Between the devil and the deep blue sea(m) : a case study exploring the borders between work and life domains described by women in the U.S. apparel industry

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on May 30, 2013).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Thesis advisor: Dr. Jung Ha-BrookshireIncludes bibliographical references.M.S. University of Missouri--Columbia 2012."May, 2012"The study explored the border development and management between work and life domains as described by women working in the U.S. apparel industry. By modeling Clark's (2000) work-family border theory and coupling the social identity theory, the study's aim was to discover how women manage and negotiate their work and life domains, the borders between domains, and the people who occupy the domains in order to attain balance. The interpretation from a qualitative case study approach, which triangulated semi-structured interviews, field observations, and photo elicitations of five women revealed three theme categories: (a) definition of work and life domains; (b) grand view triggering events and effects; (c) every day triggering events and effects. Implications derived from the results offer important opportunities for corporate human resource departments to cultivate a work environment that may be more sustainable in the long term with reasonable work expectations and more supportive role models

The education of sustainable consumers: An analysis of sewing education and disposal activity

Sustainable consumption has been an area of research since the 1990s (Jackson, 2004) and researchers have examined the acquisition, maintenance, and disposal of apparel products (Winakor, 1969). Consumers’ motivations vary for why they consume new products. However, there has been a trend in reusing and re-purposing apparel products with the popularity of social media sites like Pinterest. The awareness, exposure, and education of how to sew may affect consumers’ sustainable disposal of apparel products. However, many family consumer science or home economic classes in secondary schools have seen sever budget cuts (Washington Post, May 17, 2010)

Going Native to Reach the Digital Natives: New Technologies for the Classroom

There is increasing pressure as educators to promote engagement in the classroom by being not just deliverers of content, but facilitators of the learning process. While there are many approaches, technology integration tools are compelling as many of our students are part of the millennial generation. Digital natives or millennials are transitioning to a screen-based society and are bored with traditional methods of learning . From this teaching approach, the implementation of relevant technological tools into the classroom was prepared utilizing two unique items – Plickers and Flipgrid. The teaching approach objectives of these tools were (a) to address the changing learning needs of students by enhancing the course engagement, (b) to increase student involvement during lectures, (c) to promote students verbal reflective development outside of class, and (d) to help instructor gauge student understanding of course concepts

Old Value: Millennials\u27 Knowledge of Mending Skills and its Effect on their Clothing Consumption

The predominance of fast fashion has led to the normative consumer behavior of disposal when clothing is less than perfect, no matter how superficial the damage. This disposal mindset has led to an increase in both clothing donations and textile waste. One factor that has been researched as a remedy of this shortened clothing consumption process is the loss of mending skills. The purpose of this study was to examine what mending skills Millennials in particular have, what they do with their clothing that needs to be repaired, and where they donate their clothing. Through the use of survey research of 101 Millennials, the results indicate that this generational cohort donates to large organizations and gives their clothes to others for repair when their mending skills are lower, whether someone they know or someone they pay. The findings indicate opportunities for educators and consumers

Hearts Over Smarts: An Analysis of Emotional Intelligence in the Global Apparel Supply Chain

With a diverse supply chain and members that range in many characteristics, there was a need to learn what, if any, supply chain member’s individual characteristics may have an effect on EI. As a first step in understanding EI in the apparel industry, this study investigated the global supply chain at the individual level of the supply chain member and how EI could be affected by certain demographic characteristics. The specific objectives of this study were to determine if EI is affected by gender, ethnicity, age, and years working in the apparel industry for global apparel supply chain members

Shop in the Name of Love: A Qualitative Analysis of Fashion Mobile Design Features

This study utilized semi structured interviews to study mobile design features, specifically (a) to explore the features that drive consumer purchase and decision-making and (b) to identify which features were most prevalent in current fashion mobile apps. Seven women, between the ages of 18-22, enrolled in a southeastern university in the U.S. were purposively chosen as each had experience with shopping on mobile devices, expressed a heightened interest in fashion, belonged in the millennial generation, and displayed evidence of their smartphones being an essential part of their daily lives. Data collection was framed by Magrath and McCormick (2013) mobile design features (a) multimedia product viewing (b) product promotion and (c) consumer led interactions. Unique themes were generated and interpreted. Findings showed participants placed value on mobile design features, and used a variety of them to aid in the shopping decision process

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

Designed to Include: A Pilot Study Offering Creative Design Solutions for People Living with Disabilities

People living with disabilities (PLWD) struggle with clothing-related barriers to social participation, which can impact their quality of life and independent living. PLWD navigate both physical and attitudinal barriers and the individual models that frame disability often describe the disability as a personal tragedy or problem that the PLWD must overcome. The aim of this exploratory pilot study was (a) identifying clothing-related problems, and (b) using an inclusive design approach to support the clothing-related problems facing PLWD

A team is only as good as its people: the impact of individual supply chain member success on the cross-functional teams success in the global apparel supply chain

The global apparel supply chain has been transformed by many factors including globalization and fragmentation resulting in a hyper-dynamic market full of uncertainty and volatility (Dyer & Ha-Brookshire, 2008). In managing global supply chains, cross-functional teams have become increasingly important in organizations to improve innovation and coordination and to reduce time spent on new product development and fulfillment (Denison, Hart, & Kahn, 1996). This research study was designed to investigate the relationships between successful intelligence, emotional intelligence, job satisfaction, and career success on individual supply chain members and how that may affect cross-functional teams' success within the global apparel supply chain. To achieve the objective the study collected 135 responses from global apparel supply chain members using an online survey and then analyzed the data using SEM, path analysis. The study's results supported the relationship of emotional intelligence, job satisfaction, and subjective career success on the cross-functional team's success. However, successful intelligence was not found to be a significant variable for this sample. Finding can be used by apparel organizations in developing and facilitating emotional intelligence in the work environment to assist with cross-functional team success