Born-sustainable internationalization : A qualitative study on textile reuse businesses

Abstract: Born-sustainable textile reuse businesses conduct textile waste management tasks in accordance with sustainable standards. Innovation and collaboration are the core values around which these businesses have operated since inception. As there are not enough regulated channels to manage textile waste across many parts of the globe, they remain in warehouses for a long time before being discarded into landfills or incinerators. Re-using this waste globally will significantly reduce the environmental impacts of manufacturing new fabrics. However, these born-sustainable businesses frequently have difficulties managing their operations with limited resources and hence it would be challenging for them to expand their business globally. As there is a scarcity of research on born-sustainable businesses and their internationalization, the present study aims to fill this gap through a qualitative study by interviewing multiple textile reuse businesses and one of the case company business stakeholders. The analysis demonstrates that textile reuse businesses that are born sustainable are also born digital and internationalized more quickly than traditional businesses, due to innovation and digital business opportunities. Additionally, characteristics of born sustainable businesses and internationalization coexist with each other as these businesses are also Born Global. Since the textile sector is a global business, these businesses have networking opportunities and had to deal with difficulties in the institutional void from the inception.