Critical Factors for the Adoption of Social Sustainability Practices in Vietnamese Handicraft Organizations

Mediating role of internationalization readiness in the adoption of social sustainability practices: Evidence from Vietnamese handicraft companies

“…This full mediation is driven by the fact that the public and the customers in foreign markets are increasingly concerned about the social issues of the export countries (Uddin et al, 2023;Zhu et al, 2013). Customers are willing to pay higher prices for environmentally and socially friendly products (Tran et al 2018;Zhu et al, 2011). This has resulted in integrating social sustainability practices into products and processes by Vietnamese handicraft companies for legitimacy and competitiveness in the global marketplace.…”

“…Laborer pressures have a direct positive impact on SSP adoption. Vietnamese suppliers to meet with pushback for not doing so (Tran et al, 2018). Huq and Stevenson (2020) investigate SSP adoption by Bangladeshi companies and reveal that associations, such as trade unions, professional trade bodies, social groups, and nongovernmental organizations, can exert considerable pressures on companies to be socially responsible.…”

“…Companies must meet these expectations to retain their workforce (Huq & Stevenson, 2020). Laborers in Vietnam tend to work for garment and textile, footwear, and electronics companies which offer better wages and working conditions than those in the handicraft industry (Tran et al, 2018). This reality reveals an urgent need for Vietnamese handicraft companies to adopt SSP to help mitigate the labor shortage problem or retain skilled laborers (Teo et al, 2020).…”

“…Customer pressures, for example, generate market pressures on Vietnamese handicraft companies to promote their SSP adoption. Big international companies, such as IKEA, Walmart, Zara Home, and Target, usually set stringent SSP requirements for their Vietnamese suppliers to meet with pushback for not doing so (Tran et al, 2018). Huq and Stevenson (2020) investigate SSP adoption by Bangladeshi companies and reveal that associations, such as trade unions, professional trade bodies, social groups, and non‐governmental organizations, can exert considerable pressures on companies to be socially responsible.…”

“…Nonetheless, the adoption of SSP could prove to be a challenge to many Vietnamese handicraft companies. While SSP adoption has almost become a must among export‐oriented companies, it is still not a common practice in most domestic‐oriented firms for cost and other reasons (Tran et al, 2018). Export‐oriented companies are more likely to experience greater stakeholder pressures for SSP adoption (Nguyen et al, 2021; Zhu et al, 2013).…”