Border-crossing and Management between Work and Life Domains Described by Women in the U.S. Apparel Industry

Women have been one of the driving forces in the globalization of the apparel industry and hold dominating managerial and executive positions in many apparel businesses in the United States. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2006). The growth in the female labor force has posed women to face particular challenges society imposes, which is only exasperated by the difficult economic times. Many women still fall into traditional gender roles and bear the majority of the domestic duties and emotional work (Strazdins & Broom, 2004), causing diversions and sacrifices on her career

Key Resources of the Indian Apparel Export Firms as Described by Firm Managers

Today, India is considered as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The apparel export sector contributes hugely to this rapid economic growth. The apparel industry contributes approximately14% to Indian industrial production, 4% to the Gross Domestic Products (GDP), and 17% to the country’s export earnings (Ministry of Textiles in India, 2012). India is the sixth largest apparel exporter in the world, with exporting U.S. $14.5 billion worth of apparel in 2011 (World Trade Organization, 2013)

Exploring U.S. Retail Employees’ Experiences of Corporate Hypocrisy

Corporate hypocrisy (CH) exists when people believe that firms are not what they claim to be. Much of the previous research has focused on how consumers may perceive firms as hypocritical and how that might affect firms’ sales and profits, but little has been researched on CH as experienced by employees. This study explored CH experienced by employees in the U.S. retail sector, which is predominantly comprised of part-time, low-income personnel. Through in-depth interviews of 16 retail employees, the study revealed that for participants, inconsistencies in both supervisors’ and corporate claims and actions resulted in perceived CH in employees. This, in turn, seemed to be related to participants’ feelings and future employment intentions. The study findings offer important implications for leaders and managers of U.S. retail companies, as they show how employees perceive, feel about, and act in response to CH

Employees’ Attitude, Perceived Corporate Hypocrisy and Social Sustainability

Corporations\u27 executions of social commitments or lack thereof have been impacting their stakeholders. When corporations are believed claiming to be something that they are not, employees experience perceived corporate hypocrisy (PCH). Identifying such perceptions and impacts on employees mark important responsibilities for businesses. Thus, this research investigated the impact of employees\u27 PCH on their attitude towards corporations. Using survey data from 520 US retail employees, this study found a medium-strength negative association between participants PCH and their attitude, such that participants with high PCH had significantly poor attitudes compared to those with low PCH. The study findings filled a gap in the PCH literature by identifying the negative impacts corporations cast on their employees. Considering that employees interact directly with customers and their negative perceptions could be channeled through bad word-of-mouth, these findings are particularly important for the retail sector

The Impact of Weather on U.S. Apparel Retail Sales

There is a huge gap in our comprehension on the effect of the weather on U.S. apparel retail sales. This study was designed to uncover the relationships between weather and apparel retail sales in the United States. For this purpose, the secondary data analysis was performed using the national-level U.S. apparel retail sales and the weather data from 1992 to 2015. The study found that when the temperature is higher than usual especially in April, the apparel retail sales will increase and when the temperature is lower in September and October, the sales will decrease. Again, higher precipitation in July expects higher sales in the United States. The U.S. retailers now can predict how the weather change will impact their sales and at what amount and take corrective actions to mitigate the negative impact of the weather on business activities

Capabilities, competitive advantages, and performance of apparel import intermediaries in a hyper-dynamic market environment

Structural changes in the global apparel industry have led to a new market environment in which part of the apparel channel members (specifically, apparel import intermediaries or AIIs) have had to assume new market responsibilities and have taken different approaches to their conventional functional activities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the basic nature of these firms' business operations, that is, the relationships among AIIs' capabilities, competitive advantages, and performance in the hyper-dynamic market environment of the apparel industry. In order to do so, this study (a) developed an integrative model of AIIs' capabilities, competitive advantages, and performance; and (b) conducted an empirical assessment of the model, using survey methodology. Drawing from the first phase qualitative interview studies, extant theory, and literature in the strategy, marketing, and organizational management disciplines, the study proposed an integrative model of AIIs' capabilities, competitive advantages, and performance. A survey was developed to test the causal relationships of these three major constructs of interest. Subsequently, 807 firms were randomly drawn from ReferenceUSA, an Internet-based firm database that includes U.S. apparel manufacturers and wholesalers. Out of an adjusted sample of 736 firms, a total of 159 firms returned usable surveys, resulting in a 21.6% response rate. Structural Equation Modeling was employed for data analysis using LISREL 8.72 and tested the causal relationships among AIIs' capabilities, competitive advantages, and performance. Overall, the study's findings supported the predicted positive impact between AIIs' capabilities of market interpretation, sourcing, and service and the competitive advantages of cost, product, and service. The results also supported the predicted positive impact between AIIs' competitive advantages and their relationship performance with domestic clients and foreign suppliers. Consistent with the resource-advantage theory of competition, the study supported the role of competitive advantages as the direct antecedents of AII performance and the role of functional capabilities as the indirect antecedents of performance. This study concluded with research contributions and implications, study limitations, and directions for future researc