Today, the sustainability challenge has become a relevant issue in the fashion industry. However, given that the request for sustainability is relatively new in this industry, empirical research that could guide companies towards supply chain sustainability is lacking. This study aims to deepen the understanding of the main strategic approaches to sustainability used in fashion supply chain management (SCM). Ten case studies were examined in terms of the practices that characterise these approaches. Moreover, contextual factors, drivers and barriers that support or hinder different approaches were identified. To accomplish this goal, both environmental sustainability and social sustainability were investigated, and all the areas of fashion SCM (i.e. new product development, source, make, deliver, retail, return, governance) were considered simultaneously to offer a wide overview of this industry's sustainability issue.
This paper investigates how companies in the fashion industry organize, plan and perform their New Product Development process (NPD). The results have been achieved through an empirical study carried out by the authors with the support of the GeCo Observatory, an Italian research initiative launched in 2012. This paper shows the details of eight selected case studies from the Italian fashion industry
Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine which environmental and social sustainability practices companies in the Italian fashion industry adopt and how these companies communicate their sustainability commitment through their corporate websites. Design/methodology/approach -The multiple case studies approach was selected and the practices of 12 companies in the Italian fashion industry were investigated. Findings -The findings showed that four different approaches in the field of sustainability practices and web-based communication are available within the Italian fashion industry (i.e. low commitment, high commitment, low disclosure, high marketing) by highlighting the alignment (i.e. fit or misfit) among these dimensions and by discussing the practices as well as the drivers/barriers of each approach. Originality/value -The paper contributes to the literature by deepening the understanding of both the environmental and social dimensions of the sustainability issue. Moreover, the work investigates the relationship between sustainability practices and web-based sustainability communication, a topic that has not yet been addressed in the current literature.
New product development represents a core process within the fashion industry: it is a knowledge-intensive set of tasks that needs to be improved in order to enhance a company's competitive advantage. In this context, through product lifecycle management (PLM) product data are shared amongst the various actors and processes in the different phases of the product lifecycle. A descriptive exploratory research allows the authors to recognise the importance of PLM in the fashion industry, after an in-depth analysis of the existing literature. PLM includes modules supporting many industry-specific processes, reducing time-to-market, lead times and inventory. It is not just a product centric lifecycle-oriented business model, but it also represents a strategic approach that is spreading in the recent years also in a complex industry, as that of fashion.
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