Student learning about social responsibility in the global textile and apparel industry: the use of video as an instructional tool

This article explores the demise of the Crompton Company, which filed for bankruptcy in October 1984, causing 2,450 workers in five states to lose their jobs. Crompton was founded in 1807 in Providence, Rhode Island and when it went out of business it was the oldest textile firm in the country, having been in continuous operation for 178 years. Despite its history, scholars have overlooked Crompton, partly because most work on deindustrialization has concentrated on heavy manufacturing industries, especially steel and automobiles. I argue that Crompton's demise throws much light on the broader decline of the American textile and apparel industry, which has lost over two million jobs since the mid-1970s, and shows that textiles deserve a more central place in the literature. Using company papers, this study shows that imports played the central role in causing Crompton's decline, although there were also other problems, including the strong dollar, declining exports, and a reluctance to diversify, which contributed to it. The paper also explores broader trends, including the earlier flight of the industry from New England to the South and the industry's unsuccessful campaign to pass import-restriction legislation, a fight in which Crompton's managers were very involved.

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Customer Behavior on Purchasing Channels of Sustainable Customized Garment With Perceived Value and Product Involvement

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2020.588512 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Zhenfang Li ◽

Jia Yuan ◽

Bisheng Du ◽

Junhao Hu ◽

Wenwen Yuan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Supply Chain ◽

Perceived Risk ◽

Perceived Value ◽

Apparel Industry ◽

Value Theory ◽

Purchasing Decisions ◽

Product Involvement ◽

Perceived Values ◽

Textile And Apparel ◽

Textile And Apparel Industry

Online shopping for customized garments has become the fastest-growing field of the Chinese eBusiness market. Most consumers not only limit themselves to buying standardized garments but also want to buy garments customized to their preferences. This phenomenon has pushed the fashion textile and apparel industry to change its supply chain operations to meet the customization demand. Besides, the fashion textile and apparel industry also want to study how different channel factors will affect consumers' perceived value and further influence consumers' purchasing decisions. We initiated this study and empirically tested more than 200 experienced consumers. This study collaborated with a fashion textile and apparel company that aims to implement customized product lines soon. Based on the perceived value theory and risk management theory, we investigated whether product involvement and channel identification on supply chain design will affects potential customized product consumers' purchasing decisions. The findings reveal that channel recognition affects consumer decisions by having a positive impact on their perceived value. The perceived risk and shopping channel involvement of consumers have a negative impact on their perceived values and channel selections. In addition, product involvement has a moderating effect on the relationship between channel's perceived risk, perceived values, and channel selections as well.

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T-Shaped Person for the Textile and Apparel Industry? Analysis of Cross-functional Skills

10.31274/itaa.12057 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Li Zhao ◽

Nicolette Leiby

Keyword(s):

Apparel Industry ◽

Functional Skills ◽

Industry Analysis ◽

Textile And Apparel ◽

Textile And Apparel Industry

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Sustainability topic trends in the textile and apparel industry: a text mining-based magazine article analysis

Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management ◽

10.1108/jfmm-07-2020-0139 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Jitong Li ◽

Karen K. Leonas

Keyword(s):

Supply Chain ◽

Text Mining ◽

Correlation Coefficients ◽

Implementation Process ◽

Apparel Industry ◽

Sustainable Supply Chain ◽

Sustainable Practices ◽

Content Type ◽

Textile And Apparel ◽

Textile And Apparel Industry

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to (1) identify the sustainable practices developed by the textile and apparel industry and (2) investigate the gaps and opportunities in the sustainability implementation process by quantitively analyzing the sustainability topics and the relevant topic trends.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed text mining techniques. A total of 1,168 relevant magazine articles published from 2013 to 2020 were collected and then categorized according to their tones. In total, 36 topics were identified by reviewing the sustainability issues in the industry. The frequency of each topic mentioned in the articles and the correlation coefficients between topics' frequencies and published time were calculated. The results were used to examine if the three sustainability dimensions (environment, society, economy) were equally addressed and identify opportunities in the sustainability implementation process.FindingsThere were much fewer social and economic topics than environmental topics discussed in the articles. Additionally, there were not enough practices developed to reduce microfiber pollution, improve consumers' knowledge of sustainability, offset the carbon footprint, build a transparent, sustainable supply chain and avoid animal cruelty.Originality/valueThere is a lack of research focusing on the whole supply chain and sustainability when investigating sustainable practices and topic trends. This study fills a part of the gap. The results can be used by industrialists to identify sustainable practice opportunities and better manage their sustainable supply chains. Researchers can utilize the results to compare the topics in the industry with the topics studied in academia.

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