Development of Sustainability Balanced Scorecard: A Case Study from Apparel Industry Sri Lanka

Abstract

This study aims to determine the obstacles the Sri Lankan apparel manufacturing industry faces when implementing sustainable practices and develop a Sustainability Balanced Scorecard to address those obstacles. The apparel export industry is one of Sri Lanka’s most significant contributors to the country’s overall economy. The multiple case study method was employed in conjunction with a qualitative approach in this study. This study also used data triangulation, which comprised both primary and secondary data from interviews and observations. Secondary information was gathered from annual reports and other documents. The population of this study is the apparel export industry and selected three apparel companies as the sample and interviewed nine managers from these companies. The interviewed data were transcribed into the transcript and analyzed through narrative analysis. By considering all the practices in three companies, this research constructed a sustainability balanced scorecard which can be used for other companies to build up their sustainability practices. The main issues identified in this research can be summarized as follows, Manual system of data entering and performance evaluation, there is no sufficient Hazardous Waste Management and disposal facilities in the country, Financial constraints prevent best-in-class equipment and procedures from being implemented. Sri Lanka has no solid waste recycling facilities for its primary waste type, fabric waste. As a final point, this research can be concluded that the regulators and policymakers can use the constructed sustainability balanced scorecard for the policy development on sustainability practices.

Keywords

• apparel industry
• economic performance
• environment performance
• social performance
• sustainability balanced scorecard