Implementing Social Sustainability in the Bangladeshi Apparel Industry: Isomorphism, Diffusion, Decoupling and Change in Institutional Logics due to Environmental Shocks

Most social sustainability studies are from the developed country buying firm perspective and lack theoretical underpinning. We examine the implementation of social sustainability in the apparel industry of Bangladesh using institutional theory, investigating how institutional pressures exerted by actors, e.g. developing country suppliers, NGOs and trade bodies, impact the diffusion of socially sustainable practices; and, how changes in institutional logics affect implementation. Preliminary findings reveal, for example, that conflicts between the social and (traditionally dominant) economic logic impact implementation. Although the economic logic is still prevalent, the social logic is gaining in importance, leading to more effective diffusion of practices.