1,720,968 research outputs found
Networks as Facilitators of Innovation in Technology-Based Industries: The Case of Flat Glass
No full textOld firms, new tricks and the quest for profits: Burberry's journey from success to failure and back to success again
No full textGlobal sourcing: insights from the global clothing industry—the case of Zara, a fast fashion retailer
No full text
Fashion, functionality, and the contemporary consumer
No full textUniqlo has recently been challenging the paradigm behind the phenomenal success of Zara: while Zara has been all about fashion, Uniqlo claims to be all about functionality. Here I examine this corporate narrative within the context of a new paradigm in cultural sociology that brings to the fore the material and functional aspects of clothing consumption (as opposed to its fashion and identity-related aspects). This case study shows that we might be able to understand the contemporary consumer better, if we study the corporate narratives of our most popular retailers of fashion. After all, their survival depends upon a correct understanding of how exactly today’s consumers behave.</jats:p
Asymmetrical power relations and upgrading among suppliers of global clothing brands: Hugo Boss in Turkey
No full textWhen a relatively powerless clothing supplier encroaches on the core competence of its dominant network partner and emerges as a competitor in its own right, this calls for detailed documentation and explanation. In this paper, we provide such an explanation through inquiry into the Turkish firm Sarar. A 13-year manufacturing contractor of Hugo Boss, it withdrew from its partnership with the German lead firm in 1998 and has since created its own brands of men's suits that are now sold at home and abroad. After the withdrawal, Hugo Boss established its own manufacturing facilities in Turkey. Here we investigate the relevancy of the national origin of the lead firm Hugo Boss and of the broader institutional and market setting of the post-1980 Turkey in which the relationship between the two firms was embedded. The findings are in some tension with the organizational frameworks that are frequently used to describe the clothing industry. Copyright 2007, Oxford University Press.
Globalization and the changing clothing industry in Turkey
No full textIn this paper, I explore the manner in which, since the 1980s, some Turkish domestic firms in the clothing industry have found ways of connecting themselves to the global webs of manufacturing, distribution, and retailing of garments. I call attention to two related developments that have occurred during the process. First, a number of manufacturing firms have acquired enough autonomy to develop and exercise their own strategies, have upgraded their operations, and, as original brand-name manufacturers, have evolved into global competitors. Second, some large domestic manufacturers have experienced a cautious and gradual transformation from industrial capital to commercial and financial capital. The findings show the necessity of seeing firms as intentional agents of change with some autonomy of their own as well as the importance of maintaining a structural understanding of power relations in the networked relationships of the global economy.
- …
