SMEs in their Own Right: The Views of Managers and Workers in Vietnamese Textiles, Garment, and Footwear Companies

Trần, Angie Ngọc; Jeppesen, Søren

doi:10.1007/s10551-015-2572-x

Cited by 54 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…To address worker perspectives, we also turn to the importance of horizontal relations though, as reflected in the national and institutional context that surrounds work and employment (Carswell and De Neve, 2013). We posit that worker perspectives on the optimal point in ethical trade are mediated by the specific socio-economic and socio-cultural contexts in which they are embedded (Coe and Jordhus-Lier, 2011;Sportel, 2013;Tran and Jeppesen, 2016). In terms of structure, these contexts may facilitate or undermine the possibilities that workers have for aligning their interests with suppliers' and buyers'.…”

Section: Worker Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is there a sweet spot in ethical trade? A critical appraisal of the potential for aligning buyer, supplier and worker interests in global production networks

Lund‐Thomsen

Lindgreen

2018

Geoforum

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P. Lund-Thomsen), adli.marktg@cbs.dk (A. Lindgreen). Highlights• We critically appraise the so-called 'sweet spot' in ethical trade.• We contrast the perspectives of buyers/brands, suppliers, and workers.• We theorize the circumstances in which their interests intersect.• The prospects for identifying a sweet spot are highly constrained. AbstractWe undertake a critical appraisal of the existence of the so-called 'sweet spot' in ethical trade at which the interests of buyers, suppliers, and workers intersect to enable benefits for commercial buyers and suppliers and improvements in the conditions of workers at the base of global production networks. In turn, we take the perspectives of three central actors typically involved in ethical trade: buyers/brands, suppliers in the Global South, and workers at the base of these networks. By applying all three perspectives, we theorize about the circumstances in which the sweet spot in ethical trade might emerge, reflecting an amended 2 version of Gereffi et al. 's (2005) theory of value chain governance. We conclude that the possibility of identifying a sweet spot in ethical trade improves as we move from marketbased transactions toward hierarchical governance in global production networks. Global production networksGPNs also are contested fields -in which actors struggle over the construction of economic relationships, governance structures, institutional rules and norms, and discursive frames‖ (Levy, 2008, p. 944). The resulting power relations in GPNs are neither unidirectional nor structurally determined; they involve both -cooperation and collaboration‖ and -conflict and competition‖ across the actors, brands, suppliers, and workers (Coe et al., 2008). Moreover, the outcomes of value chain struggles are determined jointly by vertical and horizontal network relations. The former refer to power relations between buyers and suppliers in GPNs; the latter reflect the influences of different institutional levels, from economic, labor, and environmental laws to the informal norms embraced by private-sector firms, international organizations, trade unions, or NGOs, all of which operate at various geographical scales (Lund-Thomsen and Coe, 2015; Nielson and Pritchard, 2010).This outline of the basic contours of the GPN approach provides a central organizing device for critically appraising the prospects for and hindrances to finding an optimum point in ethical trade, from the perspectives of buyers, suppliers, and workers. We start our analysis with the buyer perspective. Buyer PerspectivesIf we look at ethical trade literature from the perspective of international buyers, two dominant approaches emerge that offer very different implications for the notion of finding a common point at which the interests of buyers, suppliers, and workers intersect (Locke, 2013). The first refers to a compliance model or strategy, in which buyers develop a code of conduct, require first-tier suppliers to abide by this code, monitor whether it is being implemented (e.g., first-, second-, or th...

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Section: Worker Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is there a sweet spot in ethical trade? A critical appraisal of the potential for aligning buyer, supplier and worker interests in global production networks

Lund‐Thomsen

Lindgreen

2018

Geoforum

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“…Vietnam houses about 6000 textile and garment industries, large proportions of which are small scale enterprises (SMEs) with 200-500 employees [1]. Based on the ownership, the textile and garment industries in Vietnam can be classified as privately-owned (84%), foreign direct investment (FDI) (15%) and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) (1%) [2]. The major difference between the privately-owned and SOEs are the size of the company and the decision-making process [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Challenges for Sustainability Marketing Approach: An Empirical Study in Vietnamese Fashion SMEs

Nayak¹,

Nguyen²,

Nguyen³

et al. 2019

IJTEF

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Customers are becoming more concerned about sustainable products while making purchase decisions especially in fashion and textiles. Therefore, large fashion brands are focusing to integrate sustainability concepts, which includes environmental, social and economic aspects into their business strategy and management. Many of the earlier publications focused on large fashion brands and in developed countries. However, there have been limited empirical study to examine the challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in fashion and textiles to apply sustainability concept for their marketing activities. This study investigated the sustainability marketing approaches adopted by the SMEs particularly the fashion boutiques in Vietnam. We found that the fashion boutiques encounter limitations in the sustainable resources such as material and people with adequate knowledge. Furthermore, Vietnamese customers prefer to purchase clothes that are beautiful and wearable; and do not care about the sustainable approaches during the cloth manufacturing. It was also found that the fashion boutiques faced many challenges compared to large fashion brands to get certification on 100% ethical products.Index Terms-Sustainable fashion, sustainable marketing, boutique fashion, small and medium sized enterprise.

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“…Understanding workers' perspectives may also shed light on challenges to implementing better working conditions. For example, Tran and Jeppesen [51] found that limited efficacy of CSR implementation in Vietnamese textile and apparel SMEs was due in part to a lack of understanding of the western concept of CSR by managers and workers. Therefore, examining perceptions of working conditions and decent work from the perspective of garment workers themselves could provide a valuable contribution to current understanding of decent work.…”

Section: Decent Work In China's Textile and Apparel Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Decent Work in the Chinese Apparel Industry: Comparative Analysis of Blue-Collar and White-Collar Garment Workers

et al. 2017

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Addressing labor issues in the apparel industry is significantly important due to customers' increasing awareness of poor working conditions and growing labor crises in apparel production locations worldwide. Decent work is a key element to achieving fair and harmonious employment, but is not always evident in global apparel production networks. This study examines the working conditions in China's garment manufacturing industry, which employs more than 10 million workers. A survey was administered to 313 blue-collar workers and 228 white-collar workers on issues related to decent work, including workers' concerns, satisfaction levels and attitudes towards decent work. Regression analysis showed that workers' attitudes are significantly related to age, education level, service length and monthly wage. Gap analysis revealed poor understanding of decent work and low satisfaction with primary indicators of decent work. However, results suggest that workers increasingly value soft factors and the overall work experience, not only financial benefits. Cluster analysis identified four clusters of workers. This study contributes to understanding garment worker perceptions of decent work and provides implications for the operationalization of decent work in China's garment manufacturing industry.

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SMEs in their Own Right: The Views of Managers and Workers in Vietnamese Textiles, Garment, and Footwear Companies

Cited by 54 publications

References 29 publications

Is there a sweet spot in ethical trade? A critical appraisal of the potential for aligning buyer, supplier and worker interests in global production networks

Is there a sweet spot in ethical trade? A critical appraisal of the potential for aligning buyer, supplier and worker interests in global production networks

The Challenges for Sustainability Marketing Approach: An Empirical Study in Vietnamese Fashion SMEs

Decent Work in the Chinese Apparel Industry: Comparative Analysis of Blue-Collar and White-Collar Garment Workers

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