The relationship between sustainability and risk management in fashion supply chains: a systematic literature review

Purpose: Fashion supply chain research has identified two important issues of sustainability management and risk management. However, investigation of these issues is relatively sparse and has primarily been independent with little combinatory research, despite their important interrelationships. This paper addresses that gap by critically reviewing extant literature to synthesise important sustainability risk issues in fashion supply chains and proposing an empirical research agenda.

Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses a structured literature review approach and Denyer and Tranfield's (2009) context, intervention, mechanisms and outcome (CIMO) criteria for critical analysis to enable the development of future empirical research areas.

Findings: While sustainability and risk are discussed independently in the supply chain literature, combinatory discussions are very limited, despite the interdependence of these concepts. There is little substantial research on sustainability risk in global fashion supply chains and therefore, an empirical research agenda is proposed with the four research directions to address the gap and take forward the notion of supply chain sustainability risk management in fashion supply chains: definition, organisation and management, influence on performance, and development of a conceptual framework.

Research Limitations/implications: This paper provides a critical literature review and thus lacks empirical study.

Practical Implications: This paper highlights important issues in sustainability risk management for fashion supply chains and presents an agenda for future empirical research.

Originality/value: This paper contributes by providing a combinatory synthesis of sustainability and risk management in fashion supply chain literature and an agenda for future empirical research.