Topics and Issues to Investigate
The fashion apparel industry of the 21st century centers around low-cost manufacturing. The most profitable global brands such as Zara, H&M, and others take advantage of low-cost labor in developing countries (Camargo, Pereira, and Scarpin, 2020). As a result, Vietnam, India, and Bangladesh are all centers of offshore manufacturing, which makes supply chain management for fashion corporations more complex, thus increasing potential operational and financial risks (Aftab et al., 2018). In the light of an evident shift in consumer preferences, ethical consumption and sustainability are at the forefront of fashion news (Wiederhold and Martinez, 2018). The dissertation is going to explore the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in detail. The main issue fashion enterprises face is their inability to mitigate offshore manufacturing risks, which include trade implications, inaccurate demand forecasts, and a variety of crises that may affect local communities of developing nations (Fratocchi and Stefano, 2019). There is an abundance of theoretical frameworks to deal with the issues posed by offshore manufacturing and the rise of fast fashion (Yu and Kim, 2018). However, when it comes to an assessment of practical solutions utilized by real corporations in the industry, there is a gap in academia.
Aims, Objectives, and Research Questions
The main goal of the study is to identify the criteria that fashion corporations consider to manage supply chain risks, which are a part of offshore manufacturing. The dissertation poses a question: What are the potential sources of risks associated with low-cost manufacturing strategies employed in the fashion apparel industry? Another crucial question to consider is: How does the concept of corporate social responsibility tie into modern supply chain risk mitigation efforts of fashion corporations? Short-term objectives include identifying common threats of offshore manufacturing that fashion enterprises deal with as well as exploring the corporations’ solutions and their effectiveness. A long-term objective is to develop a survey for supply chain and operations professionals in the fashion industry to collect additional data.
Data Collection Process
The research proposed has an exploratory nature, which is why primary data collection methods for this study will include an extensive review of relevant literature as well as online qualitative interviews with fashion industry professionals. Literature review is a reliable practice to investigate the complexity of offshore manufacturing as a phenomenon in global business operations, particularly in the fashion industry. To conduct interviews and assess secondary data, a semi-structured protocol is needed. To ensure the protocol’s validity, four pilot interviews will be conducted. Selection criteria for interviewees are their relevance to the topic of the dissertation, professional experience, and an ability to answer questions the research poses. Companies will be chosen based on their global presence, influence, as well as the location of their manufacturing hubs. Interview respondents, including supply chain, sourcing, and risk management managers, will be approached online via e-mail and LinkedIn. Recorded and transcribed conversations with the participants will go through two rounds of their approval/verification.
Subject Areas
The research proposed is most strongly related to risk mitigation and operations management. The dissertation is going to explore ethical consumption, offshore manufacturing, low-cost labor, fast fashion, corporate social responsibility, and a variety of other concepts. The focus of the paper is strategies employed by fashion enterprises in supplier selection and factory diversification. Bangladesh, Vietnam, and India were selected as the primary locations because of their popularity among fashion corporations as well as a low human development index.
Reference List
Aftab, M. A., et al. (2018) ‘Super responsive supply chain: The case of Spanish fast fashion retailer Inditex-Zara’, International Journal of Business and Management, 13(5). Web.
Camargo, L. R., Pereira, S. C. F., and Scarpin, M. R. S. (2020) ‘Fast and ultra-fast fashion supply chain management: an exploratory research’, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 48(6), pp. 537-553. Web.
Fratocchi, L. and Stefano, C. D. (2019) ‘Manufacturing reshoring in the fashion industry: a literature review’, World Review of Intermodal Transportation Research, 8(4). Web.
Wiederhold, M., and Martinez, L. F. (2018) ‘Ethical consumer behaviour in Germany: The attitude-behaviour gap in the green apparel industry’, International Journal of Consumer Studies, 42(4), pp. 419-429. Web.
Yu, U.-J. and Kim, J.-H. (2018) ‘Financial productivity issues of offshore and “Made-in-USA” through reshoring’, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 22(3), pp. 317-334. Web.