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An institutional approach to sustainable operations and procurement by third sector organizations SummaryAwareness of (un)sustainable operations is increasing in both academic research and practice.However, little is known about sustainable operations within the third sector. When it comes to sustainable practices, the role played by third sector organizations, and especially non-governmental organizations, has mostly been regarded as advocacy. We shift this traditional perspective by analyzing sustainability of internal operations, including procurement, by third sector organizations.Institutional theory is used to discuss the reporting trends that were found in a document analysis of reports by third sector organizations. We present research lines that might allow understanding drivers and constraints of such (reporting) practices.

This paper aims to explore a set of institutional, organizational, and individual drivers of and barriers to the integration of sustainability into the corporate strategy of a European textile and clothing (T&C) company. The methodology is based on a case study of the exemplar VAUDE, a family-owned sustainable outdoor outfitter company. The results are in accordance with institutional theory and stakeholder theory as a theoretical framework explaining why companies deal with sustainability. The determined drivers depend on coherence at all levels of analysis, i.e., institutional, organizational, and individual. The barriers found are of an institutional and organizational nature only. The findings present significant practical implications for other T&C companies that seek to integrate sustainability into their corporate strategy and for the T&C industry to create a sustainability-friendly environment to drive more companies to become sustainable. It further supports T&C companies in identifying potential barriers, determining how to overcome them, and successfully integrating sustainability into their corporate strategy. To conclude, the results suggest that it only works if sustainability is strongly integrated into the corporate strategy and deeply anchored in all departments and daily tasks of a T&C company.

The concept behind fast fashion is that of quickly-produced, low-priced, fashion items and, for many, it constitutes the opposite of sustainability. The collapse of Rana Plaza factory in 2013 generated greater focus on CSR issues within the fast fashion industry and raised important questions about whether the industry can be sustainable. This research aims to explore the reasons for which companies engage in CSR initiatives and whether global news media attention has an effect on companies' CSR disclosure and initiatives. The study draws upon legitimacy and media agenda setting theory to explore the link between CSR disclosure and news coverage. The research shows that CSR disclosures varied according to the companies' CSR profiles, and that media coverage differed according to companies' CSR initiatives and proactivity. This paper contributes to the literature by qualitatively exploring the relationship between media attention and corporate disclosure in the ready-made garment industry after a disaster.

Despite the relevance of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the fact that universities may make valuable contributions towards their implementation, there is a paucity of international studies which may allow an assessment of their degree of engagement or their performance against the SDGs. This paper reports on an international study among a sample of 128 members of higher education institutions (HEIs) located in 28 countries, which aimed at ascertaining the extent to which the SDGs are being integrated into the strategy of HEIs. The focus of this paper is on the means which have been deployed by various universities in order to embed or include the SDGs in their activities. More specifically, this paper explores 1) the scope of integration, 2) the organisational influences, and 3) strategic influencing factors. The research identified the fact that, whereas many organisations are aware of the need for and the relevance of sustainable development and consider it as part of their institutional settings, the same cannot be said for the SDGs, whose level of emphasis is many HEIs is comparatively somewhat limited. In addition, there seems to be a shortage of training opportunities focusing on the SDGs, which could equip university staff to handle this topic. Against this background, the paper describes some measures that may be implemented to make the SDGs more present in HEI programmes, hence maximising their contribution to addressing the global sustainability challenges.