Naslov
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN FASHION SUPPLY CHAINS: PEOPLE AND KNOWLEDGE IN THE CROATIAN FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY (CASE STUDY)

Autori
Perry, Patsy ; Grilec Kaurić, Alica ; Novak, Ivan

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u zbornicima skupova, cjeloviti rad (in extenso), znanstveni

Izvornik
Economic and Social Development 8th International Scientific Conference on Economic and Social Development and 4th Eastern European ESD Conference: Building Resilient Economy / Filipovic, I. ; Kozina, G. ; Galetic, F. - Zagreb : Varazdin Development and Entrepreneurship Agency, Varazdin, Croatia in cooperation with University North, Koprivnica, Croatia, 2014, 275-282

ISBN
978-953-6125-14-2

Skup
Economic and Social Development (ESD)

Mjesto i datum
Zagreb, Hrvatska, 19.12.2014

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
fashion supply chain; footwear; environmental responsibility; sustainability; corporate social responsibility; supply chain management; Croatia; Eastern Europe

Sažetak
With complex global supply chains and polluting production practices, the fashion industry leaves a considerable environmental and social footprint. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and environmental sustainability are thus becoming key considerations for companies operating in the fashion sector. With rising costs of outsourcing, due to increases in wage rates and fuel costs, there is now greater interest from European fashion retailers in near- sourcing fashion products from closer to the EU. As such, we propose that it would be valuable to explore CSR and environmental sustainability within the Eastern European region. In this paper, the theoretical framework of fashion supply chains is set out and the importance of environmental sustainability and CSR from the perspective of people and knowledge in the fashion industry is explained. The paper then sets out the proposed qualitative case study data collection method to explore the implementation of CSR and environmental  sustainability  in  Croatia’s  footwear  manufacturing  industry.  Initial findings suggest that CSR is present in the observed company, and is focused on social aspects of corporate responsibility in order to attract and retain high quality workers in a labor- intensive sector. The continuing professional development of employees was seen as a means of building capacity in knowledge management within the firm. However, the continued existence of these CSR initiatives was subject to challenges of the footwear supply chain, in particular cost and lead time pressures. Cost-cutting measures resulted in the loss of CSR activities, with negative implications for people and knowledge management and therefore overall business performance in this challenging industry sector.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Ekonomija

POVEZANOST RADA