ABSTRACT
This chapter describes ethical sourcing initiatives in two home textile retail corporations in Sweden and Finland. It shows that responsible sourcing in the cotton value chain will limit threats to sustainable development as well as create opportunities in terms of marketing strategies. The chapter explains how ethical sourcing is used for strategic branding purposes as well as for market development purposes. Key research questions are related to how corporate responsibility (CR) is perceived within the corporation, which stakeholder groups are prioritised and the use of procurement tools. The chapter presents the differences in the companies' sustainable business development strategies in terms of marketing added value of luxury products, starting with presenting a conceptual framework, and then the empirical results. CR builds on the idea of responsible conduct—where corporate management takes a 'triple bottom line' to account for a wide set of stakeholders.
