Laura Macchion

Sustainability approaches within the fashion industry: the supplier perspective

ABSTRACT This paper explores sustainability drivers and practices within the Italian fashion industry, a challenging industry with strong impacts on sustainability. More specifically, this research aims to identify the different sustainability approaches adopted by Italian fashion suppliers in terms of the internal and external sustainability practices and drivers that trigger sustainability initiatives in relation to each approach. Based on an investigation of twelve case studies, we propose a taxonomy of these approaches by adopting the supplier perspective, a novelty in the sustainability literature. We discovered four types of approaches that we labelled: under-exploited, not-interested, collaborative and developing.

Supply chain configurations: a model to evaluate performance in customised productions

This paper describes an approach used to evaluate the performance of different supply chain configurations in customised contexts. Based on historical data collected from the supply chain of a shoe producer, different configurations are evaluated based on a discrete-event simulation by highlighting the performance of the supply chain (in terms of supply chain order lead-time and inventory volume) when the production switched from standard production (characterised by batches of large quantities of the same product) to customised production (characterised by a small of series batches with high product variability). The simulation approach relies on experimentation through executable configurations, which enables the creation of different scenarios, and is then applied to the case of an actual firm in the footwear industry. The managerial implications of these findings are discussed.

Sustainability practices and web-based communication: An analysis of 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 invest...

Improving innovation performance through environmental practices in the fashion industry: the moderating effect of internationalisation and the influence of collaboration

Abstract In recent years, the scientific literature on supply chain management has increasingly debated on environmental sustainability as well as collaboration, presenting these issues as an important source of innovation along the supply chain. By combining literature streams on environmental sustainability, supply chain collaboration and innovation at the supply chain level, this paper aims to analyse whether the adoption of environmental sustainability practices and collaboration along the supply chain implies better innovation performance, in terms of differentiation from the competitors for higher quality, product or process. The paper also investigates whether the internationalisation, in terms of both production and distribution activities, negatively moderates this relationship. The study focuses on the fashion industry, and a survey of major Italian fashion companies was conducted. The main results of the research clearly show the positive impact of these practices on innovation performance. The paper also proves the existence of a moderating effect exerted by internationalisation on the relationship between environmental sustainability and innovation performance.

Strategic approaches to sustainability in fashion supply chain management

Abstract 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.

The Implementation of Traceability in Fashion Networks

A complete network traceability to identify suppliers and customers’ activities and share information along the entire network is not an easy objective to achieve. It requires the involvement of all the network stages: manufacturing, purchasing and distribution processes. This research aims to study traceability for collaborative network within the fashion industry. We conducted an in-depth case study using an interview protocol specifically designed for this research investigating drivers as well as practices for network traceability.

International e-commerce for fashion products: what is the relationship with performance?

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse whether the adoption of e-commerce improves company business, innovation and operational performance and whether sales internationalisation might moderate this relationship. Design/methodology/approach The research is based on a survey within the fashion industry and a multi-step linear regression model investigating the relationships between e-commerce and performance. Findings Results reveal that e-commerce improves innovation performance but has no significant relationship with business and operational performance. Also investigating whether the sales internationalisation might moderate the relationship between e-commerce and performance, the findings reveal that the adoption of these tools might even be negative when applied at the international level in particular by considering innovation operational practices, and the research suggests for fashion companies the necessity to develop strong markets’ knowledge and brand awareness among foreign markets and customers before investing internationally. Originality/value This paper offers an original analytical approach to identifying the relationships between a company’s adoption of e-commerce, performance and internationalisation within the fashion industry.

Personalisation management in supply networks: an empirical study within the footwear industry

Personalisation is a growing challenge, particularly for footwear companies strongly influenced by customer preferences. Previous research showed significant differences between footwear supply networks that provide personalised products, especially regarding key variables, such as the level of demand uncertainty, type of productive capacity, type of purchasing and order dimensions. However no studies have considered these variables simultaneously, thus failing to provide a complete understanding. Moreover, previous studies on personalisation primarily focused on product features by identifying the different types of collections available without analysing implications for supply networks. To fill these gaps, we adopted a multiple case study methodology. Based on findings, we identified different personalisation types (individual personalisation, segmented personalisation, personalisation for distributor) and compared them to the case in which personalisation is not available. This work demonstrates that a company can develop and deliver different types of personalised collections, but this requires the management of different supply networks.

The Effects of Personalization on Collaborative Production Networks Location

This paper focuses on the identification of proper localization for collaborative production networks for personalized products. By the analysis of five case studies of the Italian footwear industry, the research provides the relationship between the type of personalization and the required supply network configurations by considering the production location issue, which is a topic not addressed in the literature.