships in the textile industry are configured by analyzing 444 partnerships using a mixed-method approach. Textile firms partner to tackle environmental issues such as circularity, waste, and sustainable materials, utilizing product and process mechanisms and create firm-level change. In contrast, these firms address social issues such as education and job development, labor and working conditions, poverty, and inequality through cross-sector partnerships that target change beyond firm boundaries. We discuss these findings critically by drawing on and contributing to two literature areas: sustainability-oriented partnerships that study partnership configurations and the sustainability in textiles. Our findings highlight the importance of issue and context specificity when partnering for sustainability.