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Critical examination of Bangladeshi laws related to workers’ rights in the garment industry. This paper aims to examine the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the protection of garment workers’ rights in Bangladesh, analyzing how international investment practices influence labor standards and the overall well-being of workers in the garment industry.

In this study, qualitative and analytical methods has been used to analyze legal frameworks related to labor rights in Bangladesh and BITs.

The findings indicate a need to strengthen the current legal framework to better protect workers' rights in Bangladesh. The study also provides recommendations for the relevant authorities to improve the existing laws.

Novel idea critically evaluating the Bangladeshi legal framework in the context of foreign direct investment and implications for worker's rights.

The purpose of this research is to ascertain the feasibility of fabricating polymer optical fibers (POFs) based textile structures by knitting with Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) based optical fibers for textile sensor application. It has long been established that by using the principles of physics, POFs have the capability to function as sensors, detecting strain, temperature and other variables. However, POF applications such as strain and pressure sensing using knitting techniques has since not been very successful due to a number of reasons. Commercially available PMMA-based optical fibers tend to be fragile and susceptible to breakages when subjected to stress during the knitting processes. Also light transmitted within these fibers is prone to leakage due to the curvature that results when optical fibers are interlaced or interlooped within fabric structures.

Using Stoll’s multi-gauge CMS 350 HP knitting machine, five fabric structures namely, 1 × 4 float knit structure, tunnel inlay knit structure, 3:1 fleece fabric and 2:1 fleece fabric structure respectively were used to knit sensor samples. The samples were subsequently tested for length of illumination and sensitivity relative to applied pressure.

The results of this preliminary study establish that embedding plastic optical fibers into a knitted structure during the fabric formation process for soft strain sensor application possible. The best illumination performance was recorded for tunnel inlay structure which had an average of 94 cm course length of POF being illuminated. Sensor sensitivity experiments also establish that the relative spectral intensity of the fiber is sensitive to both light and pressure. Problems encountered and recommendations for further research have also been discussed and proffered.

Due to resource limitations, an innovative technique (use of precision weight set) was used to apply pressure to the sensors. Consequently, information regarding the extent of corresponding sensor deformation has not been used in this initial analysis.

Because the fundamental step toward finding a solution to any engineering problem is the acquisition of reliable data, and considering the fact that most of the popular technologies used for soft textile sensors are still bedeviled with the problem of signal instability and noise, the success of this application thus has the tendency to promote the wide spread adoption of POF sensors for smart apparel applications.

As far as research on soft strain sensors is concerned, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to have attempted to knit deformable sensors using commercially available POFs.

This paper aims to contribute to understanding Brazilian fashion consumer behavior. The subsequent research question is formulated as follows: How are the consumers purchasing new clothes and disposing of used ones, and how is their awareness of sustainable fashion consumption and disposal of used clothes?

An online questionnaire was sent to nearly one thousand e-mails. A database was formed with 182 complete answers to 13 questions concerning consumer behavior toward sustainability, especially clothing acquisition, use and disposal. A multimethod approach was used to analyze the initial attributes, applying descriptive statistics, cluster analysis and data mining.

This survey obtained valuable answers from Brazilian fashion consumers grouped into four clusters. Age and yearly income were more critical in determining the clusters. Only four attributes were chosen by the algorithm to build the trees (age, annual income, yearly spending on clothes and how long the clothes are worn). The consumer's profile may help the fashion industry redirect investments in sustainability. The most critical factor leading to the sustainability of clothing fashion was the duration of the clothes. The study dealt with a limited sample size that was not representative of Brazil's broader population. Despite numerous attempts to seek responses through e-mail, the participant pool was predominantly composed of highly educated individuals.

This assessment of Brazilian consumer behavior toward sustainability and fashion presents essential knowledge to understand the relationships among variables affecting the purchase and discharge of clothes.

This paper aims to investigate how the technical logics of a World Bank-led performance management reform interacted with the social, political and historical logics within a developing country (DC) regulatory organisation. The institutional environment both within and outside the organisation was considered to understand the performance management reform experience.

An interview-based, longitudinal, qualitative case study approach was used to locate accounting in its technical, social and political space. A large regulatory organisation in Bangladesh was investigated as a case study to reveal how traditional organisational practices and public sector norms mediated a performance management reform. Informed by the institutional logics (IL) and economies of worth perspectives, interviews were used to locate IL at macro-level and associated organisational actors’ strategic responses that ultimately shaped the implementation of a performance management system (PMS).

This paper reveals how accounting, as a social and political practice, influences accountability reform within a regulatory organisation. It provides an account of both the processes and resultant practices of an accounting reform initiative. While a consultative and transparent performance management process was intended to enhance accountability, it challenged the traditional organisational authority structure and culture. The new PMS retained, modified and adjusted a number of its characteristics over time. These adjustments reflected an amalgamation of the influence of institutional pressures from powerful constituents and the ability of the local agents (managers) in negotiating and mediating the institutionalisation of a new PMS.

The findings of this paper carry major implications for policy makers, particularly with respect to the design of future reform programs on PMS.

This paper offers a theoretical mapping of IL and its organisation-level interpretations and practices. Thus, the authors locate power and influence at field and firm levels. The findings of this study reflect historical, political and cultural backgrounds of the case study organisation and how these contextual forces were active in shaping the meaning of reform logics. Though the institutional environment and agents were unique to the case study organisation, this research offers a “process generalisation” that reveals how a best practice PMS was translated and transformed by the traditional organisational practices in a DC regulatory context.

The purpose of this study is to examine how different innovation efforts can support multinational enterprises’ (MNEs’) pursuits of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in emerging markets and under what circumstances they are applied.

The article comprises in-depth case studies on two high-profile Swedish MNEs: a telecom firm and a fast-fashion firm, with data collected both at the headquarter-level and local-market level.

The study shows that MNEs pursue a selection of prioritized SDGs in emerging markets. To overcome challenges related to attaining these goals, we find that MNEs engage in innovation efforts at different levels of commitment. In some instances, they engage in operational innovation aimed at relieving symptoms of sustainability misconduct and ensuring compliance. In other instances, they engage in systemic innovation efforts, which involve the actual market structures underlying sustainability problems.

MNEs are increasingly incorporating the United Nations SDGs into their innovation strategies. The study contributes to international business research on MNEs’ roles in realizing the SDGs by conceptualizing and discussing two pertinent approaches to innovation.

This study aims to critically examine the implementation of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices in service organizations in Thailand.

This study observed 17 service organizations in the private, government, state and non-profit sectors. The multiple case study method was used, including semi-structured interviews, observations and documentation. The data were analyzed using content and thematic analysis methods. Abductive reasoning was used to explain new findings that do not align with prior theories.

A total of 13 of the 17 cases studied had environmental management systems (EMS). Four were GSCM-proactive and moving toward sustainable sufficiency by involving nearby communities in their service delivery. Although regulations and policies from their head offices were key pressures, leaders with high commitment and eco-awareness achieved outstanding success. Instances of greenwashing and fraud were evident among four non-adopters, one of whom was an environmental regulator.

This study acknowledges that leader commitment and high eco-awareness are the most powerful factors. However, the limited timeframe did not allow a deeper exploration of how to create a socially responsible leader. While the openness of information was evident from the best practitioners, non-adopters did not share any eco-certification or reports. They did not allow the researcher to contact other potential respondents apart from the arranged interview sessions. However, correct data were obtained when the answers were contradictory and one(s) told the truth.

A sustainable and sufficient service supply chain model and new equation were proposed, embracing stakeholders such as society, regulators and employees. Recommended practical strategies include green procurement, reduced utility use and reverse logistics (3Rs and 5Ss).

In the GSCM theory, while the manufacturing sector focuses on economics and the environment, green practices in the service sector address social concerns. This study establishes connections between four concepts: EMS-founded GSCM, leading to repeated use of materials in a circular economy (CE). CE is thus the pathway to reducing consumption and achieving real happiness through a sufficiency economy philosophy (SEP).

The study aims to determine whether a relationship exists between the potential significance of corporate controversies for stakeholders and how organisations respond to them in their annual and sustainability reports.

This paper employs content analysis on annual and sustainability reports of 48 listed companies from the Refinitiv database. The logit regression was used to estimate the model.

The study revealed that the main factors increasing the probability of a controversial issue being addressed in a corporate report are the controversy’s potential significance, companies’ financial performance and lawsuits.

Our study has three major limitations. These are a relatively small sample of companies and reports, focusing on disclosures made in corporate reports and omitting other channels of communication, for example, social media, and a certain amount of subjectivity in the process of coding information.

Former studies show that corporations face a serious risk of their hypocritical strategies becoming too evident for stakeholder groups. Our findings suggest that the risk is already materialising and may undermine the idea of CSR and sustainability reporting.

Our research focuses on high-profile adverse incidents widely reported in the media, the omission of which from corporate reports seems to constitute a particular case of organised hypocrite. It also demonstrates that companies use an impression management strategy to defuse adverse publicity and that major controversies cause minor ones to be omitted from their reports.

Organizational scholars studying compensation often place an emphasis on certain employee groups (e.g., executives). Missing from this discussion is research on the compensation systems for low-wage jobs. In this review, the authors argue that workers in low-wage jobs represent a unique employment group in their understanding of rent allocation in organizations. The authors address the design of compensation strategies in organizations that lead to different outcomes for workers in low-wage jobs versus other workers. Drawing on and integrating human resource management (HRM), inequality, and worker literatures with compensation literature, the authors describe and explain compensation systems for low-wage work. The authors start by examining workers in low-wage work to identify aspects of these workers’ jobs and lives that can influence their health, performance, and other organizationally relevant outcomes. Next, the authors explore the compensation systems common for this type of work, building on the compensation literature, by identifying the low-wage work compensation designs, proposing the likely explanations for why organizations craft these designs, and describing the worker and organizational outcomes of these designs. The authors conclude with suggestions for future research in this growing field and explore how organizations may benefit by rethinking their approach to compensation for low-wage work. In sum, the authors hope that this review will be a foundational work for those interested in investigating organizational compensation issues at the intersection of inequality and worker and organizational outcomes.

This study aims to synthesize and analyze research on the Supply Chain Management Practices (SCMPs)-performance nexus, examine current knowledge, identify emerging trends, and provide plausible suggestions for future research engagements in the manufacturing sector in the context of Developing and Emerging Economies (DEEs).

Following a systematic review approach, this study analyzed 20 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles published between 2007 and 2021. The study sample was systematically selected from the Web of Science (WoS) and Google Scholar databases, following strict evaluation and selection criteria.

Numerous dimensions of SCMPs have been considered in the extant literature; however, six have stood out as the most common. In addition, operational performance stood out as the most widely investigated measure in the SCM literature. Moreover, SCMPs have predominantly shown positive effects on performance outcomes. Methodological issues that future studies should consider are suggested.

The sample size was not sufficiently large relative to the rule of thumb set in the literature because of the scarcity of studies in the manufacturing sector in the DEEs context. Despite these limitations, the results of this study provide crucial insights into knowledge and practice.

This review is the first of its kind to examine the SCMPs-performance nexus in the context of DEEs. Based on the findings of this study, future research directions are proposed.

Ocean transportation is not only the cheapest and the best mode of bulk transport but also the most polluting form of transportation. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has set strict targets to cut down carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, following which several initiatives have been taken by the shipping industry to embrace new technologies that can make the industry greener. Significant investments have been made into research and development (R&D) to develop alternative marine fuels. This chapter explores the feasibility of setting up a Biomass Recycling Facility (BRF) in the Tirupur–Tuticorin region in Tamil Nadu. The region was chosen because Tirupur being a textile valley generates tonnes of textile wastes every year. It can become good feedstock for biofuel generation, and it is also near Tuticorin Port, which is one of the major ports in Tamil Nadu. On an average, every year 1,000 vessels of medium and large size call at this port. There is a high probability that a BRF established in the vicinity can generate and supply bioethanol for the ships calling at Tuticorin Port. It is apparent from the findings of the study that the feedstock generated by textile industry alone may not be sufficient to meet the huge volumes of biofuel requirements of vessels, more over considerable investments into infrastructure and technology are required. But the study points out that still it could become a viable option because of the government support and favourable Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policies. The growing demand for biofuel and the increasing price in the world market can become an added advantage.