Identifying Strategies for Balancing Profitability and Sustainability: An Exploratory Case from the Apparel Supply Chain

Business models have historically prioritized efficiency and profitability, often at the expense of environmental and social concerns. Balancing profitability and sustainability remain a central challenge in global apparel supply chains, amid increasing competitive, regulatory, and consumer scrutiny. This study explores how organizations navigate this tension through an interpretive case study of a South Asia-based apparel manufacturer that piloted multi-tier traceability technologies, combining physical and digital tracking to ensure a traceable chain of custody. In-depth interviews with senior decision-makers, guided by a deductive approach using strategic duality theory as a sensitizing device, identified four mechanisms for reconciling economic and environmental goals: (1) achieving economies of scale through digital platformatization; (2) enhancing authentication and verification; (3) creating benchmarking matrices linking sustainability and performance; and (4) enabling data-driven decision making. The study contributes to theory and practice by demonstrating how traceability technologies position sustainability as a long-term driver of profitability, innovation, and ethical value creation.