MNE-NGO partnerships for sustainability and social responsibility in the global fast-fashion industry: A loose-coupling perspective

Steven Y H Liu; Elizabeth Napier; Andrea Runfola; S Tamer Cavusgil

doi:10.1016/j.ibusrev.2020.101736

MNE-NGO partnerships for sustainability and social responsibility in the global fast-fashion industry: A loose-coupling perspective

Int Bus Rev. 2020 Oct;29(5):101736. doi: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2020.101736. Epub 2020 Jul 14.

Authors

Steven Y H Liu¹, Elizabeth Napier², Andrea Runfola³, S Tamer Cavusgil^{1

4

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Affiliations

¹ Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK.
² Marketing and International Business, University of Toledo, USA.
³ University of Perugia, Department of Economics, Via Pascoli, 20, 06123 Perugia, Italy.
⁴ J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University, USA.
⁵ University of South Australia Business School, Adelaide, Australia.

Abstract

Stakeholders are increasingly aware of the environmental and human rights issues related to highly conspicuous fashion merchandising. To mitigate the negative responses from environmentally conscious consumer groups, fashion merchandisers have sought to partner with non-governmental organizations (NGOs). While there is a growing body of literature on sustainability and social responsibility (SSR), the increasingly popular practice of fast-fashion industry partnering with NGOs has been neglected, and so far, remained under the radar. Such partnerships may be of success, but at the same time while promising on the surface, they can actually go awry, resulting in adverse outcomes for both parties. We build upon the loose-coupling theory to explain the relationships between fast-fashion multinational enterprises (MNEs) and NGOs. We discuss three causes (casual indeterminacy; fragmented external environment; discrete internal environment) and four key benefits (adaptability to environmental changes, flexibility, innovation, and firewalls for separate identity) for loosely-coupled partnerships. We then explore the dark side of such partnerships, identifying three challenges (power imbalance, mistrust and opportunism, and misaligning goals). Finally, we offer a set of propositions as a way of advancing our knowledge of partnerships in fashion merchandising industry.

Keywords: Fast-fashion merchandising; Loose-coupling theory; MNEs; NGOs; Non-governmental organizations; Partnering success; Social responsibility; Sustainability.