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The purpose of this study is to explore fit problems, satisfaction and preferences of Ethiopian male consumers of ready-made garments (shirt, polo shirt, sweater and khaki and jeans trousers) and highlight the need for a domestic standard garment size chart.

Using a structured questionnaire, 405 usable responses were collected from consumers in four cities (Bahir Dar, Kombolcha, Dessie and Addis Ababa) based on convenience sampling. Moreover, the pattern-making methods of 12 domestic garment manufacturing companies were investigated. One-way analysis of variance and multivariate analysis of variance were used to examine differences in fit satisfaction with age, body size and shape. Multiple regression was used to test hypotheses.

The participants were mostly neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the fit of the garments irrespective of their age, body size and shape. While age was found to be insignificant, apparel sizes worn and body shape were found to be significant predictors of fit type in most garments. It was also found that most of the domestic garment manufacturing companies use the knock-off method for pattern making, which results in a bad fit as the basic garment for the knock-off is constructed based on other countries’ standards.

This study investigates the fit problems and preferences of ready-made garments in the context of consumers in a developing country. Moreover, it has a contribution in considering men’s body shape in the analysis of fit preferences. The results have implications for developing domestic standard garment size charts to improve fit satisfaction.

The purpose of this study was to assess the body characteristics (body size, garment sizes worn, shape and body satisfaction) of Ethiopian young adult female consumers and their effects on garment fit satisfaction and fit preferences of ready-to-wear garments such as T-shirts, blouses/shirts, skirts and jeans trousers.

Through a structured questionnaire, 418 usable responses were collected from young female university students. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multivariate ANOVA (MANOVA) were used to examine differences in garment fit satisfaction with the body characteristics of the respondents. Moreover, a multiple regression analysis was used to determine the effect of body characteristics and fit satisfaction on fit preferences in four of the ready-to-wear garments.

The body shapes of above half of the respondents were either bottom hourglass or spoon. The respondents were somewhat dissatisfied with the fit of the ready-to-wear garments, and above 70 per cent of them faced fit problems on average. BMI showed significant fit satisfaction differences in four of the garments, while garment sizes worn were significant only in skirts. However, no statistically significant difference was obtained with body shape. The effect of body characteristics and fit satisfaction on fit preferences was found significant in T-shirts and jeans trousers. The respondents preferred looser shirts and skirts irrespective of their body characteristics.

The paper is unique in comprehensively examining the relationship between body characteristics and garment fit satisfaction and their effects on fit preferences in selected garments in the context of female consumers in a developing country.

The garment factories focus on improving their production systems by involving innovative and advanced production methods and/or techniques to cope with fast-changing trends. Accordingly, this study aims to establish the standard allowed minutes (SAMs) and sewing efficiencies for Tanzania’s sewing industry, thus improving the production processes.

The research deployed a quantitative method. A stopwatch measured each operation for shirts and trousers to compute SAMs and efficiency. The shirt manufacturing processes involved 40 operations. Ten measurements were taken from different SL and LL industries operators for each operation. The trouser comprised 42 operations with 10 measurements taken from a different operator at the same garment factories for each operation.

SAMs for shirts at SL and LL factories were 29 and 31 min, respectively, while trousers were 30 and 34 min. The sewing efficiencies for shirts at both SL and LL factories were 83.98% and 81.93%, respectively. Similarly, the sewing efficiencies for trousers at both SL and LL factories were 81.25% and 80.95%, respectively.

Since SAMs results are not established through literature rather a quantitative approach, the findings thus place crucial information for similar factories to benchmark from. Such information are crucial as factories could increase productivity and operational efficiency, reduce costs and non-value adding activities and estimate lead times. Notwithstanding the findings gathered, the study only established SAMs for two garments.

Although the garment industry has been developing over the years, this study was probably among the first studies in Tanzania that established SAMs. Theoretical underpinnings indicate that the factories use the experience to assemble garments, thus the need for this study.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the intended and unintended consequences of compliance and auditing pressures in the Bangladeshi garment industry. To explore this issue the authors draw on three medium-sized suppliers. The institutional changes that followed the Rana Plaza accident in April 2013 make Bangladesh in general and the garment industry in particular an interesting and suitable research setting for standards compliance.

The study adopts a multiple case study approach. Face-to-face interviews have been conducted with the owners of three Bangladeshi garment manufacturing firms and several workers. Additionally, organisational documents and local newspaper articles had been collected wherever possible.

The results indicate that the pressure for compliance has led the case companies to prioritise the implementation of measurable standards over the socially grounded needs and priorities of workers. As a consequence certain initiatives instead of adding new social value in fact destroyed previously existing social value. Furthermore, the pressure for compliance created the necessity to find ways to cover the sizable cost of compliance. This prompted firms to pursue process upgrading through technological advancements and increased work pressures on the labour force. These initiatives led to an increased power imbalance and the exclusion of unskilled workers from the job market.

The paper contributes to the understanding of the human rights implications of compliance and auditing pressures and initiatives. Furthermore, in order to further enrich existing knowledge in the critical accounting literature, the study draws on insights from the global value chains (GVC) and international business (IB) literatures.

The paper contributes to the understanding of the human rights implications of compliance and auditing pressures and initiatives. Furthermore, in order to further enrich existing knowledge in the critical accounting literature, the study draws on insights from the GVC and IB literatures.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relative cultural shift from professionalism to commercialism in the accounting profession, based on an analysis of the promotional brochures used by the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Québec), over the last 40 years, to attract new members.

The study's specific objectives are: to examine accountancy's cultural representations depicted in promotional brochures; to evaluate the extent to which these representations are indicative of the commercialist shift as documented in the literature; and to establish whether the representations under study provide further insight into the nature of the cultural shift. Drawing on the semiotic approach developed by Roland Barthes, the authors' analysis is predicated on the idea that promotional brochures and advertisements, though often simple in appearance, constitute complex representations that convey meaningful information about influential values and cultural change.

The authors found that commercial values are increasingly apparent through the celebration of multidisciplinary services and the emphasis on generous compensation and high dynamism.

Barthes' framework was especially useful to analyze the interplay between images and text to gain insight into the historical emergence of what has become the accountant's representation of today. As such, this study points to promotional representations participating to the inculcation of a cosmopolitan culture, where the internationalization of business is supposedly natural, inevitable, and beneficial to everyone. The authors' research also highlights the increasingly significant role played by marketing experts in designing professional institutes' brochures, consistent with the broader view of marketization as a key trend within the accounting industry.

In 1930s Britain, tennis champion Fred Perry was a household name. However, the name Fred Perry is more commonly associated with striped-collar polo shirts featuring a laurel wreath logo. In the late 1960s, Fred Perry polo shirts were standard mod and Skinhead dress. When worn by working-class youth the shirt became subversive commentary on English elitism because it had originally been designed for the tennis courts. Many punks also aligned with the brand in dual demonstration of association with working-class ethics as well as an alternative to t-shirts. In the 1980s and onward, this sartorial style was appropriated by right-wing white nationalists, which stripped it of its subcultural spirit. Patriot groups, such as neo-Nazis and the alt-right have continued to co-opt the subcultural style, simultaneously turning the Fred Perry polo into a symbol of racism and bigotry. The multi-use of the Fred Perry brand creates a challenge in how to interpret visual cues when one garment has competing perceptions that at times can be completely opposing. This study examines the history of the Fred Perry brand through the lens of symbolic interactionism, specifically how the shirt evolved from a rather innocuous, yet subversive, form of merchandize repurposed from the tennis world to youth subcultures where the polo communicated group identity. As the brand has moved through fashion cycles, the association of the Fred Perry polo with deviant groups has reduced the brand to representations of hate and separation, which has impacted sales and brand image with its intended consumers.

This case, “vineyard vines and The Brotherhood of the Traveling Pants,” introduces students to a unique partnership in the social media advertising world. Preppy clothing powerhouse vineyard vines had a history of interacting with its customers by featuring user-generated content in its catalogs and on its website and decided to continue this tradition on social media by partnering with a group of fans called The Brotherhood of the Traveling Pants. This successful and authentic social media marketing campaign resulted in increased sales for vineyard vines and influencer status for the members of The Brotherhood. At the end of the campaign, the vineyard vines marketing team is left debating how to grow its social media presence through partnerships. The case has been used as part of a social media marketing course and would be effective in any undergraduate- or graduate-level marketing course.

In 1999 a library marketing committee was created on the University of Northern Iowa campus. The aim of this committee was to heighten administrator, faculty and student awareness of library resources and services. This marketing committee was charged with helping administrators, faculty, and students realise what we librarians already know – that the library is capable of galvanising, nurturing, and supporting the research of the university community. During 2000 and 2001 various marketing efforts and experiments were employed by this committee including: promotional newsletters and e‐mail postings, student surveys, co‐operative marketing studies conducted with marketing students, participation in student and faculty orientations and creative advertising via library pens, library shirts, online library newsletters and sidewalk slogans. While results from this ongoing experiment are encouraging, committee members discovered that significant time, effort and money can be expended in marketing a library.

This study traces the internationalization strategy of Hering, a Brazilian-based apparel company active in manufacturing and retail.

The data set and analysis is presented in chronological order and decisions taken by the company are viewed based on internationalization theories. It presents two main internationalization frameworks, the production network and the value chain models.

While the company started the internationalization process in the 1960s and reached a consistent global presence in distinct markets, it has now retracted from main markets in Europe and North America and is focused on its own distribution network in South America. Hering has changed its strategy of a global production network player into a leader in the retail value chain model with regional distribution. This strategy change has been possible by valuing brand management and distribution instead of manufacturing capacity.

BRIC countries are known for exporting commodities but have poor performance in selling its own branded consumer goods abroad. This study provides such a rare case of a Brazilian consumer good company operating abroad.

The purpose of this study was to explore participants’ fit perceptions of customized garments and investigate the factors that affected the customized fit.

Because different patternmaking methods generate varied fit results, eight customized dresses were developed for four fit models aged 18–25 using two different made-to-measure (MTM) systems (Gerber AccuMark and Telestia Creator). The authors designed a questionnaire to assess the fit of the final garments on each of the four models. A total of 12 participants (four fit models and eight experts) attended a live evaluation meeting and completed the questionnaire. The quantitative and qualitative data of the participants’ fit perceptions were collected and analyzed.

The authors compared the fit outputs of the two MTM systems and determined the fit issues from the participants’ perceptions. The results showed that the participants evaluated the customized fit mainly according to the ease, seam placement and wrinkle occurrence. The majority of fit models and experts preferred Dress B created using Telestia Creator to Dress A developed using Gerber AccuMark. The participants’ fit perceptions also revealed that many factors, such as the MTM systems, participants’ fit preferences, models’ body characteristics, fabric and ease, impacted the fit results. In addition, the experts perceived more fit issues than the models.

The fit output comparison of the two MTM systems could be valuable for pattern makers to use the systems. The research results would also be useful for apparel companies to conduct a fit evaluation and improve their customization processes.