Yalan Wang

Sustainability has risen to prominence as a pressing global grand issue and an exogenous force driving strategic change and novel strategy development. Within this context, my research investigates how sustainability initiatives in the fashion and apparel industry evolve within corporate strategy. My research aims to deepen understanding of sustainability from a strategy process and practice perspective, exploring the gap between strategic ambition of sustainability aspiration and the grounded reality of everyday activities and practices. Using a qualitative multiple-case study approach, I examine company-specific initiatives covering both the supply and consumption side of sustainability work. Drawing on interviews, archival materials, and ethnographic observation, my study potentially contributes to a deeper understanding of how sustainability ambitions are translated in everyday organizational practices, how companies develop sustainability-driven capabilities for the long-term competitive advantages, the challenges this entails, and how these challenges can be addressed whether leading to unintended outcomes or new business opportunities, ultimately offering nuanced insights into the dynamics between strategic intent and daily mundane work about sustainability.