Search results

This paper seeks to address the complex nature of fast fashion buying through case studies with a supermarket, department store and own brand label. The phenomenon of fast fashion raises questions about traditional approaches to sourcing and buying, which are addressed here.

Case studies were compiled with companies managing fast fashion, alongside other purchase and retail activities, namely a supermarket, department store and specialist fashion chain.

Reveals the buying practices for fast fashion, namely, a combination of global and local suppliers, a leagile approach is typical; trust is an important factor in the supplier‐retailer relationship to ensure fast delivery at an agreed quality; and integration of key internal activities and processes to facilitate the speed of buying decisions that may be required.

Gives insight into the factors affecting buying behaviour for fast fashion.

The textiles and apparel industry has been neglected in terms of supply chain management research. Recently, the industry has undergone a great deal of change, particularly with global sourcing and high levels of price competition. In addition, textiles and clothing has market characteristics, such as short product lifecycle, high volatility, low predictability, and a high level of impulse purchase, making such issues as quick response of paramount importance. This article discusses characteristics of the textiles and apparel industry and identifies the perspectives of lean, agile and leagility (a combination of these) within existing supply chain literature, which have been proffered as solutions to achieving quick response and reduced lead times. Through case studies of textile and apparel companies, different approaches to supply chain management are illustrated.

This paper aims to understand the relationship between family togetherness and consumption. This is important given the inherent tension permeating discourses of family consumption and a lack of a critical understanding about how togetherness is experienced, expressed and performed. The Nintendo Wii and Wii gaming were explicitly chosen to engage in a more nuanced understanding and to provide a route to access families in their natural consumption habitat.

An interpretive ethnographic methodology was utilised to investigate family consumption in context and used in conjunction with the biographical narrative interpretive method to capture reflective and detailed informants’ consumption experiences. Holistic content analysis was used to interpret and aid thematic development.

Opportunities for idealised family togetherness afforded by the Wii still appeal to family members. Idealised family togetherness is accessed through collective, “proper” Wii gaming but is ultimately unsustainable. Importantly, the authors see that relational togetherness and bonding is also possible, and as such, the lived experience, expression and performance of family togetherness are not prescriptive.

Family togetherness is a useful and important lens through which to understand the dynamic relationship between family, consumption and the marketplace. The authors suggest that current conceptualisations of togetherness are too idealised and prescriptive and should be open to critical rethinking and engagement by both academics and industry practitioners to communicate with and about families and to explore how to be part of relevant and meaningful family conversations.

The Chinese fashion market is becoming increasingly important in terms of consumption volume and value. A critical aspect of the Chinese fashion market is the role of the fashion retail buyer; however, there exists little literature on their role and their decision-making process. This paper, therefore, explores the role of Chinese fashion retail buyers, their decision-making process as well as the key factors that influence the retail buyer's decision-making process.

Informed by the inductive approach within Sheth's (1981) framework, in-depth interviews with a number of retail buyers in nine leading fashion companies in China were carried out to explore fashion retail buyers' decision-making processes.

The results show that management mentality, type of merchandise and type of decision context were the most influencing factors regarding merchandise requirements (MRs). Fashion retail buyers in China are substantially restricted by the management style of the firm, which also influences the product mix choice. To evaluate merchandise, fashion buyers take into account consumer demand, company position, geographical differences and fashion trends. In regards to supplier selection, production stability coupled with quality and cost factors become paramount. The study also demonstrates that country of origin (COO) is a less significant factor in the fashion buyer's decision-making process.

This is the first study that explores the fashion retail buyer's decision-making processes in the Chinese market. The results show Chinese fashion buyers' decision-making processes differ significantly from other markets. This paper offers guidelines for an efficient and effective fashion retail buying process in China. The findings offer important avenues for further research and provide insights for fashion professionals in the Chinese and other emerging markets contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the current focus of supply chain management (SCM) research; it considers field level and societal constraints and consequently the potential for change. It details the underlying assumptions in the field, considering the dominant paradigms and stakeholders, and how this has shaped the research we have engaged in as a community of scholars.

This is a reflective inquiry that seeks to deconstruct the dominant discourses and paradigms in SCM. It offers alternative avenues of inquiry to “traditional” research, considering how different questions, perspectives and approaches might yield different learning for the field. offering alternative avenues to traditional research.

This is a call for collective action, for solidarity, for a re-imagining of what research in SCM could look like. Research activism is challenging and potentially risky but necessary for the research community to engage in, particularly in light of the global societal grand challenges. Change can take place in the SCM field through collective action and solidarity. Three levels of activism are explored here – acting to solve the grand challenges, acting to change the field and acting as individuals.

This is a “speak-out” piece, which embraces and encourages reflexivity, new methods of doing and writing research as well as different perspectives, and especially a consideration for context and multiple players in the supply chain. The authors contend that it is urgent to re-appropriate our own agency as SCM researchers.

In a context of increasing globalization and neoliberal restructuring and with labor's power diminishing vis-à-vis employers, American workers have turned in recent years to community-based campaigns targeting local government. These mobilizations have received considerable attention from scholars who see this emerging community orientation as a significant strategic innovation. This study, alternatively, focuses on the subjective and ideological consequences of such mobilizations for those engaged in protest. In particular, it seeks to extend social movement theory regarding the transformative impact of collective action by asking: how do distinct forms of collective action bring about particular kinds of consciousness and identity among participants?

Scholars rooted in a variety of traditions – from theorists of “post-industrial” society and “new” social movements to state theorists and geographers – have suggested that identities fostered at the local level are characterized by a “defensive,” “introverted,” or “retrospective” quality. This study examines a local mobilization, the case of a living wage campaign in Chicago, which deviates from these expectations. Through an analysis of interviews with participants, I find that instead of spurring defensiveness the campaign engendered a citizenship identity that was both active and inclusive. In explaining why my findings diverge from existing theories of identity formation, my analysis highlights three conceptual deficiencies in the literature with respect to (1) the distinction between local versus transnational collective action, (2) the relationship between social movement goals/tactics and outcomes, and (3) the prioritization of “new” social movements over the labor movement. Examining the citizenship identities that developed during Chicago's living wage campaign is instructive, finally, for understanding the sources of counter-hegemonic subjectivity within a broader context of eroding citizenship rights and a dominant market fundamentalist ideology. More generally, this analysis paves the way for a more productive engagement among theories of social movements, citizenship, labor, and globalization.

“Where do I find the Consumer Price Index?” “What was last year's unemployment rate?” “How do I locate data on the number of 1979 cars sold?” The above questions are among a multitude that a reference librarian might be asked concerning business statistics. To find the answers to these questions, the librarian may use a variety of sources.

The discipline and practice of regional and town planning is searching uneasily for new directions attendant upon conceptual and empirical developments since the early 1970s. This paper traces the current disquiet, explores contemporary viewpoints and then outlines a prospective focus in terms of processes of wealth creation. It is argued that orientation to this goal would realign planning with other mainstream disciplines such as economics and provide greater clarity to the endeavours of theoreticians and practitioners. The implications of such a move are explored in terms of an approach to the real world of the marketplace.