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Abstract Header

SUSTAINABILITY IMPLEMENTATION IN FASHION THROUGH KNOWLEDGE DISCOVERY: AN EXPLORATORY QUALITATIVE STUDY

Robles, Julia
http://orcid.org/0009-0002-8612-9886
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent168243311156575

Abstract Details

2023, MFIS, Kent State University, College of the Arts / School of Fashion.
​ The fashion industry’s overproduction, environmental impact, global sourcing, fast fashion business model, and labor exploitation make the current system unsustainable (Bick et al., 2018; EPA, 2023; WWF, 2023). The industry needs to shift toward supporting practices promoting environmental and social protection, to ameliorate these global problems. As competition for natural resources increases, executives will need the strategies of sustainability officers, experts, and research to guide the response toward ethical and equitable solutions. This study investigates how sustainable leaders in the fashion industry conceptualize and implement sustainable practices. Most research revolves around the importance of consumer perception, education, circular economy, and innovation toward advancing sustainable objectives. However, much of the current academic literature overlooks the sustainability leaders in the industry that set, communicate, and evaluate their companies' sustainability agendas. This disconnect suggests a research gap focused on how firm strategies and systems thinking support sustainability in the fashion sector. The research aims to identify how sustainable fashion leaders implement systems and best practices to achieve sustainable objectives through a knowledge discovery lens. A semi-structured qualitative interview method was used to explore the topic. The transcripts of the qualitative interviews were analyzed using NVivo software to facilitate the coding and analysis of data generated from the interviews. The targeted questions aim to identify Knowledge Discovery activities or strategies used to move sustainable objectives forward; the goals of this study are to explore: (1) What are the conceptualizations of sustainability in the fashion industry for sustainability leaders and their organizations? (2) How do those leaders and organizations discover the necessary knowledge to implement those conceptualizations? The findings suggest that sustainable fashion leaders' conceptualization of sustainability revolves around environmental impact and their business practices. The knowledge discovery activities rely on industry knowledge to inform their sustainable practices and influence their strategic decisions. Most sustainable leaders did not have a formalized process for using science and research as a strategic planning tool, indicating a potential gap in their ability to effectively leverage scientific knowledge to drive sustainability objectives and financial growth. However, academic research may support creating a framework to create a formalized process and understand the function of sustainability leaders and knowledge management practices in the fashion industry. Industry associations can use the findings to support sustainable roles by providing accurate data as knowledge discovery tools to aid the sustainable fashion leaders’ decision-making and strategic planning process.
NOËL PALOMO-LOVINSKI (Advisor)
83 p.
Climate Change; Design; Environmental Management; Information Systems; Instructional Design; Management; Sustainability; Systems Design
fashion sustainability, knowledge management, fashion strategies, sustainable knowledge, knowledge discovery

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Robles, J. (2023). SUSTAINABILITY IMPLEMENTATION IN FASHION THROUGH KNOWLEDGE DISCOVERY: AN EXPLORATORY QUALITATIVE STUDY [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent168243311156575

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Robles, Julia. SUSTAINABILITY IMPLEMENTATION IN FASHION THROUGH KNOWLEDGE DISCOVERY: AN EXPLORATORY QUALITATIVE STUDY. 2023. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent168243311156575.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Robles, Julia. "SUSTAINABILITY IMPLEMENTATION IN FASHION THROUGH KNOWLEDGE DISCOVERY: AN EXPLORATORY QUALITATIVE STUDY." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2023. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent168243311156575

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2023, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.