Evaluating sustainable drivers for social responsibility in the context of ready-made garments supply chain

The approach of incorporating social responsibility (SR) practices into the supply chain network is gradually becoming a popular business strategy in developing countries. SR covers a broad spectrum of issues which includes working conditions, preventing corruption, human rights etc. That must be considered in a business context. Developing countries are becoming more aware but to cover the comprehensive spectrum of SR will take time, especially the adoption of SR practices into supply chains. Nowadays, ready-made garments companies of developing countries have to consider SR practices due to pressure from governments and stakeholders. Many of these companies are responsible for a large contribution to the economic growth of the country and thus, need a SR based sustainable business environment to gain a competitive advantage. Due to the lack of practices in SR based sourcing into an existing supply chain (SC), this sector demands an evaluation of the drivers to SR practices. Therefore, the unique contribution of this research is to evaluate sustainable drivers for implementation of SR based sourcing of ready-made garments SC in the context of a developing country - Bangladesh. To achieve the objectives, Delphi based fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) methods are employed. An analysis shows that finance is the key driver, composed of four important sub-sets; these are sustainable economic benefits, maximization of the net return on investment, business ethics and an enhanced reputation in the global market. Sensitivity analysis is also conducted to check the stability of the results. The findings of the study will help industry managers in a proper adoption of SR practices in ready-made garments SC.