CAN GREEN BUSINESS PRACTICES BE THE
SOURCE OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE FOR LEED-
CERTIFIED BANGLADESHI RMG COMPANIES?
Md Azzajur Rahman
1*
, S M Sohel Rana
1
, Tasneem Jahan Tumpa
2
1
Department of Marketing, Independent University, Bangladesh
2
Department of Economics, United International University, Bangladesh
Abstract
Companies across industries seek competitive advantages in many ways. Gaining a
competitive advantage through green resources and capabilities, especially for ready-
made garment (RMG) companies in major sourcing destinations worldwide, is the new
competitive frontier and a means of staying relevant in the intensely competitive fast-fashion
industry. The primary objective of this qualitative study is to investigate the relationship
between green business practices in RMG factories and their competitive advantage in
international markets. It aims to reveal how the green movement, climate change, and
sustainability concerns shape the competitive dynamics of the fast-fashion industry.
A well-structured thematic analysis is conducted to extract insight from the qualitative
secondary data. Major ndings emphasize the importance of acquiring green resources
and capabilities for RMG companies to remain competitive in the rapidly evolving fast-
fashion industry.
Keywords: Green business practices, competitive advantage, sustainability, RMG industry,
LEED-accreditation, and strategic capability.
Introduction
The ready-made garments (RMG) industry is the lifeblood of Bangladesh’s economy.
More than 150 countries import apparel from Bangladesh, and 4,000 factories across
the country employ approximately 4 million people, primarily women (BGMEA,
2025). According to the Export Promotion Bureau (2025), almost 84% of the foreign
currency ($47 billion in 2023) is generated from this sector alone. In terms of women’s
empowerment and nation branding abroad, no other industry comes close to the RMG
sector. The sustainability of this sector is critically important to Bangladesh’s economy,
as global competition intensies. Different dynamics and their savvy execution can
give Bangladeshi RMG factories core competencies, alongside their existing low-wage
advantage, to dominate their position in the international market. The green revolution is the
* Corresponding Author: Md Azzajur Rahman, E-mail: azzajur@iub.edu.bd
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buzzword across the RMG sector. It resonates well with the global movement for climate
preparedness, eco-friendly market offerings, and the sustainable development agenda,
which serves as a benchmark worldwide. In the era of cutthroat competition, sophisticated
customers, the green movement, and hyper-critical media outlets worldwide, sustainable
and green business practices are pivotal ways for companies to remain competitive (Esty
& Winston, 2009). Taking into consideration the environment, the needs of both present
and future generations, and the economy at large, green business practices can help modern
corporations gain an edge over competitors and win the hearts of today’s well-informed,
chameleon customers in many ways. Heading towards sustainable business operations will
be the decisive moment for companies in Bangladesh’s RMG industry to ensure sustainable
protability.
From a socio-economic perspective, RMG is one of the most important sectors.
However, little research has been conducted to address the contemporary sustainability
issues in this industry. Therefore, our study surely adds new dimensions to the existing
literature on green business practices. Another uniqueness of this study is that it has
articulated a strategic direction for ready-made garment companies currently engaged in
green business practices and has set examples for those yet to take any green initiatives.
This study aims to answer these two research questions:
• Do the factories that follow green business practices get a competitive advantage
in the international market?
• Is there any relationship between green business practices and competitive
advantage?
Literature Review
Green Business Practices
Green business practices incorporate eco-friendly and sustainable principles across
all business functions, from supply chains and manufacturing to operations, marketing,
human resource management, and nance, aiming to mitigate environmental impacts and
promote circularity through recycling and reuse. Green business practices seek to strike
a balance among people, planet, and prot by reducing adverse environmental impacts at
the local and global levels, considering the long-term well-being of society, and ensuring
sustainable protability through eco-friendly market offerings that utilize green production
processes across the entire value chain (ILO, 2023). Despite allegations of greenwashing,
which can mislead customers (UN, 2015), green business practices are revolutionizing
industries worldwide.
Green Supply Chain Management: Green supply chain management (GSCM) in the
RMG sector involves facilitating all steps of traditional supply chain management while
addressing environmental hazards. This practice addresses the environmentally friendly,
closed-loop approach to a product’s lifespan, from sourcing, designing, manufacturing,
Independent Business Review, Vol 15, No. 1 | June 2026 4040
packaging, storing, collaborating with stakeholders, and transporting to disposal at the end
of the product’s life cycle (Selim, 2018). Firms can ensure green supply chain in practice
through green logistics (less fuel consumption and emission by using renewable energy
sources and reduced toxic dispersion (DeSimone & Popoff, 2000), green warehousing,
reverse logistics, waste management (Sheu, 2008), green transportation, choosing the
correct route for product delivery to use less fuel and emission can enhance the probability
of gaining a competitive advantage. In Bangladesh, supply chain activities heavily rely on
fossil fuels, thereby emitting an alarming amount of carbon dioxide, greenhouse gases,
and other harmful gases that can endanger the environment and climate (Sarkar et al.,
2020). However, competitive advantage requires businesses to leverage lower emissions
and lower pollution for sustainable growth. The GSCM model ensures protability and
captures market share by reducing environmental risks and promoting sustainability (Habib
et al., 2020). This practice uplifts organizations’ nancial performance and helps achieve
competitive advantage (Khan & Qianli, 2017).
Green Marketing Management: With the growing demand for integration between
business practices and environmental concerns, the concept of green marketing continues
to gain ground in the design of sustainable marketing policies (Choudri et al., 2017). A
more holistic denition of organic or green marketing emphasizes innovating, promoting,
packaging, recycling, and reusing products in an environmentally friendly manner.
Previous studies have noted that green marketing is the process by which an organization
improves its product offerings, pricing, distribution, and promotion to satisfy customer
demand while mitigating adverse environmental impacts (Dangelico & Vocalelli, 2017;
Peattie, 2012). In this regard, LealMillan et al. (2018) noted that worldwide environmental
awareness has led to positive attitudes toward consumers’ buying behavior for green
products. Therefore, better segmentation of green consumers based on their psychographic
characteristics can facilitate the development of green marketing strategies and help gain
a competitive advantage. By going green, a business signals its distinction from others
and gains a competitive advantage. Though green marketing may entail additional costs, it
delivers tangible commercial benets and enhances protability.
Green Operations Management: Green operations include activities that reduce rms’
environmental footprint, such as lower energy consumption, eco-friendly sourcing of raw
materials, and reduced waste and toxic dispersion. Green manufacturing practices (GMPs)
in the RMG industry can reduce the negative environmental impact of production and
simultaneously boost protability (Digalwar et al., 2017). One of the prerequisites for
green operations and manufacturing is organic sourcing from a supplier committed to the
green concept (Paulraj, 2011). Another signicant aspect of green operations is ensuring
efcient manufacturing techniques. Green production aims to increase output with fewer
resources and lower energy consumption. Green manufacturing strives to minimize soil
degradation, air and water pollution, and wastage as much as possible (Gao et al., 2009;
Routroy, 2009). In addition, Pal and Gander (2018) found that incorporating sustainable
operations can help RMG companies compete in the global fashion industry by creating
greater value.
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Green Human Resource Management: Green human resource management involves
efciently managing all HR practices to achieve environmental sustainability. It integrates
green selection and recruitment, green training and development, green compensation and
benets, green performance management, and green employee relations. It is considered
that implementing green business is directly related to an organization’s human resource
management capability. Green recruitment and selection attract green human capital to a
business rm. According to Hatch & Dyer (2004), the embodied knowledge and set of skills
turn an employee into human capital. Green human capital comprises the knowledge, skills,
and abilities of the workforce, encompassing green attitudes, commitment, sustainable
innovation, and green entrepreneurship. Earlier studies found that green human capital and
eco-innovation increase green competitive advantage (Astuti & Datrini, 2021; Widiyati &
Murwaningsari, 2021), although they might not always have a signicantly positive impact
(Lastanti & Yvonne, 2022). Generally, green human capital contributes to competitive
advantage due to its inimitability, intangibility, and social complexity.
Green Financial Management: Green nance in RMG sectors refers to investment and
nancing in projects concerned with sustainability and ecological balance. This practice
refers to investing in eco-friendly initiatives, such as renewable energy, green technology,
recycling, and waste-disposal equipment, within RMG rms. Government nancial support
(Porter & Linde, 2000), such as tax rebate facilities, subsidies, and feed-in tariffs for power
generation (Sarkar et al., 2020) are lucrative return on investment from green nance.
RMG rms can also receive a subsidy to enhance R&D and adopt cleaner technologies,
which will ultimately produce greener products that will open the door to the global market,
where green labels are valued. Therefore, strategic investment in green nancial projects
is important. According to Nohong et al. (2024), there is a strong association between
strategic nance and green competitive advantage. Strategically nancing green projects
enables the RMG sector to align with global competitors and may help gain a competitive
edge.
Strategic Capabilities
Strategic capabilities refer to the individual skills of employees and the unique
resources that emerge from the interactions of different actors within the company.
Strategic capabilities could emerge within team members, between workers and managers
through workplace camaraderie, and between personnel and tangible assets through output
optimization. These interactions could be omnipresent across various industries and
contingent on the caliber of the individuals who form them (Hall, 1989). All the functional
aspects of green business practices—green supply chain management (sustainable sourcing,
in-bound and out-bound logistics), green marketing management (eco-friendly products,
eco-packaging, eco-labelling, eco-positioning and green brand imagery), green operations
management (recycle and reuse, reducing carbon footprint, using renewable energy and
conserving and optimizing resources), green HRM (green recruitment and selection,
training and development, compensations and benets) and green nancial management
(green investment, return on invest and measuring green nancial performance)—are the
orchestrators behind versatile strategic capabilities that rms seek to acquire. These acquired
Can green business practices be the source of competitive advantage for LEED-certied
Bangladeshi RMG companies?
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capabilities, whether through process buildup or resource creation, confer competitive
advantages for rms in international markets. Green capability-building endeavors can
drive RMG rms to redene their ability and compete in the global market.
Competitive Advantage
The green business model for sustainable development determines companies’ green
competitiveness (Porter, 1991). The paradigm of competitiveness is changing and gradually
leaning towards companies that focus on corporate green performance, which incorporates
green innovation (Khan et al., 2020), improved products or processes that fulll customers’
quality concerns and environmental performance simultaneously (Yu & Huo, 2019). The
race towards sustainability and corporate green performance is accelerating among rms
to gain a market edge through green offerings, implementing green processes (Xie et al.,
2019), and practicing green management (Li et al., 2018) to mitigate the environmental
impacts of business operations. Firms can achieve a competitive advantage by conguring
a strategic system developed through a green business model. The strategic system resource
is a socially complex network and an interrelationship of tradable and non-tradable factors.
The resource-based view of the rms asserts that although a given rm may possess many
resources, only those resources that are valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable
provide a sustainable competitive advantage (Barney, 1991). By adopting a green approach,
fast-fashion companies can gradually thrive by building new resources and capabilities. The
RMG rms that successfully leverage valuable, rare, non-substitutable, and difcult-to-
imitate resources are likely to gain an advantage over their competitors in the marketplace,
thus ensuring superior protability (Hitt et. al., 1999).
Methodology
It’s a qualitative study and based on secondary data. A thematic analysis is
meticulously conducted to develop common themes (Lochmiller, 2021) and to articulate
the commonalitRMG rms that successfully leverage valuable, rare, non-substitutable,
and difcult-to-imitate resources are likely to gain an advantage over competitors in
the marketplace, thereby ensuring superior protability (Hitt eties of sourcing policies
followed by global garment buyers. The validity of the thematic approach has been
established by earlier studies in business and management research (Humble & Mozelius,
2022; Simunaniemi & Muhos, 2017).
Data Sources
Secondary data is analyzed for the study. The LEED-certied company’s accreditation
details were collected from the USGC (2025) ofcial website. Major exporting companies
and their details were collected from the Textile Focus website, a specialized textile-
oriented news portal. Information on the overall scenario of the RMG industry was gathered
from the BGMEA website (2025), the leading trade body representing RMG owners. The
sourcing policies of global buyers were collected from their publicly available websites
to inform their relevant stakeholders about transparent business practices. Only ofcial
sources were considered throughout the data collection process for maximum credibility
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and reliability. Extraneous information and unnecessary details were discarded to ensure
relevancy with the study at hand.
Qualitative Analysis
Thematic Analysis: It refers to identifying recurring themes and patterns in textual or
narrative data (Majumdar, 2022). Presumably, the qualitative research method involves
systematically reading and interpreting data to extract meaning and understand different
perspectives (Christou, 2022). A thematic analysis is conducted to identify a common
theme in the sourcing policies of global buyers, based on publicly available information.
The following approaches are followed to discern the desired theme:
• Familiarization: Become thoroughly familiar with the data and information on the
sourcing policy of global suppliers, especially those who have operations in Bangladesh,
often through multiple readings.
• Categorization and Tabulation: The sourcing policies of global garment buyers are
categorized and tabulated into relevant sections of the data to generate potential themes.
• Theme Development: Themes that substantiate the versatile aspects of green
business pertinent to the global fashion industry are carefully developed.
Table 1. Steps followed for thematic analysis
Steps Thematic Analysis Description
Familiarization Orienting with relevant data
Categorization and Tabulation Tabulating information into specic sections
Theme Development Developing a common theme
Reviewing Themes Connecting with research questions
Dening and Naming Themes Denoting precise names
Writing Up Transcribing ndings
• Reviewing Themes: Identied themes are carefully crafted and well-dened
to establish relevancy with research questions on green business practices in the RMG
industry and the dynamics of competitive advantage in the international market.
• Dening and Naming Themes: Clearly dening what each theme represents and
giving them concise, understandable names such as sustainability, human wellbeing, animal
welfare, responsible sourcing, human rights, people’s policy, supply chain policy, and
protecting the planet—all these address different aspects and outcomes of green business
practices.
• Writing Up: Presenting the ndings, demystifying the identied themes, supporting
evidence, interpreting research results to address research questions, and achieving the
study objectives.
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Bangladeshi RMG companies?
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Rationale Behind Applying the Thematic Approach: Thematic analysis is particularly
suitable for its simplicity, fewer prescriptions and procedures. It helps to compare and
contrast and to generate unanticipated insights (Braun & Clarke, 2006). In this study,
thematic analysis is conducted to summarize a large volume of data on sourcing policies of
fast-fashion companies, to follow a well-structured approach to data management, and to
report ndings in an orderly manner (King, 2004).
Conceptual Framework
The following research framework shows that the exogenous variable, green
business practices, has multidimensional measures: green supply chain management, green
marketing, green operations, green human resource management, and green nance.
Presumably, these green business practices enhance companies’ competitive advantage
by building dynamic capabilities, which, in turn, are measured by pollution prevention,
Figure 1. Conceptual framework
product stewardship, and sustainable development that entails clean technology and
the base of the pyramid. On the other hand, endogenous variable competitive advantages
are measured by lower costs, reputation or legitimacy, future positioning, and long-term
sustainable growth. The framework also demonstrates that dynamic capabilities mediate
between green business practices and competitive advantages. It refers to the idea that
green business practices lead to competitive advantage when companies excel at building
dynamic capabilities.
This proposed research framework has been extended to align with the study at hand,
based on the natural-resource-based view (NRBV) of the rm proposed by Hart (1995).
The idea of NRBV itself was an upgrade of the resource-based view (RBV), which ignores
the impact of environmental factors necessary for sustaining competitive advantage. The
facets of RBV, such as resources (Wernerfelt, 1984; Reed & DeFillippi, 1990; Barney,
1991), capabilities (Prahalad & Hamel, 1990; Ulrich & Lake, 1991), and competitive
advantage (Ghemawat,1986; Porter, 1990), are thoroughly studied by researchers over
the years. However, NRBV lls the void of the biophysical (natural) environment, which
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was previously missing in the rm’s competitive success discourse. Later, NRVB was
contemporized by incorporating the perspectives of clean technology and BoP (bottom
of the pyramid) into strategic capabilities, for a more comprehensive understanding of
environmental strategies and to sustain the success of rms in the continuously evolving
marketplace.
Analysis And Discussion
One of the largest global hubs for garment manufacturing and affordable sourcing,
and the second-largest garment exporter in the world, Bangladesh’s ready-made garment
(RMG) industry is the driving force of the South Asian emerging economy. In 2023,
Bangladesh’s RMG exports reached $47.5 billion, which is the second-largest gure after
China’s substantial $165 billion (BGMEA, 2025). Major markets for Bangladesh’s RMG
products are the USA, EU, Japan, Canada, and Australia (Bangladesh Bank, 2024). Based
on data from the National Board of Revenue (NBR, 2024) and the vernacular daily Prothom
Alo (2024), the following table shows the top buyers for the scal year 2023-24. This list
has been prepared by analyzing and synthesizing nearly 2.1 million export shipments.
Table 2: The top foreign companies purchasing Bangladeshi garments—2023-24
Company Name Country of Origin
H & M Sweden
Inditex Spain
Primark Ireland
Bestseller Denmark
Marks & Spencer (M&S) United Kingdom
C&A Netherlands
Uniqlo Japan
Kmart United States of America
LPP Poland
Next United Kingdom
Pepco Poland
Walmart United States of America
The sourcing policies of these companies are very rigorous. Alongside strict quality
control measures, companies in the USA and EU often require sourcing destinations
to comply with sustainability standards, human rights, animal rights, ethical business
practices, and fair trade across the supply chain. Any violation is tantamount to termination
of the business. Continuously increasing pressure from consumer rights groups, human
rights groups, animal rights groups, global media houses, regulators, and governments
Can green business practices be the source of competitive advantage for LEED-certied
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Independent Business Review, Vol 15, No. 1 | June 2026 4646
makes it particularly difcult to avoid responsibility for malpractices in the supply chains
of fast-fashion garments. The following table demonstrates the common theme of sourcing
policies of top RMG purchasing companies in Bangladesh. This list isn’t exhaustive, but it
signicantly covers the major issues prevalent in sustainable sourcing.
Table 3. Sourcing policy of top RMG products purchasing companies in Bangladesh
No. Company Name Common theme of the sourcing policy
1 H & M (2025) • Sustainability:
Save water
Reduce fossil fuel use
Reduce environmental risk
• Animal welfare
• Human rights:
OECD Due Diligence Guidelines for Responsible Business
Conduct
UN Guiding Principle on Business and Human Rights
Supplier relationships
2 Inditex (2025) • Culture of sustainability:
Sustainable recruitment
• Participation of purchasing team:
Training for purchasing teams on the sustainability of the
supply chain
• Collaboration with the industry:
Promote best practices in the industry that foster the
payment of living wages
3 Primark (2025) • Sustainability and ethics
Strengthening Clothing Durability
Halving Carbon Footprint
Clothes That Can Be Recycled
Cotton Project: cotton that’s organic, recycled, or sourced
through protable farming
• Protecting life on the planet:
Promoting biodiversity
Eliminating non-cloth waste
Responsible manufacturing
Eliminate, innovate, circulate
• Improving people’s lives
Tackle gender-based violence
Improve nancial resilience
Empowering women
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4 Bestseller (2025) • Sustainability:
Climate impact
Circular future
• Supply chain policy:
Social and environmental sustainability across the supply
chain
• Forest protection
• People’s policy:
Promoting diversity, inclusivity and strong values
• Packaging policy:
Moving away from plastic and paper-based packaging
5 Marks & Spencer
(2025)
• Sustainability:
Net-zero business across the entire value chain
• People’s policy:
Organizational culture that promotes diversity, inclusivity,
personal development and respect
• Responsible sourcing and human rights:
Upholding Global Sourcing Principles
Allowing individuals to lead a dignied and independent
life, free from abuse and violation
6 C&A (2025) • Sustainability:
Environmental management
Sustainable chemical management
Climate change and water stewardship
• Human welfare:
Labor and human rights
Equity, inclusion and freedom from discrimination
Health and safety
Freedom of association
• Animal welfare
7 Uniqlo (2025) • Sustainability:
Reuse, Recycle
Ethically produced materials
Low carbon footprint
Minimizing environmental impacts
Abolishing fur, feather and merino wool suppliers who
source from farmers practicing mulesing
• Animal welfare
• No human rights violations
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Bangladeshi RMG companies?
Independent Business Review, Vol 15, No. 1 | June 2026 4848
8 LPP (2025) • Sustainability
Decarbonization
Promoting circularity
Recycling and reducing the carbon footprint
Eliminating single-use plastics
More optimized production
Energy-efcient infrastructure
• Human welfare:
Appropriate remuneration
No child labor
Freedom of association
Voluntary work
Health and safety standards
9 Next (2025) • Sustainability approaches:
Measuring climate impacts
Energy efciency
Distribution efciency
Waste and recycling
Product lifecycle management
Packaging
• Responsible sourcing
• Human rights and modern slavery
• Community engagement
• Trading ethically throughout the supply chain
10 Pepco (2025) • Sustainability:
Reduce carbon footprint
Use less material
Minimize waste
Use responsibly sourced materials in products
• Develop people
• Care for colleagues and partners
• Practice strong governance
The sourcing policies of global buyers indicate the priority of sustainability. The
major themes that emerge from the above table are ethical business practices and the
utmost concern for people and the planet. As customers become more sophisticated and
compliance with fair trade and ethical business standards becomes the norm, global fashion
brands have few choices but to remain relevant by embracing sustainability. Though it
is costly to implement, a sustainable endeavor is the only way to contemporize or
inevitably differentiate product offerings. Any sustainability effort often calls forth green
business practices within the organization to reap the benets of emerging opportunities
in international markets. The recent green revolution in Bangladesh’s RMG industry is a
timely move to capitalize on these untapped opportunities. A few pioneering companies
4949
have begun going green, and others are following suit. The increasing number of LEED-
certied factories in Bangladesh is an indication of the green revolution in this sector. The
following chart summarizes the categories of certication levels.
Figure 2: Categories of LEED certication
Platinum certication is the highest level of LEED and requires projects to earn more
than 80 points out of 110. Gold is the second-highest level with signicant achievement
and requires projects to earn between 60 and 79 points. Silver is the third-highest level of
recognition for sustainable practices and requires projects to earn between 50 and 59 points.
Currently, 55 out of 100 LEED Green Factories worldwide are in Bangladesh. Among them,
nine of the top 10 and 18 of the top 20 are located in Bangladesh, indicating a signicant
leap toward solidifying Bangladesh’s reputation as a sustainable RMG manufacturing hub
(Dhaka Tribune, 2024). It also indicates the green capacity-building of RMG companies
in Bangladesh and their agility to remain competitive. As of January 2025, a total of
233 RMG factories received LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
certication from the US Green Building Council (USGBC), a nonprot organization that
promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and operation (Daily Star, 2025).
The following gure tabulates a few leading RMG manufacturers located in Bangladesh:
Ha-Meem Group Masco Industries Limited Spinning Ltd (Unit-2)
Beximco Apparels Ltd Asian Apparels Limited Saadatia Sweaters Ltd
Square Fashions Ltd Envoy Textile Executive Greentex Ltd
DBL Group Plummy Fashion Limited Ananta Jeanswear Limited
Posh Garments Amanat Shah Group Big Boss Corporation Limited
Ananta Group Sepal Garments Ltd Aptech Caswier Limited
Basic Shirts Limited Cotton Field BD Ltd Euro knit spinn ltd
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TM Jeans Limited Consist Apparels Limited Eurotex Group
Babylon Casualwear Ltd Continental Garments Ind. P. Ltd. Banga Fashion Ltd
Figure 2. Leading RMG factories with LEED certication in Bangladesh
Bangladesh’s Progress in green manufacturing is giving companies here an edge over
competitors in the international market. It’s the leader in the global apparel industry, with a
growing number of LEED-certied factories. The leading trade body, Bangladesh Garment
Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), plays a key role in promoting
sustainable practices in the RMG industry. Especially in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza
tragedy, one of the world’s largest industrial accidents that killed approximately 1200
people in 2013 (Clean Clothes Campaign, 2025), the move towards green manufacturing
helps to improve and regain Bangladesh’s image and strengthen its position as a responsible
global player.
Conclusion
This study addressed the impact of green business practices on the competitive
advantage of Bangladeshi RMG companies in the international market, focusing on the
rigorous sourcing policies of global garment buyers and their predilection for sustainability.
Key ndings indicate that Bangladeshi RMG companies that got certication from global
sustainability measurement bodies, such as LEED, have an edge over other players in
the industry. The compliance these companies follow meets the expectations of the top-
notch global buyers and their sourcing policy. From environmental sustainability and
climate impact to human rights, animal welfare, ethical business practices, and fair-trade
practices, LEED-certied RMG companies are demonstrating better performance and
leading the sector by being recognized as a top sourcing destination for global buyers.
As Bangladeshi companies hold the most LEED certications, they have the upper hand
over their counterparts in China, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Turkey, and other
RMG-exporting countries. Another notable nding of this study is the alignment of all
the company’s functional activities, as the purview of green business practices demands
a sweeping sustainability impact on the company’s operational conguration. Especially
in functional areas, the green agenda should be properly implemented to achieve holistic
sustainability impact across supply chain, marketing, operations, nance, and human
resource management. These ndings underline the importance of policymakers pushing
RMG companies to go green further to ensure sustainable protability and a competitive
edge. Additionally, this study acknowledges the limitations of numerical analysis of the
companies’ nancial status for a clear understanding of their performance in the international
market. At the same time, empirical evidence of how green business practices help build
companies’ strategic capabilities and ensure competitive advantage could be presented to
clarify the causal relationship in future research.
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