Exploring Drivers and Barriers for Sustainable Use of Resources: The Case of High-Tech Mass Customizers in the German Textile Industry

Paula Rassmann () and Leontin K. Grafmüller ()
Additional contact information
Paula Rassmann: HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management
Leontin K. Grafmüller: HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management

A chapter in Customization 4.0, 2018, pp 301-313 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract An efficient and sustainable use of resources is a core task for every company to ensure competitiveness and long-term success. Compared to large companies and corporations, SMEs have fewer capacities and knowledge of how to implement resource efficiency. Therefore, we explored the drivers and barriers for SMEs in order to both overcome existing challenges and address sustainability opportunities. The empirical field is the textile industry in Germany, which is considered particularly interesting due to high competitive pressure, long value chains, and its niche specialization. For this purpose, we conducted 14 interviews with company representatives of textile SME mass customizers in Germany. The results show that there is a wide range of possibilities for a more sustainable use of resources, which help textile companies gain a great economic advantage. Findings include three drivers and barriers each, for SMEs to implement sustainability-focused activities. Managerial implications present both recommendations for the textile industry as well as related SMEs in other domains.

Keywords: Sustainable development; Sustainability; Mass customization; B2B; Textile industry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:prbchp:978-3-319-77556-2_19

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783319775562

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-77556-2_19

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().