PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate the status of technology adoption (TA) among clothing manufacturers in Bangladesh and examine the influences of contextual factors on their TA level. Particularly, the authors examined the effects of export orientation, top management commitment (TMC), competitive pressure (CP), cost of capital (CC) and technical skills (TS).Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected from Bangladeshi clothing manufacturer through an online survey. A firm was treated as a unit of analysis.FindingsThe results revealed that the most common technologies adopted were information technology and software related and the least common were automation related. Export orientation negatively influenced while TS and CP positively influenced the level of TA.Research limitations/implicationsDue to the difficulty in obtaining firm level data, data collection did not utilize a random sampling. Only firms that agree to participate were included in the data.Practical implicationsThe authors suggest the Bangladeshi clothing manufacturers to adopt selective technologies that complement the cost leadership strategy rather than immediate differentiation strategy or technology innovations.Social implicationsFocused investment in human capitals and knowledge transfer in Bangladesh, one of the newly classified developing country, should sustain their competitiveness in the global market. Further discussions provide various stakeholders with insights related to trade policies, international aids and the UN's sustainable development agenda.Originality/valueThis study tackles a void that exists in TA research within the labor intensive clothing manufacturing sector, especially in a lower-middle income country, which surprisingly became the second largest clothing supplier today. Unique nature of the sector as an entry to economic development process in connection to the sustainable development concept is discussed to generate implications for practitioners as well as policy makers.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to identify the emergence of apparel brands in Bangladesh: their timing, order and the reasons behind the patterns. This study also examined whether these evolution patterns followed the same path in Korea and India.Design/methodology/approachBy employing secondary research method, this study gathered and analyzed data from companies, trade organizations, news media and academic articles to determine the socioeconomic backgrounds and underlying dynamics that propelled the evolution patterns. Following Jin et al.'s (2013) approach, we analyzed three types of apparel brands (international, national and private) in Bangladesh.FindingsThe findings indicated that in contrast with Korea and India, in Bangladesh (a) the emergence of international brands occurred after the national brands' appearance in the More Advanced Production of Fabric and Apparel stage, (b) national brands also emerged at the same stage and earlier than the international brands developed, and (c) internationalization of national brands and emergence of private brands were not observed. The differences in the emergent timing and order were explained by socioeconomic and cultural aspects, along with industry life cycle perspectives.Practical implicationsFindings indicate that the Bangladeshi market is dominated by national apparel brands. Therefore, international brands are advised to consider the business strategies of local competitors and develop their own pricing and merchandising strategies to maintain their supremacy as premium brands.Originality/valueThis study addressed apparel brand evolution patterns in a lower middle-income country. The results revealed some unique aspects. Unlike in other developing countries, national brand development in Bangladesh was initiated by entrepreneurs.