No description available.

The purpose of the study was to explore specific buying practices of teenage girls and to determine the influence of age and employment on shopping patterns. The buying practices investigated included use of credit, apparel purchase price, purchasing of reduced merchandise, brand name preferences, utilization of store personnel and stores patronized. The data were collected by questionnaires administered to 205 high school girls in grades 9 through 12 enrolled in the two public high schools in Carrollton, Texas. Chi square tests of independence were computed along with descriptive statistics. Buying patterns of Carrollton teenagers were found to be similar to girls in other areas of the United States. A positive correlation was found between shopping patterns and student age and employment.

Thesis (M. Tech. (Fashion, Dept. of Visual Arts and Design)--Vaal University of Technology. / Fashion information is sought during the fashion decision-making process and can be obtained from various sources such as magazines, fashion consultants, websites, store displays as well as personal communication. Various levels, methods such as internal and external search and types of information at the point of purchase, for example garment characteristics, price, brand, labels, social evaluation, impersonal communication with sales persons and perceived risks are used to assist the consumer in making informed fashion decisions. The broad research aim of this study was to determine which methods, sources and economics of fashion information are used and which types of fashion information at the point of purchase are sought by female educators in Vanderbijlpark during the fashion decision-making process, and to whlch extent, as well as to determine the frequency of use of various types of stores for fashion purchases. A self-administered, structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Section A measured methods of information seeking, section B determined the economics of information search, section C investigated sources of fashion information and section D determined types of information sought at the point of purchase. Demographic information and the frequency with which clothing was bought at various store types were investigated in Section E. A random sample was chosen from the female educating staff of the 22 schools in Vanderbijlpark. The majority of the educators (40.18 percent) were between the ages of 41 and 50, representing baby boomers. Almost all (95.5 percent) had a tertiary qualification and most were married. Regarding the methods of information seeking, the respondents depended on internal information seeking more than on external methods and were moderately involved in the process. Shopping in stores was regarded the most important source of fashion information. Garment characteristics, namely fit and comfort, were regarded as the most important types of information at the point of purchase, while the most popular type of store was department stores, followed by specialty and discount stores. Four clusters of respondents could be distinguished, each with a specific disposition towards the methods and economics of search, sources used and types of information sought at the point of purchase during the fashion decision-making process.

by Wong Yiu. / Bibliography: leaf 100 / Thesis (M.Ph.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1986

D. Tech. Fine and Applied Arts / No documented projects exists that can serve as a guide for the establishment of community economic development projects among women in Southern Africa with the aim to economically empower them through the manufacturing of export quality garments in large volumes. The premise for this study was therefore to investigate opportunities that could potentially result in the economic empowerment of women by equipping them with textile-related skills, in a community economic development context, to make apparel that can be exported to first-world countries. The aim of this research was to devise a community empowerment model that would facilitate a participative process that will induce change - from poverty to economic empowerment - through the medium of garment product manufacture and distribution.

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

No description available.

As a developing country South Africa is faced with mammoth tasks of both creating employment/jobs that require less skill to be able to absorb millions of job-seekers who are less skilled, as well as putting its economy in proper footing, through investment in continuous labor skills and technological upgrading, so as to compete in the global market characterized by trade liberalization. Unfortunately the 20th century trade liberalization drive caught domestic industry off-guard. Domestic industry was found wanting and job losses tide was triggered. The labor-intensive clothing and textile industry was severely affected. The most vulnerable sections of the society (unskilled/semi-skilled and women laborers) were dealt a terrible blow. The government developed an industrial policy that contained sector-specific intervention measures to rescue the sector. Initially, the clothing and textile sector benefited from export promotion drive expedited through General Export Incentive Scheme and Duty Credit Certificate Scheme. Later on, the government introduced the Clothing and Textile Competitiveness Improvement Program which intended to build domestic production capacity of the sector and make the sector globally competitive. This research intended to conduct a critical analysis of the South African government industrial policy and its impact on the domestic clothing and textile sector from the period 1993 to 2010. On the one hand evidence on the ground indicates that General Export Incentive Scheme and Duty Credit Certificate Scheme failed to salvage the sector through building its competitiveness and strengthen its employment creation potential. On the other hand, while the Clothing and Textile Competitiveness Improvement Program’s positive contribution towards addressing crucial challenges facing the clothing and textile sector is acknowledged, the evidence on the ground also demonstrated that some crucial pitfalls need to be addressed to enable the sector to become globally competitive and to realize its employment potential. / Thesis (M.Dev.Studies)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

International business is much more complicated than domestic business because countries differ in many ways. Countries have different political systems economic systems. Cultural practices can vary dramatically from country to country, as the education and skill level of the population, and countries are at different stages of economic development. Moreover, development of multinational strategies involves consideration of threats, opportunities, key success factors, and strategy options and issues that do not appear when the analysis is restricted to operations within a single country. In particular, the evaluation of a market must take into account the political and economic risks associated with individual countries. Thus the external analysis becomes much more demanding. South Africa's trade and industrial policy has moved away from a highly protected, inward-looking economy towards an internationally competitive system that is able to capitalize on its comparative advantages. Enhancement of the competitiveness of industries on the domestic and international markets has consequently become a prime focus of the country's industrial policy. International trade in textiles and clothing is conducted on an immense scale. Textile and clothing producers were responsible for 9.3 per cent of world exports of manufacturers in 2001. Barriers to entry for new firms and exporters are low, and consequently the degree of international competition is intense. Competitive advantage is very difficult to sustain for long periods of time. Newcomers speedily challenge successful exporters of basic products, and they must redirect their activities towards the production of higher value-added textiles and clothing in order to survive and prosper. As a world's fifth largest trading power, China economy expands promptly through their expert skills on technology, management, and labour-intensive products. Today, China represents between 5 to 10% of global output, their export market will continue to grow rapidly, and not only for their labour intensive products, but also for the higher technology goods and services that are an increasing proportion of China's output as it climbs up the production ladder. Textile industry represents a main role towards China's economy. However, due to the fast-moving pace of globalisation, it has increased the maturity on the product-life cycle of the industry. Multi-national organizations from China have a choice to extend their global reach, due to the government export incentive programme, the maturity companies can diversify their firms to emerging market in order to exploit their technological advantages and invest internationally . If firm's primary goal is to maximize their shareholder's value, then they and probably the economy are better off if they invest where they can earn the best return. As they do so, change in the global macro-environment further confounds the choices inherent in building a strategic organization. Some understanding of the organization's external and internal environment always drives strategy, as an international organizational better choice. In the most general sense, the long-run monetary benefits of doing business in South Africa are a function of the size of the textile and clothing market, the present wealth (purchasing power) of consumers in the market, and the likely future wealth of consumers. Also the Chinese's multi national companies can have the opportunity to gain export market in USA, Canada, Europe and other trade countries in South Africa. In order to achieve economic growth and competitiveness in South Africa, it is recommend that the several issues cutting across the textile industrial sector need to be addressed through knowledge transfer, training, investment and management. Develop innovative technologies to strengthen the competitiveness. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references.