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The primary objective of this research is to determine critical success factors (CSFs) that enable textile enterprises to effectively implement Kaizen, a Japanese concept of continuous development, particularly during disruptive situations. The study aims to provide insights into how Kaizen is specifically employed within the textile sector and to offer guidance for addressing future crises.

This study employs a structured approach to determine CSFs for successful Kaizen implementation in the textile industry. The Triple Helix Actors structure, comprising business, academia and government representatives, is utilized to uncover essential insights. Additionally, the Matriced Impacts Croises-Multiplication Applique and Classement (MICMAC) analysis and interpretative structural modeling (ISM) techniques are applied to evaluate the influence of CSFs.

The research identifies 17 CSFs for successful Kaizen implementation in the textile industry through a comprehensive literature review and expert input. These factors are organized into a hierarchical structure with 5 distinct levels. Additionally, the application of the MICMAC analysis reveals three clusters of CSFs: linkage, dependent and independent, highlighting their interdependencies and impact.

Major contribution of this study is understanding how Kaizen can be effectively utilized in the textile industry, especially during disruptive events. The combination of the Triple Helix Actors structure, MICMAC analysis and ISM provides a unique perspective on the essential factors driving successful Kaizen implementation. The identification of CSFs and their categorization into clusters offer valuable insights for practitioners, policymakers and academia seeking to enhance the resilience and sustainability of the textile industry.

The lack of detailed statistics in many developing countries makes it very difficult to assess the effect of export support services on the firm's export performance. Moreover, a fundamental factor that creates confusion is the lack of a straightforward causal relationship between a specific export support activity and changes in actual trade patterns. Despite these difficulties, the purpose of this paper is to show that an assessment of the effectiveness of export promotion and support services can be made on the basis of the perceptions of the manufacturers involved. The method is simple and informative.

This research is based on a survey of 88 footwear and textile manufactures from a small new African country, Eritrea. The sample size accounts for 90 percent of the overall population.

On average, the quality of the export support services is rated as satisfactory. This can be considered as rather low, as the export promotion policy of the government is much more ambitious. The results of the discriminant analysis are in line with the literature and show that small enterprises in Eritrea have less access to export support services than larger firms. This can be considered as a major failure of the policy as in the modern entrepreneurial export economy small firms play a crucial role.

Although the sample size accounts for 90 percent of the population, it is relatively small. To verify the results it would be interesting to conduct a comprehensive survey that includes all export manufacturing industries in Eritrea.

The findings of this study are useful for export policy makers in developing countries. The presented method shows that it is possible to measure the perception of the manufacturers with regard to the effectiveness of export promotion and support services. It also allows to compare the performance of those services and to identify priorities for the policy agenda.

The study develops a simple evaluation tool for the effectiveness of export support services in developing countries.

This paper aims to review the concept of supply chain management. The typical problems facing with textile and apparel supply chain are short product cycle for fashion articles, long production lead‐time and forecasting errors for fashion items. The Hong Kong textile and apparel supply chain faces additional problems of distance from customers in the US and European markets, long production lead‐times and minimum batch sizes for production, and, recently, elimination of quota restriction in the US market, all of which force them to improve efficiency and enhance competitiveness through supply chain management. Seeks also to provide a selective bibliography for industrial practitioners with sources which can help them develop their supply chain strategies for the fashion market in Hong Kong.

A range of recent published (1993‐2005) works, which aim to provide practical advice are critiqued to aid the individual practitioner to manage its supply chain strategies in Hong Kong. These sources are sorted into sections: supply chain management in Hong Kong, textile and apparel supply chain management in Hong Kong, and problems faced by small and medium‐sized enterprises for textile and apparel supply chain.

The differentiation of product demands into functional and innovative products helps the supply chain company to employ different supply chain strategies for different products, namely responsive supply chain strategy for innovative products and efficiency supply chain strategy for functional products. These two supply chain strategies are focused on the downstream supply chain aiming at shortening the time to research the market and also to reduce the stock levels in the retailing industry.

This is not an exhaustive list and cases are mainly from the Hong Kong textile and apparel industry, which perhaps limits its usefulness elsewhere.

A very useful source of information and impartial advice for industrial practitioners to develop their own supply chain strategies for the fashion market in Hong Kong. Especially recently with the elimination of quota to the US market, the management of the supply chain is critical.

This paper fulfils an identified information/resources need and offers practical help to industrial practitioners on then supply chain management for the Hong Kong textile and apparel industry.

During the 1980s and early 1990s it was widely reported that large parts of the European countryside experienced considerable industrial growth led by a burgeoning of small and medium‐scale enterprises. The growth of these firms was closely associated with an expansion of trade and the intensification of competition on a world scale and the renaissance of industrial districts in specific localities. Within this context the notion of the “network” has been deployed in order to explore the complex interrelationships that exist in the relatively uncharted territory that lies between enterprises. This concept is employed to show how production units without any apparent legal connections establish a web of relationships in terms of flows of materials, information and finance. Social networks of entrepreneurs often lie behind the multitude of inter‐firm linkages. Focuses on a garment‐producing district of the northern Greek region of Macedonia that has experienced an explosion of enterprises and jobs since the early 1970s. Drawing on the experience of the small town of Polikastro and the adjoining rural county of Peonia, sets out to explore the processes of subcontracting and production networking. Aims to investigate the form and the nature of interorganizational relationships within the locality as well between rural industrialists, urban intermediaries and parent enterprises abroad. Examines changes in the linkages between firms within the context of developments that have taken place in the local communities and in the international marketplace.

The aim of this paper is to develop an understanding of the adoption and use of EDI in the Portuguese clothing and textile industry. The inherent argument is that although such inter‐organizational systems in small and medium‐sized enterprises facilitate competitiveness through collaboration, the successful deployment of such systems is not solely a function of transaction costs and the resource base of an organization, as has been argued in the literature. In fact the values and attitudes of senior management play a critical role in the adoption of inter‐organizational systems. Various issues are analyzed by critically reviewing the literature, which has traditionally focused either on reducing transaction costs or managing the resource base. The argument of this paper is conducted by evaluating managers’ beliefs and attitudes towards the use of EDI within the Portuguese clothing and textile industry.

Teaching formats for both BA/MA students and MBA/PhD students in sustainable entrepreneurship and strategic management are offered in the teaching notes.

This case juxtaposes the company’s core values of gender equality, sustainability and inclusivity, with the financial pressures of expanding global operations in COVID-19 times.

This case illustrates the founding and growth of i-did in the broader context of the global circular textile industry. Being the first company that reclaims value of discarded textiles by making design products out of felt, the dilemma is on how i-did can create a blueprint for sustainable leadership in a scalable (financial) business case.

The learning outcomes of this case are as follows: to understand the concepts of circular economy and social impact and how they can be translated to business; to apply their knowledge of strategy and entrepreneurship for sustainable business innovation; to be able to analyze a company according to the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically around gender issues, inclusivity and diversity; to evaluate opportunities for multiple value creation in business; and to have the knowledge and capacity to create a circular business with the help of the Business Model Template.

This case engages students in critically reflecting on sustainability concepts in relation to i-did (theoretical value) and applying novel business model innovation tools to a real-world enterprise (practical value). The students get the chance to explore the ethical challenges the two entrepreneurial leaders face between short-term economic gains (or maybe even survival) and their core values of (gender) inclusivity, circularity and diversity.

Teaching notes and a summarizing two-pager are available for educators.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic's economic effects, this paper focuses on how home-based women artisans running their family businesses plan their operations to function in the “new normal” environment. The paper emphasises the adaptability and reorientation of business strategies displayed by women entrepreneurs in response to the changing work environment. The paper argues that the women's sense of agency after years of running the family business enables them to bargain and offer passive resistance to the family's power, with the latter aiming to curtail their entrepreneurial gains as the men return to their homes after losing their jobs with the onset of the pandemic.

The research draws from a qualitative study that was conducted employing field surveys and in-depth interviews with the women entrepreneurs in four important handloom clusters in Nadia, West Bengal (India) in 2022. The empirical evidence is gathered from five months of extensive ethnographic study with 66 home-based women entrepreneurs belonging to 26 handloom family enterprises. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews and the following narrative analysis have been used to comprehend the complex and dynamic conception of female entrepreneurship and women's agency to pivot business strategies during the economic turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result of the abrupt suspension of the textile industry and the partial or total closure of the traditional and contemporary markets due to the COVID-19 pandemic, women from family handloom enterprises are taking steps to strengthen their entrepreneurial resistance. Although women entrepreneurs had spent years running the family business in the absence of their husbands, the pandemic exacerbated the deep-seated gender disparities within the family when social norms threatened to undo the hard-won progress made by them. However, their sense of agency enables them to plan well and resist the patriarchal onslaught with a variety of potentials, utilising tools of active and/or passive resistance within an environment of concrete limits and oppressions.

The paper contributes to the literature on women's entrepreneurial capacity by focusing on how the COVID-19 crisis and changing market demands enable gendered reactions in family enterprises. While men, back home after losing their jobs, choose to strengthen their individual identities and power positions by trying to retain control over the family business, women contribute to collective actions for enhancing the resilience of the community by pivoting their business strategies and implementing new ideas to suit new market conditions. Women thus play a central role in fostering social cohesion, helping build and maintain relationships, promoting empathy, and creating a sense of belonging, which strengthen community bonds and cooperation. The paper shows how women's entrepreneurial resilience and responsibility provide an important basis for organizing sustainable collective action for the survival of the artisanal community during crisis situations.

Examines the thirteenth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects. Subjects discussed include cotton fabric processing, asbestos substitutes, textile adjuncts to cardiovascular surgery, wet textile processes, hand evaluation, nanotechnology, thermoplastic composites, robotic ironing, protective clothing (agricultural and industrial), ecological aspects of fibre properties – to name but a few! There would appear to be no limit to the future potential for textile applications.

Looks at the eighth published year of the ITCRR and the research, from far and near, involved in this. Muses on the fact that, though all the usual processes are to the fore, the downside part of the industry is garment making which is the least developed side. Posits that the manufacture of clothing needs to become more technologically advanced as does retailing. Closes by emphasising support for the community in all its efforts.

All supply chains must address waste management since it is a crucial step toward a sustainable world. This article aims to analyze the potential of blockchain technology in waste management by focusing on the textile sector, which is one of the polluting industries. The study's main objective is to realize businesses' waste management practices and sustainability initiatives and then to comprehend how practitioners perceive the implementation of blockchain technology to waste management.

The waste management procedures and actors' perceptions of blockchain technology are examined using a qualitative study approach that adopts an in-depth interview methodology. The collected data is analyzed by a qualitative analysis software (e.g. MAXQDA).

Findings of the study show that blockchain technology is still in its infancy and needs to be communicated to the actors of the sector. The technology has low potential due to the barriers it faces during the development phase. However, it is considered to be an important technological development for the textile sector stakeholders.

This study is important to notice at what stage the waste management practices and how to develop better with modern technologies like blockchain. Blockchain technology has essential potential for supply chains, but sustainability concerns are becoming a major issue to be solved. Waste management is therefore an important subject to be analyzed and provided with innovative solutions that will contribute to sustainability efforts. To the author's best knowledge, this is the first attempt to comprehend the potential of blockchain in the textile industry in terms of waste management.