Karen Ka-Leung Moon

Popularization of sustainable fashion: barriers and solutions

The need to reduce the harmful consequences of environmental damage is fueling the development of environmentally friendly products. However, many people believe that being fashionable and being environmentally conscious are in direct conflict, and they question whether these two concepts can coexist. The results of a questionnaire survey of 327 consumers from South Korea show that consumers’ involvement in fashion is not necessarily linked to their intention to buy and consume sustainable fashion. This finding motivated us to investigate whether there are any barriers that restrict the popularization of sustainable fashion and, if so, how we can solve such a problem. From this perspective, an in-depth interview study was conducted to consolidate the views of five fashion professionals to reveal the major barriers to popularization. The ultimate goal is to explore solutions to bridge the gap between the supply and demand for sustainable fashion. The findings of this study extend our understanding of consumers’ attitude toward two conflicting values – fashionism and environmentalism, as well as the popularization barriers of sustainable fashion. This understanding is imperative to the promotion of the green movement in the fashion industry, particularly in Asian countries.

Production Outsourcing: Perspectives from Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Given the intense international competition brought on by globalisation, an organizations profit is largely determined by how it leverages its internal and external resources. This paper studies the production sourcing strategies adopted by the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the clothing industry together with their motivations for outsourcing, adoption of buyer-seller relationships, and satisfaction with their production sourcing performance. A conceptual framework was developed from the literature and tested using a questionnaire survey. Quantitative analysis showed that motivational factors (MFs) can affect an SMEs satisfaction with its operational achievement; while host-country and location MFs can affect its strategic achievement. In addition, firms adopting a pure transaction approach seemed to be negatively motivated by the total-cost factor; and those adopting a more diverse sourcing strategy were more likely to be motivated by the corporate factor so as to develop appropriate buyer-seller relationships with vendors, and to be satisfied with their operational performance. This paper contributes to a deeper understanding of business networking from the perspectives of SMEs in regard to their pursuit of production sourcing; and demonstrates how clothing SMEs adopt production sourcing strategies to improve their production sourcing performance.