• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.754-769
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• 2015

Global sourcing refers to activities performed to acquire materials, finished products and apparel production all around the world. The purposes of the study were to examine basic job requirements and primary skills of sales team and supporting team in global sourcing companies, to investigate educational programs provided by the companies or other educational institutions, and to examine courses to be newly established in the curriculum of clothing and textile majors. The results of the study found that the ability to use English and communication skills were important to perform their tasks (sales and supporting teams). The results revealed that fabric and textile, sewing, and apparel production process were the most frequently taken educational programs provided by global sourcing companies and English classes were the most frequently taken educational programs in the other educational institutions. The results also found that the clothing and textile curriculum need to add classes that help sales and supporting teams perform global sourcing tasks, such as fashion practical English, fabric and textile, apparel production processes, textile and apparel trades, fiber and fabric testing, and presentation skills. The study suggested educational directions for developing curriculum contents of clothing and textiles and cultivating professionals in the global sourcing industries.

• Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.198-206
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• 2005

The single sourcing policy, in which an automobile manufacturer purchases identical or similar parts from one supplier, has an advantage of scale economy. Meanwhile, multiple sourcing policy, which allows procuring similar parts from multiple suppliers, has benefits of dispersing risks and promoting competition among suppliers. This paper analyzes the procurement policies by presenting a model of the Japanese automobile parts trade. It concludes that maturity of technology involved should be taken into account besides above-mentioned factors which have traditionally been recognized. For parts produced using evolving technologies, the single sourcing enhances purchaser’s benefits because of the scale economy in learning process. In the meantime, multiple sourcing is more beneficial to the purchaser if the parts are based on mature technologies. In either policy, if the technology involved is evolving, motivating suppliers by returning a great part of cost reduction as a reward to them may eventually increase profit for the purchaser. The conclusion supports the situation where the number of suppliers is being cut down as the trend of modularization and system deliveries of parts progresses in the auto parts industry, and suggests that returning part of benefits to parts suppliers may be encouraged from the viewpoint of auto manufacturers’ own interest.

• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.35-55
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• 2011

By providing a number of unprecedented knowledge sources, virtual communities have stimulated interests in knowledge sourcing Specifically, virtual communities have triggered fundamental changes in the ways that people interact with one another. Thus, there is a critical need to examine how people try to behave for sourcing knowledge in virtual communities, particularly in terms of the demand-side perspective of knowledge. To address the knowledge gap regarding knowledge sourcing behavior from the knowledge recipients' side, this study draws upon GPA(goal-plan-action) theory with both the social cognitive theory and the goal-setting theory as overarching theories. Furthermore, we apply past experience in virtual communities and trust in knowledge providers as moderating variables to deeply understand the knowledge recipients' behavior. We expect to present theoretical and practical implications through our findings, which are relevant to cognitive goal-setting and knowledge sourcing behavior. In the theoretical perspective, this study illustrates how knowledge recipients determine knowledge sourcing behavior. Based on our findings, this study has practical implications for virtual communities to effectively balance knowledge repositories and knowledge management systems with knowledge providers and recipients.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.324-329
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• 2015

Though the supplier diversification is considered as a vital tool to mitigate the risk due to supply chain disruptions, there are results which show the optimality of the sole sourcing. This paper further generalizes the results to show that the sole sourcing is optimal under very mild conditions. Discussion on why the sole sourcing is optimal is given with the insight on the value of supplier diversification.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.49
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• pp.461-490
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to examine which factors are encouraging SMEs to participate in uTradeHub(focused on the uTrade search service) in terms of product characteristics and sourcing patterns. The three factors encouraging Trade e-Marketplaces are identified in this study. First, internal factors include the support of top management, mature of IT infrastructure. Second, external factors include the pressure of industry, industry competition, dependence of trading partners. Third perception factors are perceived Usefulness, perceived easy of use. The empirical analysis had the following results. First, it reveals that support of top management, mature of IT infrastructure, industry competition have significant influence upon uTrade Search Services. On the other hand, pressure of industry, dependence of trading partners, Perceived relative benefits are not significant variable of the participation in uTrade Search Services. Second, the factors affecting the participation in uTrade Search Services are differentiated in terms of product characteristics and sourcing patterns. And the support of top management, mature of IT infrastructure, Perceived relative benefits are emphasized very important factors affecting the participation of uTrade Search Services in SMEs. The industry competition is recognized as more important factor in horizontal market in which Spot sourcing just like Operating products is trading. On the other hands, the dependence of trading partners are significant factor in vertical market in which Systemic sourcing just like Manufacturing products is trading.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.751-762
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• 2002

Korean apparel industry is facing critical moment due to shortage of labor, wage increases and intensive competition among domestic manufactures. In addition, international production has been shifting to China and the other low-wage countries from established locations such as Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Global sourcing has been received considerable attention since firms can enhance their competitive advantage as well as comparative advantage by coordinating their sourcing activities global]y. This studs regarded global sourcing as one of the strategic tools to achieve competitive advantage of Korean apparel firms, and explored the current status by literature reviews and series of in-depth interviews with managers of korean apparel firms. The findings of this study were as follows: 1) Due to geographical advantage, China was the most favored nation for outsourcing for domestic markers. However, exporting firms preferred Latin America (including Mexico) to take advantage of duties, quotas and geographical proximity to the US market. 2) In selecting the global sourcing country, productivity, technical ability, local government regulation, and culture were considered important. 3) Most Korean apparel firms sources production globally, and followed by raw materials and trims. 4) Cost and quality were the most important factors in deciding subcontractors, and experience, productivity, equipment and finances were the next concerns. Academic implications and future directions were suggested based on findings.

• Journal of the Korea Fashion and Costume Design Association
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.115-128
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to systematize various clothing production methods that domestic fashion brands are utilizing to produce fashion products, and to propose effective clothing production methods according to the characteristics. The research methods are contents analysis method of the literatures, articles, reports, and interviewing method of the practitioners who are in charge of the production of fashion. First, the clothing production methods of the domestic fashion brands are categorized as follows. It is divided into a fashion brand management method and a promotion company entrustment method based on who carries out the clothing production and management. The fashion brand management method is subdivided into the 'rental-production', 'CMT', and 'self-production' methods. All three methods are performed at domestic and global sourcing, but the CMT method is more utilized at the global sourcing. The promotion company entrustment method is subdivided into the 'full consignment production method', the 'CMT method involving promotion company', and 'direct buying method by promotion company'. All methods are performed at domestic and global sourcing. Second, the results of reviewing effective clothing production methods, according to characteristics are as follows. If fashion brands control the production and management, they use all three fashion brand management methods. The fashion brands use the promotion company entrustment method when they wants to offer special products, or the number of items is large, or the production management is difficult, or the manpower and equipment size is reduced. The domestic sourcing is utilized by fashion brands and promotion companies when production management is required for high quality apparel production, in case of trendy and complex designs, spot production, and in small quantity production. The global sourcing is utilized by fashion brands and promotion companies when it comes to lowering the production cost, fashion brands preferred the mass production of apparel with design that can be pre-planned.

• Journal of the Korean Society for information Management
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.173-188
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• 2014

This research aims to analyze empirically the effects of learners' knowledge sourcing behavior on the knowledge utilization outcomes in a social learning community. This kind of virtual community is of service to users who not only produce but also share a variety of valuable knowledge which is created based on relationships and interactions among learners. In order to conduct the study, a group of learners was made of 55 undergraduate students who were majoring in social science. The data was collected by online survey at the end of the term and multiple regression methods have been used for empirical analysis. The study shows that dyadic knowledge sourcing and published knowledge sourcing both have significant effects on knowledge reuse and knowledge adaptation. In addition, knowledge adaptation and knowledge innovation were affected by group knowledge sourcing. The research results help to select appropriate knowledge sourcing behavior depending on one's purpose of knowledge use.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.206-216
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• 2022

This study sought to examine the sustainability criteria found in the global sourcing practices of global fashion retailers. Sustainable supply chain management, with a particular focus on the sustainability criteria of global sourcing, was analyzed. This qualitative study was based on a focus group interview and corporate social responsibility (CSR) annual reports. Eight master categories, 18 middle categories, and 37 bottom categories were extracted. The key categories and their middle categories were as follows: (1) Social compliance (working conditions, employment, safety); (2) Environment concerns (environmental pollution management, eco-friendly production, supply chain environment); (3) Energy efficiency (energy saving program, store environment); (4) Consumer protection (restricted substances management, consumer product safety improvement); (5) Management system (code of conduct, triangle audit system); (6) Community social activities (local community service, voluntary activities, charitable activities); (7) External stakeholder engagement (media & non-governmental organization management, maintenance of relationship with local authority); (8) Brand protection (respect for companies' intellectual property). The findings of this study offer academically significant insights into the sustainability criteria that can be encountered by companies under diverse global sourcing scenarios, revealing that global sourcing by fashion retailers is not merely a means of reducing costs, but a way of generating new jobs and making a social contribution to developing countries. The study's findings also have practical significance, offering guidelines for general CSR activities in the global sourcing process.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.67-85
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• 2023

Purpose - This study seeks to investigate the determinants of global sourcing intention in clothing sewing industry, in particular with its focus on women's knit wear production. Design/methodology/approach - This study collected a unique set of qualitative data through 31 in-depth interviews with fashion brands, promotion agencies, and sewing factories between July 2023 and October 2023. In addition, it analyzed the dataset using the MAXQDA to complement the research findings. Findings - We have two findings. First, the interviewees commonly mentioned the following factors as reasons for considering global sourcing: the human factors(aging of skilled technicians and labor shortages), the financial factors(gap in production unit prices at home and abroad), the relational factors(lack of novelty), and the physical factors(loss of production infrastructure and network), while the human factors(skilled workforce), the production factors(delivery date and product quality), and the relational factors(timely communication and mutual trust) as reasons for continuing domestic sourcing. Additional code analysis of interview also supports this finding. On the other hand, there was also a subtle difference between buyers(brands) and suppliers(promotion agencies and processing plants), and buyers consider the exact delivery date critical so that they could see trend-sensitive women's knit wear on time, and suppliers took production costs, labor costs, and labor shortages, which are financial factors, more seriously. Research implications or Originality - This study provides a richer and more balanced view of existing literature, which has generally tended to introduce global sourcing across the clothing industry despite the existence of various diversity within the industry. In addition, through qualitative research, we introduce that the sewing industry is carried out according to complex factors, and by revealing and categorizing the determinants of global sourcing, we supplement the existing research on the clothing sewing industry centered on survey. On a practical note, this study introduces that there is a difference in view of domestic sourcing and global sourcing between buyers(brands) and suppliers(promotion agencies and sewing factories), suggesting practical implications for revitalizing networks and deriving win-win cooperation network models among members in the future.