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    The mediating role of organisational culture in the relationship between region-based firm ownership type (RBFOT) and manufacturing performance : a test on the apparel industry in Sri Lanka : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Massey University, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2022) Gunasekera, Marlon
    In today’s globalised context, manufacturing firms belonging to various regions of the world expand their businesses beyond borders and gradually become international, multinational, and global companies investing in various countries and regions of the world. Most of these firms establish foreign affiliates and compete with the local (domestic) firms in host countries. In this context, international and cross-cultural operations management studies have high theoretical and practical value in understanding how management practices, systems, techniques, and norms account for the manufacturing performance differences between foreign and local firms. Understanding and explaining the reasons for differences in the manufacturing performance of local and foreign-owned firms is an underexplored research area, especially in the developing regions of the world. This study adopts a cross-cultural operations management perspective and hypothesises that differences in organisational culture traits (related management practice orientations) of firms belonging to different regions of the world account for manufacturing performance differences. The study examines the relationship between Region-Based Firm Ownership Type (RBFOT) and manufacturing performance, and the mediating role of the organisational culture (an important influence on manufacturing practices) in this relationship. The study was based in Sri Lanka (South Asia) with the apparel industry as the context, and local firms are compared with foreign firms from two other regions: Western and East Asian. Semi-structured interviews were used to clarify the research context and to understand how foreign-owned firms set up, operate and establish organisational cultures in Sri Lanka. The subsequent quantitative study covered 93 firms with data aggregated to the firm level to test the mediation model. To test the model, ANOVA and parallel multiple mediation analysis using regression-based SPSS PROCESS macro were adopted. The findings revealed that organisational culture (measured using Denison’s culture traits and related management practice orientations) is a significant mediator in explaining the difference in the manufacturing performance of RBFOTs. Moreover, significant differences in culture traits and related management practice orientations were evident between Western, East Asian, and South Asian firms generating different levels of manufacturing performance. Other contributions include developing a new scale to measure the manufacturing performance of apparel firms and validating Denison’s Organisational Culture Survey (DOCS) in Sri Lanka. Overall, the study contributes to the theory and practice of international and cross-cultural operations management in general and apparel industrial management in particular.
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    Embedding sustainability into global supply chains : evidence from Bangladeshi multi-tier apparel suppliers : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management at Massey University, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2019) Nath, Shobod Deba
    Sustainability and supply management in global supply chains (GSCs) have received much attention over the recent years from industry leaders, academics, and policy makers worldwide. However, scant attention has been paid to investigating the implementation of sustainable supply management (SSM) practices from the perspective of multi-tier suppliers located in a developing country context. To address this knowledge gap, this study examines why and how Bangladeshi multi-tier apparel suppliers implement SSM practices in GSCs. This study is positioned within an interpretivist paradigm and employs qualitative research methodology, drawing on data from interviews with 7 owners and 39 managers of Bangladeshi multi-tier apparel suppliers and their 15 key stakeholders. This thesis contains three empirical findings chapters. The first chapter investigates the factors that drive or hinder multi-tier suppliers’ implementation of SSM practices, drawing on integrative stakeholder theory, institutional theory and contingency theory. The findings suggest that buyers’ requirements, increased factory productivity and external stakeholder expectations are key drivers for multi-tier suppliers to embed SSM practices. Conversely, cost and resource concerns, and gaps in the regulatory framework are dominant barriers encountered by multi-tier suppliers in the effective implementation of SSM practices. The second chapter examines how institutional pressures and mechanisms affect the implementation of SSM practices across multi-tier suppliers, and why these suppliers decouple implementation practices. Drawing on institutional theory, the findings indicate that institutional pressures and mechanisms – coercive, mimetic and normative – vary across multi-tier suppliers, thereby affecting their divergent implementation of SSM practices. However, managers and owners of multi-tier suppliers apply three key decoupling approaches – avoidance, defiance and manipulation – in response to institutional pressures. Specifically, the findings suggest a multiplicity of logics across multi-tier suppliers, which conflict with or complement each other during the SSM implementation process. The third chapter investigates how multi-tier apparel suppliers integrate social and environmental issues to improve SSM outcomes. The findings suggest that multi-tier apparel suppliers are implementing various social and environmental practices to improve SSM outcomes. Although the level of implementation of sustainability practices is high within first-tier suppliers, second-tier and third-tier suppliers either adopt specific social practices on an ad hoc basis or symbolically implement environmental practices. Reflecting on the overall findings, this study contributes to theory by offering a series of research propositions and expounding a holistic SSM implementation framework for multi-tier suppliers. In addition, this study provides significant implications for practitioners including factory owners, managers, and policy makers who seek to implement SSM practices in GSCs. The key limitation of this study concerns generalisability due to context-specific challenges. Future research should therefore focus on a cross-country data set to understand any differences in the emerging framework for multi-tier suppliers’ SSM implementation.
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    The constant change : an innovative zero waste fashion design process : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Design at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2018) Sharma, Megha
    Waste appears in all the areas of fashion and apparel industry, through manufacturing, overproduction, fast fashion and also over-consumption. Scholars such as Kate Fletcher and Alison Gwilt have cited statistics about the pollution created by the clothing industry and the increasing impact of the fast fashion trend on landfills. This practice led research project exemplifies a zero-waste pattern design process primarily aimed at reducing waste at the pre-consumer stage. In it, I employ an integration of fashion design technologies such as various zero waste techniques in the development of a new pattern design method and textile print. The alternative pattern design method uses Constant and Variable pattern shapes created by cutting straight-sided polygons(1) from set fabric lengths. This method of zero waste cutting becomes more visible with a dissected block print textile design. The cut shapes are draped on the form to derive a range of three innovative garment designs. My design process draws on “three levels of processing – Visceral, Behavioral and Reflective” (Norman, 2004, 2013). This methodology has aided my own development as a designer by blending my own history, culture and experiences into this design process for a more meaningful conscious cognition(2). This aspect and technical design process creates possibilities for other designers in the industry and future applications. (1) Polygon – a plane figure with at least three straight sides and angles, and typically five or more. (2) Meaningful conscious cognition – refers to the reflection or looking back over history, culture and experiences, evaluating the circumstances, actions and outcomes. As a result, this helps make decisions of outweighing the strengths of one aspect over the deficiencies of another.
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    From sari to salwar kameez : changes in the lives of female garment workers in Bangladesh : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2003) Hayes-Smith, Julienne
    This thesis aims to give voice to what female garment workers attending the Working Women's Education Centre in Dhaka, Bangladesh perceive as personal changes that have occurred in their lives since taking up employment in the Ready Made Garment Industry. It examines these changes to see whether they are indicative of personal, relational or collective empowerment of these women and attempts to ascertain if there is any relationship between the type of clothing worn by the garment worker and aspects of her empowerment. Changes most often mentioned by these women were earning personal money, increased decision making power, self-confidence, self-reliance and freedom: in sum a greater sense of control over their own lives and hope for the future. Personal empowerment of most of the women studied was evident in a heightened sense of self, built on greater awareness of one's own capacities and value as a person. The ability of many of these women to negotiate and get support within the marriage relationship and family was indicative of some degree of relational empowerment. These garment workers, by reconstructing purdah to suit their work situation, were shown to be gradually gaining the support of Bangladesh society for women working outside of the home. There was little evidence of collective empowerment apart from attendance at the WWEC Centre which could be seen as a first step in this direction. This thesis also explored whether the trend for married garment workers to wear salwar kameez rather than a sari as work attire was a reflection of these women's increasing sense of confidence and control over their own lives. It concluded that the wearing of a salwar kameez was indicative of women's ability to challenge cultural traditions imposed on them by men and negotiate with their husbands the right to make this personal decision. Such a choice could therefore be seen as being related to aspects of the worker's personal and relational empowerment.
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    Integration of Taguchi's robust parameter design approach in a mature lean manufacturing environment : the case of the apparel industry : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Technology at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2015) Gamage, Pramila
    It has been documented in the literature that combining overlapping manufacturing practices lead to superior performance. The primary driver of this study is the conceptual overlap the researcher identified between the zero waste proposition in Lean and the zero defects (loss to society) proposition in Taguchi’s Quality Philosophy (TQP); TQP provides the backbone of Taguchi’s robust parameter design (RPD) approach, a statistically driven experimental method that enables engineers to identify optimum design parameter settings to make the product’s functionality robust against the background variables (noise). This study hypothesises that Taguchi’s RPD approach complements Lean. This overall hypothesis was examined in two phases. First, through the literature, the researcher hypothesised the theoretical relationships between TQP and Lean, through the mediating role being played by Continuous Improvement to explain Manufacturing Outcomes. This model was tested through Structural Equation Modelling using data collected from 318 respondents in 31 apparel manufacturing factories belonging to a mature Lean organisation in Sri Lanka. The researcher found that the model was a good fit to data (e.g. RMSEA = 0.047), which suggested that her hypothesised theoretical model is tenable and that TQP is acceptable to Lean practitioners as an avenue to improve manufacturing performance. Next, the researcher examined the practical compatibility between Taguchi’s RPD approach and Lean through extensive fieldwork in one of the factories in the Lean organisation. The work involved conducting RPD experiments to solve a substantial quality problem, (which helped the researcher to identify the merits and demerits of Taguchi methods) and also permitted ethnographic engagement with the factory staff. This enabled the researcher to explore the drivers and restraints of integrating Taguchi’s RPD in the setting studied. The merits of Taguchi’s RPD were found to be the high degree of standardisation, ease of conducting the experiment and analysing the data, and compatibility with the Lean culture. The researcher identified 5 drivers (also 3 inhibitors) out of which, the most influential drivers were: (a) the experienced ineffectiveness of the existing tools and techniques being used, (b) non-value adding activities associated with machine setting up, and (c) conduciveness to conduct large Taguchi style experiments. Using Force Field Analysis as the theoretical framework, the researcher explained how Lean organisation, similar to the one being considered, can move towards using Taguchi’s RPD as a tool for process improvement. The study identified several future research directions for practitioners and academics.
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    The potential impact of New Zealand-China free trade agreement on New Zealand's textile, clothing and footwear industries : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Applied Economics at the Department of Applied and International Economics,Massey University
    (Massey University, 2005) Hong, Zuwen
    The New Zealand and Chinese governments are currently negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The proposed FTA would provide a basis for a significant expansion of trade between New Zealand and China. According to the joint feasibility study by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, both countries will gain at the macro level of economic activities. However, the potential impact on specific industries will be different. Textiles, clothing and footwear industries in New Zealand have undergone significant contraction since the country's trade liberalisation and reduction in protection in the mid-1980s. More recently, these industries in New Zealand have achieved dramatic restructuring and rationalisation in the process of adopting trade liberalisation and the reduction in protection. Nevertheless, the industries are the few that still have relatively highly tariffs in New Zealand. Given the outstanding performance of China's textiles, clothing and footwear industries, the future of the textiles, clothing and footwear industries in New Zealand would be hard to predict. This thesis examines the potential impact of the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between New Zealand and China on the textiles, clothing and footwear industries in New Zealand. A survey method was used for the purpose of this study. Firstly, the recent performance of the textiles, clothing and footwear industries in New Zealand and China and the two way trade between the two nations were analysed in detail to provide the basis for the assessment of the potential impacts under the context of the proposed FTA. Next, to examine such potential impact directly, a sample of 15 textiles, clothing and footwear firms currently operating in New Zealand was selected. Qualitative information, including threats, opportunities and firms' response strategies arising from a NZ-China FTA, was obtained through interviewing each firm's senior executives. The results of this study show that New Zealand's trade liberalisation since the mid-1980s has yielded a substantially more competitive and productive industry base. Trade liberalisation and reduction in protection since the mid-1980s has forced many textile, clothing and footwear (TCF) firms to exit the industry, so the survivors are all relatively strong players in their respective niche markets. However, a further contracting of the industries in terms of manufacturing capability will be inevitable in the environment of a free trade deal with China, given the rapidity of China in expanding its production and lowering its prices and the intrinsic disadvantage of TCF industries in New Zealand. The employment in TCF manufacturing will further decline. The bilateral free trade with China would further reinforce the need for New Zealand TCF industries to continue to restructure and to move into design-based, high-end merchandise with a niche market focus. The findings of this study highlight two directions of future TCF industries in the context of an FTA with China: firstly, the future of New Zealand TCF industries will be one in which changes will be driven by design talent, technology and speed to market. Secondly, another possible way out for New Zealand TCF industries lies in the management of markets, organizing a global supply chain of subcontractors and in retailing.