Problem – Companies are increasingly focusing on sustainability issues in response to internal and external pressure. Research on sustainable performance of focal companies is vast; however there is a lack of guidelines for managing sustainability in extended supply chains. Scholars claim a need for additional research on intra- and inter-organizational diffusion of best sustainable practices. Besides, the outcomes of sustainable sourcing practices are still uncertain. The gap between potential benefits of sustainable sourcing and actual performance is attributed to lack of capabilities, instruments, and efficient processes. Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore existing sustainable sourcing practices which are used by leading multinational companies. Based on the obtained knowledge we aim to develop a framework that will suite as a guideline for enforcing sustainable sourcing practices. Method – The research has been conducted through the method of grounded theory, enabling the researchers to constructively interpret data from documentary primary data and semi-structured interviews. This approach was utilized in order to explore what are the most common practices of managing sustainable sourcing applied by the companies awarded as Industry leaders by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Conclusion We found that a commonly accepted approach towards managing and enforcing sustainable sourcing is absent both in theoretical discourse and practice. However, the most frequently mentioned tools and approaches were defined. They include the adoption of suppliers’ code of conduct, establishment of dedicated sustainability departments, procurement personnel training, suppliers’ capability building, risk assessment and categorization of suppliers, IT platforms for information sharing, supplier self-assessment, audit, joint projects with suppliers, meetings and conferences, and suppliers’ scorecards. Finally, we developed a Sustainable Sourcing Enforcement framework which could serve as a guideline to enforce supplier’s commitment to act sustainably. The framework consists of five chronologically connected pillars: Objectives alignment, Commitment creation, Supplier selection, Ongoing development and Work with stakeholders.

Fashion and textile upcycling is currently considered a time-consuming and labour- intensive process. Since textile waste materials are not readily available as a secondary raw material, the process of sourcing pre- and post-consumer textile waste usually requires a lot of time and effort, and often results in a high inconsistency in input materials. In consequence, upcycling operations are generally difficult to scale up. In order to address this issue, this research study aims to explore the current sourcing process of secondary raw material as well as the opportunities and challenges this sourcing process implies for a B2B trading platform of secondary raw material. In order to serve the purpose of this research study, semi-structured interviews with experienced professionals from five small and medium-sized fashion and textile upcycling companies have been conducted. The empirical data collected through the semi-structured interviews was analysed using an inductive approach of qualitative content analysis. The overall findings suggest that concerning the sourcing process of post-consumer textiles for upcycling, the identified opportunities for a B2B trading platform outweigh the challenges. However, pre-consumer textile waste is often provided in the form of an already upcycled yarn from fabric or garment suppliers which gives the impression that a B2B trading platform is less relevant in this case. Nevertheless, the empirical results might have been impacted by the small sample size and the strong focus on post-consumer textiles. Therefore, more research is necessary in order to understand how SMEs working with pre-consumer textile waste source their input materials for upcycling and which opportunities and challenges this potentially different process implies for a B2B trading platform of secondary raw material.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate ways of improving sustainable sourcing. The focus of this thesis is to identify what data should be collected, the most appropriate ways of gathering it, and how it can be used to improve sustainable sourcing in large and global companies. The objective is to provide insights on how large companies can take informed decisions to address sustainability within their suppliers' operations and their own sourcing practices generally, by investigating supplier specific data.  Method: The approach taken for this research was to conduct an exploratory single case study in a large and global retail company. Furthermore, all three research questions were answered using qualitative methods, which include interviews and analysing documents from the case company. Findings: In this study, it was found that to improve sustainable sourcing, companies should collect data on suppliers’ performance in economic, environmental, and social sustainability and their ability to be transparent and trace the flow of raw materials in the supply chain. Companies can collect data from upstream supply chains through audits, using traceability and transparency tools, and obtaining a chain of custody for all raw materials. Moreover, companies can utilise the collected data for efficient and effective resource allocation, managing supply relationships and planning, and supplier development. Implications: This thesis contributes to existing research within the field of sustainable sourcing as it features a new approach on how to improve current practices by considering the data that should be collected from suppliers. Moreover, it broadens the perspective by featuring sustainable sourcing specifically in the context of a large and global company. The practical implications of the study address how practitioners can improve sustainable sourcing. The implications include bringing awareness to a possible disconnection between the economic criteria and the other dimensions of the triple bottom line, the limitations of exclusively relying on in-house auditing, and a narrow focus on a limited number of raw materials.   Delimitations: This thesis is limited to a single case study of a large and global company. The data discussed in the thesis focuses on data collected from first-tier suppliers; data collected further upstream or downstream from the case company is outside of the scope of the study.