Digital Risk Capabilities and Sustainability Pressure in Garment Supply Chains: Evidence from Vietnam

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-624-1_31How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Sustainability-related supply chain risks; Industry 4.0 technologies; Supply chain performance; Garment industry; Supply chain

Abstract

Export-oriented garment supply chains in emerging economies face intensifying sustainability-related supply chain risks (SSCRs) spanning economic shocks, social and labour compliance pressure, and environmental scrutiny. Global buyers and regulators simultaneously demand reliability, transparency, and responsible conduct. Industry 4.0 technologies, referred to here as Tech4.0, are often promoted as solutions for visibility, traceability, and control. However, empirical evidence is still limited on whether technology-enabled risk management protects supply chain performance (SCP) in labour-intensive, multi-tier garment networks. This study treats Tech4.0 as an operational risk management capability rather than a generic digital upgrade. Guided by the Resource-Based View and Stakeholder Theory, we model economic, social, and environmental SSCRs as predictors of three SCP outcomes, supplier performance, internal process performance, and customer-facing performance. We then test whether Tech4.0 capabilities including real-time sensing, digital traceability, predictive planning, and data-driven coordination moderate these relationships. The model is estimated using variance-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) with survey data from 275 Vietnamese garment firms embedded in global supply networks. Results show positive associations between economic and social risks and reported performance, suggesting capability activation under pressure, while environmental risk shows no direct performance effect. Tech4.0 adoption does not automatically offset SSCRs, with its value depending on embedding digital tools in formal risk routines and building workforce competence. The study provides emerging-market evidence on when digitalisation delivers resilience and guidance for aligning Tech4.0 investment with sustainability-driven risk management.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Minh Nhat Nguyen
AU  - Qui Ngoc Nguyen
AU  - Thuy Ai Minh Tran
AU  - Quynh Nguyen Huong Le
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/04/06
TI  - Digital Risk Capabilities and Sustainability Pressure in Garment Supply Chains: Evidence from Vietnam
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Sustainable Economics and Finance in the Digital Business Transformation (INCOSEF 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 415
EP  - 427
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-624-1_31
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-624-1_31
ID  - Nguyen2026
ER  -