A Five‐R analysis for sustainable fashion supply chain management in Hong Kong: a case analysis

The purpose of this paper is to explain why fashion companies would “go green” and to evaluate business models and sustainable supply chains. By applying the Five‐R framework, the authors further evaluate the initiation, implementation and institutionalization journey of a local fashion company and generate important insights and findings.

It is an exploratory qualitative study. The Five‐R conceptual framework is reviewed, proposed, and applied for a real case analysis.

From the studies, data and literature gathered and analyzed hitherto, it is evident that fashion companies can seize competitive advantage through strategic management of environmental challenges. In their greening initiatives, fashion companies should strongly consider the product development process and extend stewardship across the multiple life‐cycles of products. The Five‐R framework, together with its future extensions, can offer an opportunity to clearly display what has been achieved by the company at present and also succinctly demonstrate what area the company is lacking in or where there is room for further beneficial development.

This research focuses on examining the scenario of one real company. The findings need not be generalized and applicable to all companies: this is a major research limitation of this study.

The research findings can help explain and conceptualize fashion companies’ journal of going‐green. Some specific recommendations are given and managerial insights are generated.

This paper undertakes a qualitative real case analysis to study green supply chain management (SCM) challenges by applying the Five‐R framework. The authors believe that this study belongs to the first group of research works which specifically examine this area in the domain of fashion marketing and management.