Key Drivers for Sustainable Operations in Developing Countries:

A Textile Case Study from Egypt

Sherwat E. Ibrahim, Karim H. Ahmed
German University, Cairo, Egypt
Abstract--There has been a recent paradigm shift towards
sustainable development of business operations worldwide.
Limited resources and the need for a cleaner and unpolluted
global environment, along with recent developments in
governmental legislations have made it difficult for international
companies to take advantage of developing countries more
lenient environmental policies. This paper presents an in-depth
case analysis of a leading companys role in sustainable
development in the textile industry in Egypt (Hesni Group, HG).
While the Egyptian government has recently conducted several
adjustments to the legislations that govern the textile industry in
terms of emissions and water usage, HG responds to more
stringent regulations enforced by the top management and
governed by the regulations of its clients. Literature reviews and
comprehensive interviews with the different stakeholders
suggest a three-pillar model presenting the different key drivers
that promote sustainable operations in developing countries. We
aim to motivate organizations in developing countries to think
greener, and to contest the notion that sustainability means
giving up on current processes and incurring irredeemable
losses.

I. INTRODUCTION
Environmental sustainability has been identified as one of
the three arms of development together with social and
economical, and had been sharing the attention of corporate
social responsibility (CSR) projects and competing for
attention in causes and funds [8 & 14]. Moreover, industrial
ecology has been increasing in popularity amongst the
research, corporate and local communities [22]. However it is
noticeable that in Developing Countries, social and
economical initiatives tend to take priority over
environmental programs. While this study does not discuss
these differences or the interrelationships that exist between
the three types of sustainability, it does discuss the role of the
different stakeholders in promoting environmental initiatives
in developing countries and raises the question as to whether
models and drivers for environmental sustainability for
developing countries should be considered differently than
generic models that might work in other regions while
discussing the specifics of the Egyptian Textile Industry.
As companies struggle while competing for the quickly
depleting pools of abundant natural resources, several
organizations have deviated from the mainstream and have
shifted their direction towards becoming green [2 & 21]. The
influences of the natural environment organizational
decisions will not affect the organization that makes the
decision, but its customers and suppliers [16 & 22]. The
concept of turning green has changed in meaning from
organization to organization and from author to author [31];

978-1-890843-23-6/11/$26.00 2011 IEEE

some have utilized their production processes such that no six

sigma and zero waste are efficiently applied [22] as several
organizations have sought alternative methods to improve
environmental performance while others have sought the use
of nature-friendly suppliers and materials [21]. Major
ecological policies and regulations emerged in the last few
years forcing environmental protection and applying severe
penalties on those who violate such rules [7]. Meanwhile, the
rise of these policies and the new conditions that they created
in the market are considered some of the key reasons and
major drivers that motivated the companies to shift their
attention towards green innovations and this has created
disruptions within the marketplace accompanied with media
commotion [4; 5 & 31].
This study investigates the drivers and supporting factors
behind a successful environmental initiative carried out by
Hesni Group which is used as an example to highlight the
differences in the approach required to address environmental
advancement in developing countries. We will first start by
reviewing the literature on green supply chains, and green
innovation, and the common challenges facing their
implementation. Then we will review the three identified
stakeholders in the literature, present the case of Hesni, and
conclude with a suggested framework of what promotes
environmental advancements in developing countries.
II. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Reference [8] leverages institutional theory by proposing
that stakeholders including government, regulators,
community, customers, competitors and environmental
interest groups, and industry associations, impose different
pressures on the firm these findings were further supported
by reference [21]. The question of why organizations
subjected to the same level of institutional pressures pursue
different strategies and relate the differences to a companys
organizational structure, strategic position, and financial and
environmental performance is important [8]. On the other
hand; it is important to account for the differences to social
license pressures (particularly from local communities and
environmental activists) and corporate environmental
management style that push some firms to better compliance
than others [24; 26 & 33]. Hesni Group presents a case of
beyond compliance, this builds on the notion that
regulations do not account for differences in environmental
performance across facilities, and why specifically did things
work out for Hesni Group. Green Supply Chain is a
mandatory prerequisite for some organizations to compete on
a global scale [31]. Higher income nations need to play a

significant role in this process [6]. On the other hand,

reference [35] showed how China's export trade is
particularly affected by mandatory environmental standards
and regulations, voluntary eco-labeling programs and
packaging requirements, and how China needs the support of
the local governments.
A. Green Supply Chains
Supply Chains have been defined as systems composed of
organizations, people, technology, activities, information and
resources, all of which are involved in transporting a
product/service from supplier to customer [27]. Supply chain
activities convert raw materials natural resources into
components which are then transferred into a finished product
that is delivered to the end customer [14; 23 & 27]. They are
regarded as a symbiosis of exchange of materials throughout
the different members of the supply chain [10] within a green
framework. The Green Supply Chain (GSC) is basically a
system of upstream and downstream activities that integrate
environmental thinking into its context and processes [31].
These include product design, manufacturing processes,
material selection and sourcing, delivery of the final product
to the consumers, after sales services of the product
accompanied with end-of-life management on the termination
of the products useful life [25]. In other terms, the green
supply chain manages the product in an environmentally
friendly manner from cradle to grave [9 & 15], starting
with the raw material and ending with the products
termination and confiscation.
Green design (also referred to as the sustainable design) is
the concept of designing products that are environmentally
friendly while utilizing recycled and renewable materials and
design elements [5 & 19]. This concept ensures that the
organizational outputs comply with the principles of ecofriendly legislations that have been applied, regulating
organizational performance [12]. Literature related to green
design emphasizes and dictates both environmentally
conscious designs and life cycle analysis [25 & 28]. However,
the application of this concept as a standalone is insufficient
and could render the organization incompetent, especially in
the face of the strong competition and diverse core
competencies [5]. Green operations also play a major role in
green development within an organization production process
and it has its roots in both environmental management and
supply chain management such that it is an integration of
both [25]. In sophisticated production systems, used products
may re-enter the supply chain at any point where residual
value is recyclable, this is referred to as reverse engineering
and has played a major role in the context of implementing
green philosophies [12] and integrating them into the
processes with the objective of minimizing waste [30]. Green
operations relate -but are not limited- to all aspects
intertwined within the production process and includes
upstream/downstream and reverse logistics, waste
management, efficient risk management and process
development [29]. In order to implement GSCM effectively,

all members of the supply chain have to communicate the

necessity and enforce the regulations that would comply with
governmental legislations that govern the business/industry [4;
15; 25 & 29].
The limits for Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM)
have yet to be defined as the implementation of the green
philosophies can be applied to every stage within the supply
chain, allowing for a smoother and more environmentally
friendly process [15; 16 & 28]. In order to implement green
philosophies and integrate them into the supply chain, new
technologies and concepts have to be developed [23] and the
way of doing business has to change. This is where
Innovation comes to play the role.
B. Green Innovation
Green Innovation is the development of new technologies,
philosophies and concepts within an organization in order to
progress in the technological capabilities while maintaining a
green footprint [20]. Green Innovation can be defined as the
new emerging innovation attempting to protect the natural
environment through preserving resources and energy power,
while decreasing or removing waste, pollution, and poisonous
instruments [16]. It is identified as one of the main boosters
of the firms performance in environmental management
towards better, healthier, economically reasonable, and
socially responsible new products [20 & 25].
Although the benefits and reasons are numerous for the
implementation of a green supply chain and green
innovations, conversion from a traditional system is a tedious
process which takes into consideration various concepts and
strategies [10 & 28].
C. Challenges to conversion
To every process, there are obstacles that impede its
progress [35]. Modifying the relationship of the firm with its
suppliers as well as convincing them about the concept of
green production is representing one of the main challenges
in green innovations. This requires the cooperation of the
organizations among the supply chain in adapting the green
technologies in their production processes [7]. Most
organizations face a problem in establishing an
environmentally responsible system that wouldnt impede
their production or affect their processes [16]. This is mainly
due to the costs of converting to a green system as new
equipment, processes and cycles require modification in order
to accommodate the philosophy of the new system [11].
Another problem lies with the waste management systems
and the costs of cleaner systems which are higher due to the
need for excessive filtration and purification of harmful and
hazardous emissions [18 & 20].
Another major challenge encountered by organizations
when seeking to implement a green supply chain is awareness
establishment.
More specifically, it lies within the
methodology to be employed to create awareness about the
organizations products and how they are differentiated from
other products established by conventional methods [20]. The

problem lies with the credibility of the organizational

awareness and the degree of customer awareness within the
target market [5]. This must happen through effective
marketing that conveys the benefits and the credibility of the
information by affiliation with organizations that are
environmentally aware and/or governmental authorities that
have a known cause to care for the environment [25 & 33],
and this is the common challenge identified by the majority
of the scholars when transforming to the green system of
organizational thought.
III. GREEN STAKEHOLDERS
Stakeholders have been identified as individuals or a
group who can affect the overall performance and decision
making within a firm and/or is affected by the organizational
goal achievement, its efficiency and effectiveness [3].
Reference [8] has identified that within the model of
institutional pressures, three major stakeholders play an
important role; government, consumers and community (fig.
1). While the consumers and community have a growing role
in the pull strategy for the implementation of green
philosophies and concepts, the government regulates and
facilitates the initiation of the green development through
stringent regulations [26]. It has been recognized that
stakeholder integration is required to transform
organizations to adopting a proactive environmental
strategy [23].

Government
Corporate

Customer

Community

Figure 1 Green Stakeholders

A. Government
Government regulations have always been considered a
major factor to introduce superior management practices for
the environmental context and even more important to
enhance such practices. Government regulations represent
the extent to which government agents threaten to or actually
slow down a companys operations according to their

environmental performance. They act as a supportive force

by announcing the adoption of certain environmental
standards and offer technical assistance for the organizations
willing to adopt such a standard in the future. This improves
the reputation of the organizations adopting such standards
and it decreases the information search costs [7]. However,
organizations which aim to only comply with the government
legislations are known to having a reactive strategy and give
the highest priority to government regulation, but only in a
static sense. Meaning that responding to the legislations
requirements becomes a daily routine task within the
organization in order to avoid any penalties or undesired
consequences. In this case firms want to prevent the creation
of pollution from its production processes and put the
government regulation as their key driver for resource usage
in different environmental management practices. Even more,
some firms adopt an environmental leadership strategy and
do not depend and put so much weight on the government
legislations. Such firms see that creating green competencies
is a source for competitive edge and it doesnt need to be
strengthened by any government regulations [3]. However,
it has been proven that when organizations aim at creating
specific strategies to produce environmental-friendly
products, they attach importance to other stakeholders than
government regulators like Community and Customers.
B. Community
Local communities are representing a great source of
pressure on firms operating in such a dynamic marketplace [5
& 8]. They have a huge impact on the operations and
production processes of the organizations through their votes
in national and local elections, through filling citizen lawsuits,
and through their environmental activism. Many researchers
identified that the majority of firms which adopted
environmental management practices wanted only to
maintain a positive relationship with their communities
because the whole world now is leaning more toward a green
and healthy environment [31]. The influence of local
communities on the organizations management practices
varies from one community to the other. The communities
having a greater number of minority populations, less
education, and lower income are more exposed to toxic
production. However, communities with greater median
household income have a more positive effect on
organizations to adopt environmental- friendly management
practices. Thus, the characteristics of the community play a
huge role in determining the extent of the effect of local
communities on establishing specific management practices
[7].
C. Customer
The relationship between customers and organizations can
be considered the primary prerequisite to put their policies for
management practices. Many studies discovered that a large
number of firms adopting environmental management
practices were inspired by customers demands and concerns

[13]. A study including large Canadian firms revealed that

customer concerns were the second most mentioned source of
pressure for organizations to implement environmental
friendly management practices after government regulation
pressure [8]. Customers provide the purpose for organizations
to establish new goals and reorganize their priorities in order
to better serve the environment and the ecological system.
They motivate organizations to conserve their inputs and
minimize their costs as well. Moreover, a new customer base
identified as the green customers can be attracted to the
organization through adopting environmental management
practices and customer loyalty can be better reinforced. As a
result, they will be more willing to pay a premium price for
the green products offered in the market [24]. Also, the type
of customer determines to a high extent the degree of
influence on the firm. It has been proven that retail customers
impact more the organizations to implement green
innovations than commercial and industrial customers [8].
As consumer awareness about the global green house
effects increase, the demand for safer and cleaner products
that could help them save the environment has increased in
conjunction. Effective marketing plays a major role in this
section as it facilitates the customer comprehension regarding
the usability, applicability and advantages of the green
products [17]. The customers must consequently be aware
about the costs the organizations would have to incur and the
obstacles they would have to encounter in order to satisfy the
need for environmentally friendly innovations and products
[35].
The expansion of green market is one of the most
important drivers of companies to green innovation. They are
encouraged to move toward such kind of innovation because
the behavior of customers and the business trends are directed
toward the environmental protection [4; 13 and 31]. In
addition, the environmental regulations enacted lately act as a
great motivator for firms to produce environmentally friendly
products. This is because they represent a source for
minimizing the risk, enhancing profits and corporate image,
opening new markets, and attracting new customers [5].
Moreover, the top management support and back-up for
green innovation represents one of the most critical drivers
for green innovation. If the top management is persuaded by
this new trend, the required resources and instruments are
going to be acquired more easily and more smoothly to enter
in the production process [12]. Furthermore, the companys
need for new ideas and radical shifts in its products and
services offered form a major driver for green innovation.
The whole world is moving now toward safe guarding the
natural environment and the customers are becoming more
aware about the environmental protection concepts.
Consequently, organizations may face performance failures
or even a crisis situation if they did not launch green
innovations to the market [13].
The overall impact of converting to a greener system
would be improved organizational competitiveness and the
acquisition of a core competence that differentiates the

organization that applies green concepts as it appeals to its

consumers and society due to being environmentally-friendly
[7] The limits for Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM)
have yet to be defined as the implementation of the green
philosophies can be applied to every stage within the supply
chain, allowing for a smoother and more environmentally
friendly process [15 & 25].
IV. CASE STUDY: EGYPTIAN TEXTILE INDUSTRY
(HESNI GROUP)
Research has identified that in order to further assess
similar situations in which the researcher strives to
investigate the driving forces and methodologies for certain
phenomenon within an organization, the case study approach
yields the best results [32 & 34]. Having identified the
importance of the case study approach, it was necessitated
that a structure for the case study be developed. In order to
further assess the Egyptian setting and the sustainable
innovations towards a greener environment, the case study
was implemented on a leading player in the Egyptian textile
industry. This leader has been established as the champion
model by the government for most of the organizations
within the same and adjoining industries and has been acting
as a change agent that motivates organizations within similar
industries to become green. Several interviews and site visits
were conducted in order to accumulate sufficient data for the
purpose of this research. The interviews were semi-structured
in order to allow for the acquisition of sufficient data that
would broaden the overall general knowledge framework
while the visits provided insights into the production process
and how green it truly is. Not only this, but interviews were
conducted with several of the involved stakeholders in order
to gain insights upon their influence and the role that they
play within this champion organization.
A. Product Quality and Market
The chosen company was El Hesni Textiles, and it is
located in the 10th of Ramadan Citys industrial zone. EL
Hesni specializes in the pretreatment, dyeing, printing and
finishing of both woven and knitted fabrics. In 2009 it
reached an annual production of over 40 million meters of
woven fabric, about 25% of which is exported by its
customers to Europe and the United States in the form of
garments. It also currently processes over 8000 tons of
knitted fabrics and 1300 tons of yarn annually, 65% of which
is exported by its customers to Europe and the United States
in the form of garments. The company is the best cotton
shirting finisher in Egypt. It also prides itself on its wide
range of both chemical and mechanical finishes, including
easy care, easy to iron, cool, mill washed, casual, silky, oily,
papery, crease resistant, water and soil proof finishes as well
as a variety of processes including singeing, chain
mercerizing, calendaring, sanforizing, emerizing, shearing,
raising and carbon finishes.

El Hesni Textiles fully equipped laboratory assures

quality control at every stage of production satisfying the
strictest international standards of quality. In 1998 it received
the ISO 9001 for quality and creativity; in 1999, the OHSAS
18001 for occupational health and safety; in 2005, the ISO
14001 for applying environmental laws and in 2006, the
OEKO-TEX 100 for confidence in textiles tested for harmful
substances. In addition the company recently obtained the
GOTS certificate qualifying it to treat organic cotton and is in
the process of acquiring both the ISO 17025, an innovative
standard for laboratory quality systems and the EU Flower
label. The company also established itself as one of the most
reputable dye houses in the Egyptian market for its
excellence in dyeing, printing, and finishing of both tubular
and open-width knitted fabrics. The superior quality of
production is made possible through the use of state of the art
technology for dyeing and finishing, enabling the company to
fulfill all possible customer and market requirements in that
area. The company's laboratory is accredited by Marks &
Spencer and equipped to perform all the necessary physical
and chemical tests to assure that the production meets
international standards of quality and obtains the satisfaction
of our esteemed clientele who supply garments to prestigious
brand names such as Marks & Spencer, Victorias Secret,
Dim, Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss, Chaps, Gap, Benetton, Zara
and Liz Claiborne.etc.
B. Hesnis Green Processes
Hesni is a textile dying organization, and thus its supply
chain is quite simple and straight forward. The following
diagram, (Figure 2), identifies the supply chain process for
the textile industry, as was highlighted by Hesni Group.
As demonstrated in Figure 2, the three elements of the
chain that have been converted into green are highlighted
with the arrows; the process flows from the top to the bottom
in terms of supply chain context; however, the demand and

the regulations for how green the production processes will

be are both from the bottom to the top. Also noticeable, are
the Pre-treatment Dyeing and Finishing processes which have
been made green. These Green Processes have been
established via water recycling and energy saving via the use
of bacteria and microorganisms which works in a biological
manner to the extent that causes them to feed on some of the
wastes of the process. Not only this, but the water waste has
been diminished by the induction of a closed system in which
wastes such as steam is collected, condensed and used for
cooling, which reduces the overall waste and the costs. This
is important for such organizations, especially since their
water usage has been rationed to binding limits.
C. Motivation behind going green
The preliminary conversion was motivated by the
Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, (EEAA), Industrial
Modernizaton Center (IMC), and a German corporation/bank
who aimed to facilitate the nourishment of the Egyptian
Textile market while at the same time, developing a
champion and market leader that could be taken as a role
model by other organizations in similar and adjacent
industries. This was in lieu of the global movement towards
greener processes and as per the United Nations international
reports; the harms induced upon the environment are a global
concern that needs to be tackled both in developing and
developed countries simultaneously. This motivation had the
aim of initiating the change within the developing nations and
allowing the industry leaders and players to follow in the
footsteps of becoming green.
The governmental regulations in Egypt are fairly lenient
in terms of emissions and waste disposal, but however Hesni
is governed by the regulations of its clients, who are fairly
stringent in terms of environmental management and waste
disposal systems. As a member of the supply chain and in
lieu of the neoclassical school of thought, it was necessary for

Figure 2 - Hesni Textile Group Supply Chain

El-Hesni to commit to the requests of its customers in terms

of becoming green. On the other hand, the government had
recently conducted several adjustments to the legislations that
govern the textile industry in terms of emission in general but
more specifically, in terms of the water usage as the natural
water sources are depleting quickly and thus rationing usage
is important.
The company has existed since before the Legislation
4/94 law about the environment, and top management has
always been concerned about the environment, taking a proactive stance on the issue, always striving to develop the
organization so that it doesnt only comply with regulations,
but also helps improve the environment. It is included both in
the corporate mission, the values and the strategies, all of
which are more stringent than the Egyptian Governmental
regulations and are enforced by the support of the top
management of the organization. Establishing and
incorporating the green concepts into the SC was a difficult
and tedious process initiated by the IMC fund acquired in
collaboration with the customers and the alternative members
of the textile supply chain, all of whom were highly
interested in becoming green. The conversion process was
exhausting as it demanded excessive labour hours in order to
dispose of the old system, install the new system, and train
the workers to operate and interact with it. Not only this, but
next came the process of convincing other members of the
supply chain to convert as well in order to ensure the safest
and cleanest environmentally-friendly processes were
induced. This was enforced via restrictions and quality
checks upon upstream and downstream processes to ensure
that the different tiers of suppliers conformed to both the
quality and the environmental legislations put in place by the
Egyptian Government, the customers and Hesni Group.
D. Hesni as a role model
Currently, the organization is regarded as a fine role
model that is presented to support the cases provided by the
Egyptian Ministry of environment and in order to motivate
other organizations to follow in the same steps. The
organization participates in conferences and in all workshops
provided for the organization as an entity or for the engineers
and company employees. The company plays an active role
in promoting green supply chains and waste management
systems, especially as it is one of the first converters to the
green system and have incurred a significantly high cost as
opposed to the costs to be incurred by organizations
converting today. The ministry of environment conducts
constant visits to the facility in order to ensure compliance
and performance, and the company (in cooperation with the
IMC and Egyptian Ministry of environment) organizes site
visits to its facility in order to highlight to other corporations
that turning green is not as difficult as it may seem.
Whenever presented with an opportunity to discuss the
conversion and motivate organizations to take the step, Hesni
is at the top of the list of motivators and role models.

The company currently employs the continuous

improvement strategy throughout its supply chain, and this
was implemented more smoothly than in other industries and
organizations because the supplier and customer are the same
entity, thus unified standards made the application and
transition better. As for the future, the organization is
currently trying to conduct researches about developments
and upgrades to the current system. They are striving to
utilize the steam and cooling water in alternative ways. Not
only this, but also the sludge de-watering process results in
a high quantity of water that is disposed of into the national
sewers without any usage. The organization is currently
researching tools and technological applications that could
allow them to recycle this water and use it. The general
direction for the research is towards filtration and R.O
(Reverse Osmosis) with current international offers of
filtration to approx. 0.01 Micron. The company is also
striving to identify methods to generate energy via renewable
sources that could be generated though the utilization of the
waste management system.
E. Benefits and drawbacks for Hesni
All involved parties are benefiting from the technological
applications which have facilitated the global competition of
the organization while employing environmentally friendly
strategies. These strategies have not just facilitated higher
accrued revenues, but also the costs have increased
significantly since the water is reused and thus the number of
water transportation containers has been reduced. As for the
drawbacks, the major drawback was the equipment cost and
the conversion from a chemical treatment system to one that
is biological. The new equipment was installed while being
accompanied with a team of engineers who were trained to
use this equipment. Although the costs were quite high, the
belief of the corporate board and top management in the need
for a green and environmentally friendly system ensured that
the installation went through, and over time, the company
accrued the ROI (Return on Investment) by diluting the costs
and distributing them across the total output of the factory
and its equipment.
VI. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Figure 3 contrasts the influence of the three stakeholders
in developed and developing countries and their force on
green initiatives.
By analysing the Hesni case, we further develop the
model for stakeholders in developing countries in Figure 4
below, to show the bases on which green sustainability
initiatives are carried about in developing countries. The
model builds on the roles of government in terms of
supporting agencies and facilitators, and the customer in
terms of global supply chains, here with focus on green
global supply chains, and expands on the role of the
community in to something more like a global community
leadership role in terms of offering funds and joint research.

Government
Government

er

Community

Stakeholders role in Developed Countries

Customer

s
Cu

tom

Corporate
Strategy

Co
m
m
un
it

Corporate
Strategy

Stakeholders in Developing Countries

Figure 3 Comparison of stakeholder roles

Also, mechanisms in identifying champion companies that

can play a leading role model are presented. Hesni was
known for years for its precedence in acquiring ISO
certifications among its peer companies. By simply targeting
those companies with a quality oriented corporate strategy
materialized through ISO certification, could act as a short
cut in identifying where to begin.

Supporting
Supporting
Government
Government
Agencies
Agencies

(ISO Certified)
Champion
Company External
External

Global
Global
Green
Supply
Green Supply
Chain
(GGSCH)
Chain (GGSCH)

Funds
Funds
& Joint
Joint
&
Research
Research

Figure 4 Suggested Framework Model

VII. CONCLUSION
With the boom of globalization companies have been
sourcing from wherever seems appropriate. Resource based
view theories, transaction cost theories, and core
competencies, play a major role in the decision of where to
source. In turn, the increase of global outsourcing lead to the
rising importance of managing global supply chains. We
believe that green supply chains will also evolve from such

pressures and theories, the same way quality management

principals advanced over the past two decades [1]. In the past
few years, there has already been a movement towards these
certificates1 including clauses to protect the environment, but
they are not aggressive, and sometimes require major
adjustments from the supplier, and might not be worth it for
them.
The need of green supply chains only highlights the need
for matching green innovations in materials and processes,
this sets more difficulty on going green since they decision of
what innovations are better than other, and which will be
outdated, i.e. suffers the same vagueness that firms involved
in high innovation levels do. Developing countries will only
apply these innovations, after they have been proven in the
market to work, but also the specific elements of each region
requires funding for further developing and implementing
these innovations to fit in the region, and some kind of
innovation is required to fit in the innovation to the regional
needs in an affordable manner. The challenges lie in the
increasing costs and complexities that are needed for changes
in the production processes and the implementation of those
innovations. In the specifics of the consumption and waste
management methods, and in the difficulty to incorporate and
integrate the adjustments up and down the supply chain.
The textile industry has been classified as a highly
polluting industry which has been dumped upon
developing countries. The purpose of this paper was to
portray a member of the textile industry who has succeeded
in applying the green philosophies and incorporating them
into their processes. A green initiative has been identified by
El-Hesn Textiles in Egypt, which in turn, could help
contribute to the current literature by presenting a role model
which other organizations can learn from and perhaps adapt
similar methodologies that would lead to green establishment
in the developing countries and the adoption of the
1

ISO 14001

conversion concept by several organizations that would

instigate the chain reaction of green development. Global
Green supply chains should be used to promote international
efforts of environment causes, because of the inherent
relationships between the different players in the supply
chain. It is only natural to keep moving backward in the
supply chain to the source of greener suppliers, and this
highlights and poses responsibility on the end user and the
market. Hence, we believe that through the diffusion of the
green supply chain management (GSCM) philosophies and
the dissemination of the achievements of organizations that
have become green, companies within the marketplace would
be motivated to develop their structures and take the initiative
to become green as in the Hesni case. Should this change be
initiated, the marketplace will surely change and the
competition parameters would be redefined to the extent that
all stakeholders will be involved and the overall appreciation
for the environment accompanied with the awareness about it
would be enhanced.
REFERENCES
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]

Anderson, S. W., Daly, J. D., & Johnson, M. F. (1999). Why firms seek
ISO 9000 certification: Regulatory compliance or competitive
advantage. Production and Operations Management , 8, 28-43.
Baumgartner*, R. J. (2011). Critical Perspectives of Sustainable
Development Research Practice. Journal of Cleaner Production , 19,
783-786.
Buyesse, K., & Verbeke, A. (2003). Proactive Environmental Strategies;
a stakeholder management perspective. Strategic Management Journal ,
24, 453-470.
Dangelico, R. M., & Pontrandolfo, P. (2010). From Green Product
Definitions and Classifications to the Green Option Matrix. Journal of
Cleaner Production , 18, 1608-1628.
Dangelico, R. M., & Pujari, D. (2010). Mainstreaming Green Product
Innovation: why and how companies integrate environmental
sustainability. Journal of Business Ethics , 95 (3), 471-486.
Daniels, P. L. (2005). Technology revolutions and social development:
Prospects for a green technoeconomic paradigm in lower income
countries. International Journal of Social Economics , 32 (5), 454-482.
Delmas, M. A., & Toffel, M. W. (2008). Organizational responses to
environmental demands: opening the black box. Strategic Management
Journal , 29 (10), 1027-1055.
Delmas, M., & Toffel, M. W. (2004). Stakeholders and environmental
management practices: an institutional framework. Business Strategy
and the Environment , 13 (4), 209-222.
Duber-Smith, D.C. (2005). The Green Imperative. Soap, Perfumery &
Cosmetics , 78 (8), 24-26.
Ehrenfield, J., & Gertler, N. (1997). Industrial Ecology in Practice; the
evolution of interdependence at Kalunborg. Journal of Industrial
Ecology , 1 (1), 67-79.
Environmental Protection Agency. (2000). National Air quality and
Emission Trends Report. North Carolina: Environmental Protection
Agency.
Fowler, S. J., & Hope, C. (2007). Incorporating sustainable business
practices into company strategy. Business Strategy and the
Environment , 16 (1), 26-38.
Handfield, R., Sroufe, R., & Walton, S. (2005). Integrating
Environmental Management and Supply Chain Strategies. Business
Strategy and the Environment , 14, 1-19.

[14] Ireland, R. K., & Crum, C. (2005). Supply Chain Collaboration; how to
implement CPFR and other best collaborative practices . Florida: J.
Ross Publishing Inc.
[15] Khiewnavawongsa, S., & Schmidt, E. K. (2008). "Green" Power to the
Supply Chain. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Association of
Collegiate Marketing Educators (ACME) (pp. 244-250). Houston:
ACME.
[16] Klassen, R. D., & McLaughlin, C. P. (1996). The Impact of
Environmental Managamenet on Firm Performance. Management
Science , 42 (8), 1199-1214.
[17] Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. (2006). Principles of Marketing. New
Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.
[18] Lee, S. Y., & Klassen, R. D. (2008). Drivers and Enablers That Foster
Environmental Management Capabilities in Small- and Medium-Sized
Suppliers in Supply Chains. Production and Operations Management ,
17 (6).
[19] Mackenzie, D. (1991). Green Design: design for the environment.
London: L. King Inc.
[20] Ninlawan, C., Seksan, P., Tossapol, K., & Pilada, W. (2010). The
Implementation of Green Supply Chain Management Practices in
Electronics Industry. Proceedings of the International MultiConference
of Engineers and Computer Scientists, (pp. 1563-1568). Hong Kong.
[21] Perez-Batres, L. A., Miller*, V. V., & Pissni, M. J. (2011).
Institutionalizing Sustainability; an empirical study of corporate
registration and commitment to the united nations global compact
guidelines. Journal of Cleaner Production , 19, 843-851.
[22] Sarkis, J. (2003). A Strategic Decision Framework for Green Supply
Chain Management. Journal of Cleaner Production , 11, 397-409.
[23] Sharma, S., & Vredenburg, H. (1998). Proactive corporate
environmental strategy and the development of competitively valuable
organizational capabilities. Strategic Management Journal , 19 (8),
729-753.
[24] Shrivastra, P. (1995). The Role of Corporations in Achieving
Ecological Sustainability. Academy of Management Review , 20 (4),
936-960.
[25] Srivastava, S. K. (2007). Green Supply-Chain Management; a state-ofthe-art literature review. International Journal of Management
Reviews , 9 (1), 53-80.
[26] Steadman, M. E., Zimmerer, T. W., & Green, R. F. (1995). Pressures
from stakeholders hit Japanese companies. Long Range Planning , 28
(6), 29-37.
[27] Stevenson, W. J. (2005). Operations Management. New York:
McGraw hill.
[28] Stuart, I., McCutcheon, D., Handfield, R., McLachlin, R., & Samson, D.
(2002). Effective Case Research in Operations Management: a process
perspective. Journal of Operations Management , 20, 419-4333.
[29] Tseng, M. L., & Chiu, A. S. (2010). Evaluating Firm's Green Supply
Chain Management in Linguistic Preferences. Journal of Cleaner
Production , XXX, 1-10.
[30] Turner, K., Lenzen, M., Wiedmann, T., & Barrett, J. (2007). Examining
the Global Environmental Impact of Regiomal Consumption Activities
- Part 1 A: a technical note on combining input-output and ecological
footprint analysis. Ecological Economics , 61, 15-26.
[31] Van Bommel, H. W. (2011). A conceptual Framework for Analyzing
Sustainability Strategies in Industrial Supply Networks from an
Innovation Perspective. Journal of Cleaner Production , 19, 895-904.
[32] Voss, C., Tsikriktsis, N., & Frohlich, M. (2002). Case Research in
Operations Management. International Journal of Operations and
Production Management , 22 (2), 195-219.
[33] Wiedmann, T. O., & Lenzen, M. (2009). Companies on the Scale;
comparing and benchmarking the sustainability performance of
business. Journal of Industrial Ecology , 13 (3), 361-383.
[34] Yin, R. (1989). Case Study Research: design and
methods (2nd Edition ed.). NewBury Park, CA: Sage Inc.
[35] Zhao, Y. (2007). Overcoming "Green Barriers": china's first five years
into the wto. Journal of World Trade , 41 (3), 535-558.