Apparel Supply Chain Research Articles

Corporate social responsibility decisions in apparel supply chains: The role of negative emotions in Bangladesh and Pakistan

AbstractThis article integrates the global value chain literature with the micro organization literature on negative emotions to explore the drivers of fear and anger among supplier factory senior managers in apparel supply chains after Rana Plaza—a major industrial disaster—and their influence on decisions on CSR practices. Based on a comparative study around Dhaka and Lahore—two key apparel manufacturing hubs—this study elucidates that supplier factory senior managers experienced similar market tensions but different social tensions after the Rana Plaza incident. Crucially, similar market tensions helped create market fear and anger, but different social tensions led to social fear and anger in Bangladesh but not in Pakistan, therefore influencing the way supplier factory senior managers take decisions regarding CSR practices. By conceptualizing communal alignment and competitive CSR, this research finally advances the global value chain literature and contributes to the current conversations on negative emotions in organizations.

Technology adoption in the apparel industry: insight from literature review and research directions

PurposeThis paper aims to identify key theoretical cornerstones and research trends in the apparel industry. It also compares theoretical bases with those of the general research domain in technology adoption literature and, thus, provides future policy guidelines for practitioners and research gaps for further studies.Design/methodology/approachDocuments were collected from the Web of Science (core collection) database using systematic methods. The bibliometric coupling and co-citation analyses were conducted using VOSviewer software to construct theoretical cornerstones and research trends in the apparel industry.FindingsLiterature in the apparel industry focuses mainly on the diffusion of innovation and the theory of reasoned action. Hence, the literature lacks investigations of technology–organization–environment and institutional theories for technology adoption in the apparel industry. This study also traces six clusters of prevalent research trends: radiofrequency identification, virtual-try on technology for e-commerce, computer-aided design, Industry 4.0 technologies, virtual-try on technology in design and information technology.Originality/valueLittle research is done on theoretical cornerstones on technology adoption in the apparel industry. This study looks into the theoretical bases for technology adoption, research trends in the apparel supply chain and calls for future research necessities.

Social Sustainability in Fashion Supply Chains—Understanding Social Standard Implementation Failures in Vietnam and Indonesia Using Agency Theory

This paper explores why and how dominant international social standards used in the fashion industry are prone to implementation failures. A qualitative multiple-case study method was conducted, using purposive sampling to select 13 apparel supply chain actors. Data were collected through on-site semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The findings of the study are interpreted by using core tenets of agency theory. The case study findings clearly highlight why and how multi-tier apparel supply chains fail to implement social standards effectively. As a consequence of substantial goal conflicts and information asymmetries, sourcing agents and suppliers are driven to perform opportunistic behaviors in form of hidden characteristics, hidden intentions, and hidden actions, which significantly harm social standards. Fashion retailers need to empower their corporate social responsibility (CSR) departments by awarding an integrative role to sourcing decisions. Moreover, accurate calculation of orders, risk sharing, cost sharing, price premiums, and especially guaranteed order continuity for social compliance are critical to reduce opportunistic behaviors upstream of the supply chain. The development of social standards is highly suggested, e.g., by including novel metrics such as the assessment of buying practices or the evaluation of capacity planning at factories and the strict inclusion of subcontractors’ social performances. This paper presents evidence from multiple Vietnamese and Indonesian cases involving sourcing agents as well as Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers on a highly sensitive topic. With the development of the conceptual framework and the formulation of seven related novel propositions, this paper unveils the ineffectiveness of social standards, offers guidance for practitioners, and contributes to the neglected social dimension in sustainable supply chain management research and accountability literature.

Investigating the Role of Open Costing in the Buyer-Supplier Relationship: Implications for Global Apparel Supply Chain Management

Research in supply chain management focused on the buyer-supplier relationship (BSR) indicates that costing practices can impact relationship quality and performance. Yet, few studies have examined how the supplier’s costing methods affect the BSR. To address this gap, this study investigates the role of open costing in the BSR within the apparel supply chain. Open costing is a popular costing practice in which a supplier compiles an itemized list of costs rather than a fixed price. To examine the extent to which open costing is practiced as part of BSRs, interviews were conducted with 30 professionals operating as suppliers in China and Bangladesh. A thematic analysis of the interview data identified several factors important to open costing and the BSR, including Mutual Trust, Fairness, Flexibility, Efficiency, and Sustainability. Findings shed light on the mechanism and practice of open costing within the BSR, and specifically from the perspective of suppliers.

An integrated framework for supplier selection and performance evaluation for apparel retail industry

Supplier evaluation, including supplier selection and performance evaluation, has become a critical issue for apparel retailers within the apparel supply chain dealing with severe competition in the global market. An effective evaluation of suppliers requires considering both the quantitative and qualitative performance aspects and integrating the efficiency measurement. In an attempt to address this issue, this study proposes an integrated framework that can handle supplier selection and overall performance evaluation in a comprehensive but feasible manner. The proposed integrated framework customized for apparel retailers combines the current techniques having specific capabilities: data envelopment analysis (DEA), analytical hierarchy process (AHP), and the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). DEA has been used to make the overall performance evaluation, whereas AHP and TOPSIS have been used in combination to provide the quantitative data required by DEA. The proposed integrated framework was implemented and verified using numerical data gathered from a global apparel retailer. The findings revealed that suppliers can be more successful when they put a balanced effort into improving their performance in regards to the important criteria instead of concentrating on only the most important criterion. Moreover, the overall performance evaluation can be much more convenient and rewarding for apparel retailers in terms of finding out the true potential of suppliers when quantitative and qualitative data and efficiency measurements are taken into account at the same time.

Nominated procurement and the indirect control of nominated sub-suppliers: Evidence from the Sri Lankan apparel supply chain

This article describes and discusses nominated procurement as a means through which buyers select sub-suppliers to achieve sustainability compliance upstream in emerging economies' supply chains. Hence, it critically examines the ways buyers articulate nominated procurement and the unfolding supply chain consequences. Based on in-depth interviews and fieldwork in the Sri Lankan apparel supply chain, the findings indicate that buyers accomplish sustainability compliance among their sub-suppliers while prioritizing their own business agenda. In doing so, however, buyers perpetuate “suboptimal compliance” of raw material suppliers and “sandwiching” of direct suppliers as harmful consequences on the supply chain. These consequences link theoretically with commercial, geographical, compliance and extended-compliance pressure. This article contributes to the advancement of the Sustainable Supply Chain Management literature by theorizing about nominated procurement, direct and indirect pressure, and pointing to the supply chain consequences beyond achievements in sustainability compliance.

Hunger at the End of the Supply Chain

Hunger at the End of the Supply Chain Penelope Kyritsis (bio) and Genevieve LeBaron (bio) A Bangladeshi woman loses her factory job in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before, she was able to afford the occasional purchase of meat, fish, and fruit for her family. This is no longer the case. “Egg is a luxurious food for us now,” she says. In Indonesia, a garment worker whose monthly income has dropped by 20 percent since the beginning of the pandemic begins her days with a devastating calculus: should she eat, or go hungry to avoid accumulating more debt? A garment worker in Myanmar goes to the market and purchases food that would have lasted her family a week before the pandemic. But because she and her family are rationing their food intake, the same amount of food has to last two weeks instead of one. Far from a handful of rare episodes, these stories illustrate an alarming trend in the global apparel supply chain: the people who sew clothes for major apparel giants around the globe are facing widespread hunger and destitution as a result of falling income and job loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2020, we launched a survey to understand the impact of changes to garment workers’ employment status and income levels on food security. We interviewed 396 workers in nine garment-exporting countries. Our survey respondents included workers who were temporarily suspended or permanently fired, as well as those still employed. They reported sewing clothes for well-known brands and retailers, such as Adidas, H&M, Inditex (the parent company of Zara), Nike, Target, and Walmart. In late 2020, we published our findings in a report called “Hunger in the Apparel Supply Chain,” which documented job loss, declining incomes, and food insecurity among the world’s garment workforce. Our survey found that hunger is a growing and acute problem not only for workers who have lost their jobs, but also for those who are still working. Of the workers in our survey, 88 percent stated that diminished income—whether the result of losing their jobs without being paid a legally mandated severance, being sent home without pay from a factory that was shutting [End Page 51] down temporarily, or losing income despite still being employed—had forced a reduction in the amount of food consumed per day by members of their households. And 77 percent told us that they or a member of their household have gone hungry since the beginning of the pandemic, while 80 percent of workers with dependent children said they are forced to skip meals or reduce the amount or quality of food they eat in order to feed their children. Three quarters of the survey respondents have borrowed money or accumulated debt in order to buy food since the onset of the pandemic. And 80 percent told us that they anticipate continuing to reduce the amount of food they eat or purchase for their family if the situation does not improve. Garment workers experienced widespread and growing hunger despite the fact that half of them had received some form of public assistance. This growing trend of food insecurity is the result of the chronically low wages and precarity in brands’ supply chains that predated the pandemic, compounded by apparel companies’ irresponsible practices in response to the crisis. Click for larger view View full resolution Garment workers in Dhaka, Bangladesh, protest forced resignations imposed during pandemic-related factory closures. (Mamunur Rashid/NurPhoto via Getty Images) ________ In March 2020, retail stores shuttered their doors due to the spread of COVID-19, which led to a sharp and enduring decline in consumer demand [End Page 52] for clothes. Rising unemployment and inequality wrought by the COVID-19 economic recession also led to a decrease in consumer spending on apparel. Faced with looming sales losses, the immediate response of many apparel companies was to shift the economic pain down the supply chain by abruptly canceling orders to supplier factories. In many cases, they did so retroactively and refused to pay for orders that factories were already manufacturing or had completed. Brands cited dubious force majeure clauses to skirt their contractual...

Life Cycle Assessment of Apparel Consumption in Australia

Abstract This study presents the environmental impact of apparel consumption in Australia using life cycle assessment methodology according to ISO14040/14044:2006. Available published references, the Ecoinvent v3 dataset, the Australian life cycle assessment dataset and apparel country-wise import data with the breakdown of apparel type and fibre type were used in this study. The environmental impact assessment results of the functional unit were scaled up to the total apparel consumption. The impact results were also normalized on a per-capita/year basis. The Total Climate Change Potential (CCP) impact from apparel consumption of 2015 was estimated to be 16 607 028 tonnes CO2eq and 698.07 kg CO2eq/per capita-year. This study also assessed the impact of acidification potential (AP), water depletion (WD), abiotic resource depletion potential (ADP) - fossil fuel and agricultural land occupation (ALO) using the same methodology. The market volume of cotton apparel in Australia is 53.97 %, which accounts for 45 %, 96 %, 40 %, 46 % and 79 % of total CCP, WD, ADP, AP and ALO impact, respectively. Apparel broad categories of cotton shirt, cotton trouser, polyester shirt and polyester trouser have a high volume in the apparel market as well as a high environmental impact contribution. These high-volume apparel products can be included in the prioritization list to reduce environmental impact throughout the apparel supply chain. It was estimated that from 2010 to 2018 the per capita apparel consumption and corresponding impact increased by 24 %.

Los Angeles Apparel: Locally Made in a Global Market

This case takes place during Los Angeles Apparel’s second full year of operation. Manufacturing fashion basics such as tee shirts and leggings, the company’s operations are located entirely in Los Angeles, eschewing the typical international apparel supply chains. The central figure in the case is founder and CEO Dov Charney. A nationally known figure, Charney was previously the founder and CEO of American Apparel, an apparel manufacturer and retailer, which at its peak reached annual sales in excess of $600 million and operated almost 300 stores across 20 countries. Charney’s controversial management style made him both famous and infamous and his tenure as CEO came to an end in 2014 when he was ousted by the company’s board. In 2016, Charney founded Los Angeles Apparel with a desire to recreate what he saw as the best aspects of American Apparel – local and ‘sweatshop free’ manufacturing. Following the same trajectory as the earlier company, Charney began by focusing on wholesale B2B channels. He had recently added a B2C ecommerce channel and was considering opening brick-and-mortar stores in the near future. But much had changed in the two decades since American Apparel’s initial success. Which path forward was best for Los Angeles Apparel in current environment?

Dynamics of a medium value consumer apparel supply chain key parameters

PurposeThis research presents a study on the supply chain process of an Indian apparel industry considering various parameters involved. The study aims to identify the main parameters to improve the supply chain process and develop a comprehensive structural relationship to rank them to streamline the apparel supply chain process and business environment.Design/methodology/approachThe team of five experts from this apparel industry was made to give scores to multiple parameters. The TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) technique is used to develop the model for eleven key parameters and then rank them.FindingsBased on the data analysis the planning, customer and warehouse storage have emerged as top three key parameters while the non-replenishment approach, push and pull strategy and manufacturing of the product are identified as the bottom three parameters from a hierarchy level. These parameters have been ranked based on their contributing attributes in this apparel supply chain process.Research limitations/implicationsThe study provides an overall ranking of parameters and the implications are in the direction of helping the industry to improve its supply chain performances rather than focus only on productivity. Further, the key parameters are identified as critical inputs and show that the firms are being more proactive and well prepared comprised of the industry.Originality/valueThe study indicates that the key parameters are identified by this apparel brand to improve its supply chain process. The key supply chain process involves planning, manufacturing, distribution, end customer and returns logistics of the goods, etc. So, this research also provides the focused parameters on the supply chain performance received by end customer from the supplier and rank them for effectiveness and improve their overall organizational performance. It also provides a critical observation of their supply chain process improvement which includes different brand uses, strategies and approaches.

Sustainability Prerequisites and Practices in Textile and Apparel Supply Chains

The proposed study deals with sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) in the textile and apparel (T&A) industry. We analyze prerequisites and practices of supply chain (SC) sustainability in a multiple case study of the German and Ethiopian T&A industry. Our analysis is based on ten semi-structured interviews conducted with the managers of seven companies in the Ethiopian T&A production and the German fair fashion retail industries. The contribution of expert knowledge helps in identifying SC sustainability prerequisites and practices. The chosen cases of production in Ethiopia and retail in Germany highlight the complexity of T&A SCs while representing both the suppliers’ and retailers’ perspectives, which is rare in the related literature. As a major research contribution, the study adapts a framework for SC sustainability in the chemical industry and transfers it to T&A SCs. Moreover, practitioners from the T&A industry find useful insights into relevant practices and their prerequisites, which helps in improving SC sustainability in this sector. The study reveals that management orientation and interest groups such as customers represent the most important prerequisites for sustainability. Manufacturers rely more on internal practices such as monitoring, while retailers focus on external sustainability practices, such as supplier development. In a comparative approach, similarities and differences between T&A SCs and the chemical industry are identified.

Development of Subcontractor Selection Models Using Fuzzy and AHP Methods in the Apparel Industry Supply Chain

Abstract The subcontractor selection decision is inherently a multicriterion problem. It is a decision of strategic importance for companies. The nature of this decision is usually complex and unstructured. Management science techniques might be helpful tools for solving these kinds of decision-making problems. In this research, the fuzzy logic method and the analytic hierarchy process were applied for the selection of suitable subcontractors in an apparel supply chain. In general, many factors, such as quality level, price offer, and delivery delay, were considered to determine the most suitable and reliable subcontractors that fit the company's strategy. This survey is carried out using the database of an apparel company manufacturing denim products.

Social media analysis of consumer opinion on apparel supply chain transparency

PurposeThis study aims to use social network analysis to (1) investigate public opinions on social media regarding apparel supply chain transparency and (2) identify key themes and the major communities discussing apparel supply chain transparency.Design/methodology/approachData mining-based social network analysis was used to investigate the pattern of discussions regarding apparel supply chain transparency on Twitter and Instagram.FindingsBoth Instagram and Twitter networks exhibited high interest in environmental, working condition and community support in apparel supply chain as explained by the moral responsibility framework of corporate sustainability despite the intended theme of the campaign to promote transparency in terms of working conditions specifically. However, some inconsistencies were found regarding the importance of these communities in the network, suggesting that while survey methods hold significance in measuring user intension, the reaction-based user-generated data on social media can be useful to measure users' true behavior. Also, while Twitter network was dominated by knowledge-based messages, the Instagram network had emotion-driven messages.Originality/valueBy conducting this study, the authors will not only contribute to the existing literature of social media usage in the apparel industry but will also provide a foundation for the use of social network analysis to analyze user-generated data on social media, as this method is fairly new in the textile and apparel industry-related research. The authors also wish to help businesses and policy makers identify specific actionable areas where they are lagging and hence further improve their overall performance.

Can Brands Claim Ignorance? Unauthorized Subcontracting in Apparel Supply Chains

Unauthorized subcontracting—when suppliers outsource part of their production to a third party without the retailer’s consent—has been common practice in the apparel industry and is often tied to noncompliant working conditions. Because retailers are unaware of the third party, the production process becomes obscure and cannot be tracked. In this paper, we present an empirical study of the factors that can lead suppliers to engage in unauthorized subcontracting. We use data provided by a global supply chain manager with more than 30,000 orders, of which 36% were subcontracted without authorization. We find that the frequency of unauthorized subcontracting across factories has a pronounced bimodal distribution. Moreover, the degree of unauthorized subcontracting in the past is highly related to the probability of engaging in unauthorized subcontracting in the future, which suggests that factories behave as if they choose a strategic level of unauthorized subcontracting. At the order level, we find that state dependence (i.e., the status of an order carrying over to the next one) and price pressure are the key drivers of unauthorized subcontracting. Buyer reputation and lead time also play a role. Finally, we show that unauthorized subcontracting can be predicted correctly for more than 80% of the orders in out-of-sample tests and for about 70% of suppliers. This indicates that retailers can use business analytics to predict unauthorized subcontracting and help prevent it.This paper was accepted by Vishal Gaur, operations management.

Social sustainability management in the apparel supply chains

The apparel supply chain is an example of a complex global supply chain where sustainability issues are a concern and where no satisfactory answers have been achieved yet, especially in social aspects. The growth in importance of social sustainability represents a strategic change in the sector with the necessary involvement of different tiers and external stakeholders to mitigate the negative social impacts. In this paper, a qualitative analysis through the application of content analysis using NVivo software is carried out, first to identify the structure and the main entities in this supply chain, and then to understand the main drivers towards social sustainability management. Six global companies were analysed, considering their sustainability reports from 2014 to 2018. The findings showed that social sustainability is a part of strategic goals as policies and commitments, and several actions have been developed along the supply chain to promote human rights, labour conditions, social development, and product responsibility, with external stakeholders collaboration. Finally, this article contributes to understanding how social sustainability should be managed in the apparel sector in a global supply chain context. Furthermore, in order to enrich the knowledge on this field, this paper provides some insight throughout the definition of a roadmap for future research in the area.

Positioning push–pull boundary in a hesitant fuzzy environment

AbstractNowadays, fierce competition enforces supply chain planners to develop market‐oriented production strategies. Customer order decoupling point (CODP) could increase the supply chain efficiency and responsiveness simultaneously. The right position of CODP in production industries will result in a pattern for trade‐off between responsiveness and operational efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to address the positioning problem of a push‐pull boundary in a fuzzy hesitant environment. To this end, a hybrid multi‐criteria decision‐making methodology of analytic network process (ANP) and VIKOR is proposed in a hesitant judgement environment to determine the position of CODP in a supply chain. Finally, CODP positioning in the apparel supply chain, as an industry‐based example, is analysed to show the applicability of the proposed method.

The Direct and Indirect Control of Sub-Suppliers Through Nominated Procurement in Emerging Markets

Little is known in the Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) literature about whether and to what extent international customers (ICs) are able to control sustainability compliance (compliance) upstream in their supply chain. By drawing on the notion of direct and indirect control in business networks and qualitative fieldwork in the Sri Lankan apparel supply chain, this paper examines how ICs control nominated and second-tier sub-suppliers (nominated sub- suppliers) to manage compliance, as well as the implications for their first-tier (direct) suppliers. By unveiling the way ICs exert direct coercive control and indirect normative control on nominated sub-suppliers, our paper provides theorizing of nominated procurement and its effects expected to create valid or validatable insights for emerging markets. Crucially, our paper provides a tangible example of how the indirect control may be stronger than the direct one, yet have consequences for both direct suppliers, sub-suppliers but also raw material suppliers. Reactive patterns as expected in any network would be hampered by this indirect control, while creating ingredients of distrust with suppliers.

A United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals perspective for sustainable textile and apparel supply chain management

Motivated by United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the importance of sustainability, this study examines how the textile and apparel (TA) supply chains can comply with the SDGs. By examining the literature as well as industrial practices, we show that the current sustainable operations in TA industry are far away from realizing the goals of economic growth going hand-in-hand with the social and environmental sustainability. For instance, among the SDGs, the goals of “Responsible Consumption and Production”, “Clean Water and Sanitation”, and “Climate Action” receive a considerable amount of attention, while goals of “No Poverty”, “Reduced Inequalities”, “Life below Water” and “Life on Land” have the least attention. Balanced sustainable development actions from the stakeholders’ perspective are proposed. Managerial implications and future studies are discussed.

Motivating Factors for Implementing Apparel Certification Schemes—A Sustainable Supply Chain Management Perspective

The motivations for clothing companies to implement dedicated certification schemes as sustainability practices has received limited attention in sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) research so far. Therefore, it is important to understand how different rationales for the implementation of certification schemes have developed in the past because they considerably influence the overall success of sustainability management efforts. This paper picks up on this gap and presents the results of an in-depth comparative case study drawing on interviews conducted with five managers of three companies from the clothing sector in 2018 and abductive content analysis. By applying such a qualitative approach, this study explores motivations and benefits as well as elaborates on the implementation of certification schemes in apparel supply chains. It outlines that certification in the clothing sector is driven by strategic factors, marketing considerations, and information considering sustainability aspects. The study also shows that certification schemes may strengthen the marketing and competitive position of clothing companies as well as sustainability awareness in textile and apparel supply chains in general. Finally, a framework conceptualized from the findings of the interviews presents relevant SSCM practices in the clothing industry. Therefore, the present study contributes to theory building in SSCM by confirming and extending previous research on the implementation of certification schemes for sustainability, as well as to practice by examining reasons to apply certification schemes and potential performance outcomes.

The indirect effect of social responsibility standards on organizational performance in apparel supply chains: A developing country perspective

Drawing from social exchange theory, this paper proposes and empirically examines organizational citizenship behavior as a possible mechanism to explain the association between suppliers’ socially responsible behavior and organizational performance. Data were collected from companies in the apparel supply chain in Pakistan, a developing country. Findings show that social responsibility standards have a positive impact on organizational citizenship behavior which in turn positively impacts operational and quality performance. Further, a mediation relationship is shown. This research informs practitioners that social responsibility initiatives instigate deep-rooted changes promoting social-friendly behaviors impacting firm performance. Suggestions for future research are discussed.