Nancy J. Hodges

Exploring Women's Experiences with Job Loss and Community College Retraining: What Do I Do Now?

As the United States economy moves away from manufacturing, members of this workforce are facing an uncertain future. In this study, an interpretive methodological framework is used to explore womens experiences with textile manufacturing job loss, and subsequent retraining at a local community college. Narratives of four displaced workers and one community college administrator are used to illustrate the dimensions of participant experiences with the transition from being a full-time manufacturing employee to becoming a full-time student. Consideration of what their experiences mean for the role of the community college in the changing job economy provides a framework for interpretation.

Trends in the European Textile and Apparel Industries

Trends in the textile and apparel industries in Europe are described in this chapter. A case is made that these are industries that were affected by the 2008–2009 economic and financial crisis in Europe and are just beginning to recover.

The Entrepreneurial Performance of KIE Textile and Apparel Firms

This chapter uses the AEGIS data to construct measures of entrepreneurial performance so that the second part of the Sources of Knowledge→Strategic Behavior→Entrepreneurial Performance relationship can be examined empirically. The performance measures are related to commercialization, sales growth, and employment growth.

Characteristics of KIE Textile and Apparel Firms and Founders

This chapter relied on the AEGIS database to describe KIE firms in the textile and apparel industries. Relevant characteristics include the age of the firms, their number of employees, and characteristics of their founders. The human capital characteristics of the founders of KIE firms include age, education, and work experience.

The Strategic Behavior of KIE Textile and Apparel Firms

This chapter explores the sources of knowledge identified in Chap. 6, and investigates if there is a direct relationship between the importance of the factors and sources of knowledge and entrepreneurial performance. The ultimate goal of this chapter is to consider the strength of the first part of the relationship: Sources of Knowledge→Strategic Behavior→Entrepreneurial Performance. The empirical evidence supports that sources of knowledge are related to strategic behaviors.

The AEGIS Database

The AEGIS (advancing knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship and innovation for growth and social well-being in Europe) database is described in this chapter, including the origin of the data product, the purpose of the data collection effort, and its completeness relative to other collections of information about small entrepreneurial firms.

The Antecedents of Entrepreneurial Performance in KIE Textile and Apparel Firms

Regarding the relationship Sources of Knowledge→Strategic Behavior→Entrepreneurial Performance, the empirical evidence suggests that for textile firms, technical sources of knowledge affect the strategic behavior of firms, and that behavior in turn affects entrepreneurial behavior as measured by sales growth. However, for apparel firms, technical sources of knowledge have a direct rather than an indirect effect on sales growth.

Prescriptions for Growth for US Textile and Apparel Firms

Based on the empirical findings from Chap. 9 and an overview of the institutional history of the US textile and apparel industries, policy prescriptions for the growth of the US industry are suggested. Namely, we suggest the formation of a textile extension program (TEP) and/or an apparel extension program (AEP) might be able to inform firm principals which universities or research institutes have greater expertise to solve specific manufacturing or production issues. TEP and/or AEP hubs might also point firm principals to regional or national research programs that are aligned well with their manufacturing or production needs.

The European Textile and Apparel Industries: An Institutional and Literature Review

As background for understanding the role of KIE within the EU textile and apparel industries through the empirical analyses in later chapters, this chapter summarizes the dynamics of the European textile and apparel industries in the post-2005 period. It also discusses the role of small firms in the present-day European textile and apparel industries, in general, and specifically with respect to innovation. And, it examines the research literature that explores KIE and, in particular, the literature that is focused on today’s European textile and apparel industries.

Sources of Knowledge Used by KIE Textile and Apparel Firms

A fundamental hypothesis in this book is that the sources of knowledge used by KIE firms influence their strategic entrepreneurial and innovative behavior and that behavior affects their economic performance. The various sources of knowledge that KIE firms use address factors that influenced the formation of the firm and factors for exploring new business opportunities.