Collaboration in achieving sustainable solutions in the textile industry

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mônica Cavalcanti Sá de Abreu ◽  
Fabiana Nogueira Holanda Ferreira ◽  
João F. Proença ◽  
Domenico Ceglia
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Textile Industry ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Clothing Industry ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Ecological Value ◽  
Society Business ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainable Solutions ◽  
Textiles And Clothing

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how sustainable solutions in the textiles and clothing industry are decided through business-to-business collaboration. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative and inductive study of the Brazilian textiles and clothing industry is carried out, an industry in which sustainable denim products are increasingly being recognized as subject to competition. The paper adopts a focal net perspective to understand the collaborative arrangements through which firms combine the products they offer as a sustainable solution. Documentary data were collected and in-depth interviews conducted with the top managers of one of the world’s largest denim-manufacturing companies present in the Brazilian market, which is involved in providing sustainable solutions in cooperation with its partners. Findings The authors describe the factors that reflect the conditions for generating a sustainable business performance, including a corporate policy that assumes and articulates the responsibility for social interest, core-business stakeholders and regulatory requirements; a sustainable product-service system (S.PSS) based on innovative interactions between the stakeholders in the value production system; relations between stakeholders that promote business sustainability through a dependable value chain characterized by a sense of collaboration and collective actions; and a business model for sustainability that combines economic with social and ecological value creation. These factors help a business establish a more strategic position in the value network, enabling it to capture more value. Practical implications Sustainable solutions are developed dynamically and collaboratively within an S.PPS. Managers need to focus not only on tangible products but also on intangible services designed and combined so that they are jointly capable of fulfilling customer’s needs and creating social and ecological value. Managers within the solution provider must develop business models for sustainability that are continually evolving to satisfy the interest in resource-efficiency by actors in civil society, business and government. Originality/value The research contributes to the existing literature by applying approaches involving corporate social responsibility (CSR) and strategic nets to the study of the implementation of an S.PSS. Sustainable initiatives and offers developed by an S.PSS are not isolated phenomena but result from collaboration in finding solutions among different actors linked in a strategic net. In this sense, companies need to adjust their business models for sustainability to generate positive economic, social and ecological value and gain credibility for their missions.

scholarly journals Research on Elevating Fujian’s Export Levels to Japan in Textile and Clothing Industry

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-76
Author(s):  
Shu LU ◽  
Xiang Liu
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Textile Industry ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Clothing Industry ◽  
Fujian Province ◽  
Value System ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Leading Industry ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Textiles And Clothing

The textile and clothing industry is the traditional leading industry as well as an important export industry in Fujian Province. In recent years, the rapid development of the textile industry in Fujian has made it become an important part of the textile and apparel value chain, and has been deeply integrated into the entire value system. Japan is one of the traditional market exports of Fujian Province, but the textile products exported from Fujian Province to Japan have been at the low end of the value chain for a long time. Therefore, it is essential to discuss how to make Fujian textile and clothing industry climb to the high value link. This article takes Fujian Province’s textile and clothing industry as the research object, combines the current situation of Fujian’s textile and clothing exports based on the advantages and disadvantages of the Fujian’s textile and clothing value chain, and analyzes the situation of Fujian’s textile and clothing exports from the perspective of the value chain to pinpoint the problems, as a result, fumble out the solutions to improve and optimize Fujian's export of textiles and clothing to Japan.

Digital innovation for sustainable apparel systems

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 370-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Karl Johan Larsson
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Textile Industry ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Value Networks ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Textile And Apparel ◽  
Innovation Projects

Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate four research and innovation projects, namely, from the perspective of innovation for sustainable development, with a particular focus on digital tools for sales and manufacturing, minimising waste in the textile and apparel value chain and identifying possibilities for further sustainable development in the apparel and textile industry. Design/methodology/approach The foundation of this study is of the four research and innovation projects, which all focus on minimising waste in textile value chains, to support local manufacturing of apparel products and propose product offers that cater to more diverse needs. The main method used is action research. These projects are analysed from the perspective of innovation for sustainable development and the sustainable development goals developed by the United Nations. Findings The findings indicate that the projects have the potential to support further innovation for sustainable business models and support sustainable development in textile and apparel value networks, with a particular focus on minimising material waste and thus minimising energy use. Originality/value The value of the paper is that it shows how methods and technologies for digital sales and manufacturing and for circular value networks can contribute to business models that support sustainable development in the textile and apparel industry.

Business strategies responding to COVID-19: experience of Chinese corporations

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Minyu Wu ◽  
Kun Kong
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Society Business ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Five Dimensions ◽  
Strategic Csr ◽  
Mixed Approach ◽  
Business In Society

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives adopted by Chinese firms during the outbreak of COVID-19. Facing this unknown, unexpected and devastating disease, Chinese corporations demonstrated their CSR in different approaches. The purpose of this paper is to explore how CSR influences the decisions of the corporations that respond to a severe incident and how corporations can achieve their mission or strategic objectives by responding to a serious incident. Design/methodology/approach Based on secondary data and thematic analysis, this paper examines six Chinese corporations which are the leading firms in their respective industries. Findings This paper finds that firms adopted a mixed approach to conducting their CSR initiatives, including altruistic, strategic and citizenship CSR initiatives. This paper also confirms that strategic CSR initiatives were in line with the five dimensions of strategic CSR including centrality, specificity, proactivity, visibility and voluntarism. In addition, this paper also shows that a company could create its competitive advantage by carrying out CSR initiatives that are able to strengthen its value chain activities or the competitive context. This is based on the partnership built by the firms with their stakeholders to recognize the shared value. Practical implications This paper shows the implication that business leaders should understood the role of a business in society and the importance of stakeholders’ expectations. The underlying philosophy is that CSR could strengthen the resilience of society; business organizations need to operate in a healthy society. Originality/value This paper provides insights of Chinese corporations responding to a severe social incident. It highlights the strategic perspective of CSR initiatives and the linkage between CSR activities and a firm’s competitive advantage.

The future of the Internet of Things: toward heterarchical ecosystems and service business models

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 749-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seppo Leminen ◽  
Mervi Rajahonka ◽  
Mika Westerlund ◽  
Robert Wendelin
Keyword(s):  
Internet Of Things ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Business Models ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Industry Collaboration ◽  
New Business ◽  
The Internet Of Things

Purpose This study aims to understand their emergence and types of business models in the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystems. Design/methodology/approach The paper builds upon a systematic literature review of IoT ecosystems and business models to construct a conceptual framework on IoT business models, and uses qualitative research methods to analyze seven industry cases. Findings The study identifies four types of IoT business models: value chain efficiency, industry collaboration, horizontal market and platform. Moreover, it discusses three evolutionary paths of new business model emergence: opening up the ecosystem for industry collaboration, replicating the solution in multiple services and return to closed ecosystem as technology matures. Research limitations/implications Identifying business models in rapidly evolving fields such as the IoT based on a small number of case studies may result in biased findings compared to large-scale surveys and globally distributed samples. However, it provides more thorough interpretations. Practical implications The study provides a framework for analyzing the types and emergence of IoT business models, and forwards the concept of “value design” as an ecosystem business model. Originality/value This paper identifies four archetypical IoT business models based on a novel framework that is independent of any specific industry, and argues that IoT business models follow an evolutionary path from closed to open, and reversely to closed ecosystems, and the value created in the networks of organizations and things will be shareable value rather than exchange value.

Responsible entrepreneurship: outlining the contingencies

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 538-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Vallaster ◽  
Sascha Kraus ◽  
Norbert Kailer ◽  
Brooke Baldwin
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Value Creation ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Responsible Innovation ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Society Business ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to give an up-to-date assessment of key topics and methods discussed in the current literature on responsible entrepreneurship. In the past years, sustainable development itself has become a more popular and important topic in the academic literature and hence the field of sustainable entrepreneurship has become a greater topic of interest and opportunity for solution. Therefore, a systematic literature review is conducted to assess new contributions to the field and its potential for the future of sustainable development, with a focus on responsible innovation.Design/methodology/approachSystematic, evidence-informed literature review following Tranfieldet al.(2003).FindingsBased on a conceptual literature review, five streams of research that responsible entrepreneurs distinguish from purely for-profit entrepreneurs are identified and discussed: walking the line between profit creation and value creation for society; business models of responsible entrepreneurs; their role in transforming society; getting ready to innovate responsibly; and the role of market incentives to foster sustainable business practices.Originality/valueThe structured literature review allows to identify future research paths. In detail, ideas as regards the management of upcoming tensions when trying to combine profit creation and value creation for society, and finally, the way innovation processes need to be rethought when innovating responsibly are discussed and outlined.

A new sustainability model: engaging the entire firm

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 4-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne McPhee
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Resource Constraints ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Firm Strategy ◽  
Chain Model ◽  
Activity Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Emerging Issues ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The sustainable activity model re-envisions Porter's value chain to reflect the emerging impact of sustainability on firm strategy. The model helps to convert high level sustainability vision statements into a new set of actions that can create value from emerging issues like climate change, resource constraints, and a smaller, more connected world. Design/methodology/approach – The emergence and growth of sustainability, provides an opportunity to rethink traditional business models to better reflect current and emerging market conditions. Porter's value chain was adapted to reflect that: the value of a firm is based on more than just the profit margin and includes reputation, brand value and license to operate; sustainability can generate value by improving both internal and external engagement and collaboration; and the impact that the firm has on the outside world need to be included in firm strategy and decision making. Findings – The sustainable activity model is useful for focusing strategy on the material impacts of the firm rather than focusing on the issues that are most prevalent in the media or where managers have a particular interest. The model allows the firm to clearly set out new actions and new behaviors that change how the firm interacts with the world and how value is created. Originality/value – The sustainable activity model adapts the traditional value chain model to better fit the business issues that have emerged over the last 25 years and to prepare for a future that will continue to change at an ever increasing rate. Applying the model to strategy and business decisions will encourage new ways of thinking about value and generate new activities for creating value and enhancing the resilience of the firm against future changes as the sustainability trend continues to evolve.

Successful approaches for implementing additive manufacturing

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-148
Author(s):  
Robert Martens ◽  
Susan K. Fan ◽  
Rocky J. Dwyer
Keyword(s):  
Additive Manufacturing ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Multiple Case Study ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Qualitative Multiple Case Study

PurposeThe purpose of this qualitative, multiple-case study was to explore the successful strategies that managers of light and high-tech small and medium-sized manufacturing companies in the Netherlands, use to adopt additive manufacturing (AM) technology into their business models.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative, multiple-case study approach was used. The participants for this study consisted of executive-level managers of light and high-tech manufacturing companies in the Netherlands. Company documents were studied, and individual interviews were undertaken with participants to gain an understanding of the strategies they used to adopt AM technology into their business models.FindingsThree significant themes emerged from the data analysis: identify business opportunities for AM technology, experiment with AM technology and embed AM technology.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of this study could be of advantage to industry leaders and manufacturing managers who are contemplating to adopt AM in their business models.Originality/valueThis study may contribute to the further proliferation of AM technology. Industry leaders may also gain a clearer understanding of the effects of 3DP on local employment. The results of the study may also work as a catalyst for increased awareness for manufacturing firm leaders who have not yet considered the opportunities and threats AM technology presents to their organizations.

Rethinking on growth mechanism of Indian sugar industry

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 412-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheetal ◽  
Rajiv Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Growth Mechanism ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Financial Distress ◽  
Sugar Industry ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government ◽  
Industry Professionals

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to revisit the growth mechanism of Indian sugar industry by deploying quantitative and qualitative metaphors. Design/methodology/approach The research paper has been composed through comprehensive primary research survey using a structured questionnaire, and qualitative discussion following semi- structured interviews with industry professionals on emerging issues across the whole value chain of sugar industry. Respondents regarding primary survey were selected using the purposive sampling, and this collected quantitative information has been verified on the lenses of multiple stream modelling (MSM). Findings To support the data analysis, MSM – a policy-making framework has been developed which found that government being a central construct exerts a profound presence across whole value chain; in suppliers’ mechanism, marketing of sugar and sugar mills’ infrastructural expansions. Nationwide uniformity in sugar policy instead of states’ monopolistic policies, rational and mutual benefits-based decisions collectively by the government, mills management and sugarcane growers, and diversification in production processes are enumerated as the proposed solutions against the chronical industry problems. Practical implications This study enriches extant Asian sugar industry literature. For policymakers, the proposed results should be of help in identifying specific policies to support the competitiveness of local systems and individual manufacturing companies in the Indian sugar industry suggesting that the development of growth mechanisms can contribute simultaneously to improve the financial, market and operational performance of both individual firms and supply chains. Originality/value Cyclicality in production, rising sugarcane farmers’ problems and resulting severe financial distress of mills are some of the topical issues of Indian sugar industry, and the study has explored these issues factually, quantitatively and qualitatively in proximity of industry professionals and described in this depository with the help of document analysis.

scholarly journals Business model development for sustainable apparel consumption

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Holtström ◽  
Charlotte Bjellerup ◽  
Johanna Eriksson
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Consumer Preferences ◽  
Model Development ◽  
Distribution Networks ◽  
Term Survival ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainable Solutions ◽  
Business Model Development

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify key aspects of business model development for sustainable apparel consumption, as actors show an increasing interest in product‒service systems. This purpose should be seen from a retailers’ perspective so as to develop sustainable solutions for long-term survival in the apparel industry when meeting consumer preferences for fashion as well as an increasing interest in consuming less. Further, this is from a perspective in an economy where sharing and circularity are potential drivers for changing consumer patterns. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on the apparel retailer Houdini Sportswear and its business model development from a traditional model of selling sportswear to a more future-oriented model where sustainability is more salient. The data for analysis were collected through interviews with employees within the studied company. The interviews have been guided by overarching themes covering relevant areas of interest for this study. Findings Overall, the paper shows how sustainability can be included in strategic development, from product idea, product development, production and sales/rental to repair, reuse and finally recycling. The paper also highlights potential obstacles in a developed business model with increased sustainability, including technological platforms, distribution networks for collecting and returning products and consumer consumption preferences. There are a few intertwined factors to be considered on different societal levels to achieve long-term success. Originality/value This study contributes an increased understanding of how more sustainable solutions can be included when developing business models. While the manufacture, distribution and consumption of clothes have an impact on the environment, some retailers and producers want to reduce this environmental impact. One alternative is to change the way clothes are consumed, to include more sharing and circularity.

Challenges and progress in integrating knowledge: cases from clothing and textiles in South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Wood ◽  
Christine Bischoff
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Knowledge Management ◽  
South African ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Textile Industry ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Production Networks ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Informal Knowledge

Purpose The central purpose of this paper is to explore how implicit knowledge capabilities and sharing helps secure organizational survival and success. This article explores the challenging in better management knowledge in the South African clothing and textile industry. In moving from a closed protected market supported by active industrial policy, South African manufacturing has faced intense competition from abroad. The ending of apartheid removed a major source of workplace tension, facilitating the adoption of higher value-added production paradigms. However, most South African clothing and textile firms have battled to cope, given cutthroat international competition. The authors focus on firms that have accorded particularly detailed attention to two instances characterized by innovative knowledge management. The authors highlight how circumstances may impose constraints and challenges and how they paradoxically also create opportunities, which may enable firms to survive and thrive through the recognition and utilization of informal knowledge, both individual and collective. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on in-depth interviews, primary company and industry association and secondary documents. Findings The study highlights how successful firms implemented systems, policies and practices for the better capturing and utilization of external and internal knowledge. In terms of the former, a move toward fast fashion required and drove far-reaching organizational restructuring and change. This made for a greater integration of knowledge through the value chain, ranging from design to retail. Successful firms also owed their survival to the recognition and usage of internal informal knowledge. At the same time this process was not without tensions and paradoxes, and the findings suggest that many of the solutions followed a process of experimentation. The latter is in sharp contrast to many South African manufacturers, who, with the global articulation of production networks, have lost valuable knowledge on suppliers and their practices. At the same time, both firms have to contend with an increasingly unpredictable international environment. Research limitations/implications At a theoretical level, the study points to the need to see informal knowledge not only in individualistic terms but also as a phenomenon that has collective, and indeed, communitarian features. Again, it highlights the challenges of nurturing and optimizing informal knowledge. It shows how contextual features both constrain and enable this process. It further highlights the extent to which the effective utilization of external knowledge, and rapid responses to external developments, may require a fundamental rethinking of organizational structures and hierarchies. This study focuses on a limited number of dimensions of this in a single national context but could be replicated and extended into other contexts. Practical implications The study highlights the relationship between survival, success and how knowledge is managed. This involved harnessing the informal knowledge and capabilities of workforce to enhance productivity, in conjunction with improvements in machinery and processes, and a much closer integration of design, supply, production and marketing, underpinned by a more effective usage of IT. Paradoxically, other clothing and textile firms have survived doing the exact opposite – reverting to low value-added cut-and-trim assembly operations. At a policy level, the study highlights how specific features of South African regulation (above all, in terms of job protection), which are often held up as barriers to competiveness, may help sustain the knowledge base of firms. Social implications The preservation and creation of jobs in a highly competitive sector was bound up with effective knowledge management. The study also highlighted the mutual interdependence of employers and employees in a context of very high unemployment and how the more effective usage of informal knowledge bound both sides closer. Originality/value There is a fairly diverse body of literature on manufacturing in South Africa, and, indeed across the continent; however, much of it has focused on challenges. This study explores relative success stories from a sector that has faced a structural crisis of competitiveness, and as such, has relevance to understanding how firms and industries may cope in highly adverse circumstances.

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