Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 82-88). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993.

Thesis (M. S.)--Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Book, Wayne; Committee Co-Chair: Dickerson, Steve; Committee Member: Jayaraman, Sundaresan.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Southern California, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 180-187).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Cornell University, 1987. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 434-454).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on October 30, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

This research paper focuses on Thailand’s textile and clothing industry since its liberalisation in 1995. The industry used to be the number one generator of export income for Thailand. As exports strongly declined in the late 1990s, the Thai government employed ‘industrial policy’ to reignite the industry in 2003 and 2007. However, the policies have had little effect on the export pattern. We argue that the way government sees the industry is inappropriate and leads to ineffective industrial policy.The research findings illustrate that industrial analysis at ‘macro’ or ‘aggregate’ level is weak and impractical. These high-level analyses do not give policy makers and government a clear understanding of the industry, structure or drivers of performance. Furthermore, we are unable to identify common factors that differentiate well-performing firms from poorly performing firms. The aggregate level data make it difficult for policy makers or government to see what key success factors to focus on in this complex and dynamic business environment. There is no obvious ‘model’ that distinguishes those firms or sectors that do well and grow, against those which do not. So rather than focus on aggregate level, government and policy makers should focus on firm-specific characteristics, strategies or business models that differentiate them from others. Government needs to understand in depth the specific industry structure of the sector and the relationship between key players. This will help it to understand its role and the measures it can use to support the private sector. This new method may consume more time and require better skills and knowledge from researchers and policy makers. The approach requires committed researchers with strong strategic and analytical skills who can divide or dissect the industry into various sub-groups, and policy makers with better mindsets. But most importantly, problematic policy is a result of a fragmented policymaking process that stems from poor economic governance.

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / In recent years, homegrown SMEs have had low production levels when compared with Chinese garment imports, losing their competitive advantage in the domestic market. SMEs represent 96% of garment companies in Peru and have a positive impact on the creation of jobs. The search for a technique to improve SME output was conducted in various studies; however, the efforts did not bear fruit over time. Thus, this article seeks to improve the low production efficiency in textile and clothing SMEs. Therefore, we proposed a model and validated it in the production area of a denim clothing manufacturing company in Peru. We conducted business diagnostics and found a production efficiency problem. Later, we adapted the Lean production management model to the prevailing organizational culture. The main result was that the company's production efficiency increased from 68% to 71%. Finally, employee commitment, along with the combination of the Lean model and organizational culture, allowed the improvements to stand the test of time after their implementation.

Resilience, in an organizational sense meaning the ability to withstand crises and disturbances, has become a keyword during the last ten years. It is associated with established activities like risk and crisis management and business continuity planning or with strategic management, but it allows for new perspectives and insights into the conditions for doing business. Applied to the whole supply chain it also provides tools for managing and aligning the logistics flows in an appropriate way. But why is resilience essential for success or survival? In context to the Swedish textile and clothing (T&amp;C) industry, the average number of firms that went bankrupt during the recent crisis (2007-09) escalated twofold compared to the average over 2000-10 due to tremendous pressure on the Swedish credit system. The structural industrial statistics also plummeted in these crisis years aggravating other inherent or internal problems as a ’ripple effect’. The small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) were the most affected of all, facing major threats to their financial performance and ultimately to their survival, at times of economic crises. In such a context, study of organizational resilience (ORes), to survive and thrive becomes increasingly significant. To address this issue the thesis concentrates on understanding the resilience development process through crisis strategic planning in context to Swedish textile-related SMEs amidst economic crises. It investigates and answers how resilience development can be considered as a precursor for business success, how to develop and monitor resilience, and identifies its antecedents and key strategic initiatives and their differential degrees of influence. No prior studies describing organizational resilience and crisis strategic planning in an integrated processual approach using both short-term and long-term strategies through planning and adaptation were found in the literature. The thesis adopts a critical realist-grounded theory (CR-GT) approach along the metaphysical level as the structure for the resilience development process follows a causal relationship between the object (the organization), its structure (competences and strategies), the causal power (crisis strategic planning) for attaining an event/outcome (resilience) in a particular context (economic crisis). For addressing this issue of devising an outcome-based processual approach, a multivariate financial indicator called the Altman’s Z-score (used basically for calculating bankruptcy potential in firms) was used for quantifying resilience. For investigating the causal mechanism epistemological relativism along the grounded theory approach was chosen for theory generation. A mixed methodology was adopted based on quantitative statistical analyses, at first, followed by a detailed qualitative work based on surveys, interviews, case studies and secondary data for data triangulation. Analysis of data was conducted through certain thematic coding principles. A four-step hermeneutic spiral was followed by systematically combining the pre-understanding, empirics and extant literature to develop a theoretical framework through constant modification. Overall, the resilience development was highlighted along a processual framework adopted along the CR-GT view of causation. The findings are manifold. Firstly there is a need to develop economic resilience in SMEs to shift from just component-view to a more holistic systemic view of organizations, upheld by an integrated crisis strategic planning (CSP) approach, for facing dynamic environments. Secondly, the CSP process prescribed in the thesis is quite integrated and holistic, taking a view from all angles, viz. organizational structure (capabilities and strategies), processual approach etc. Such a resilience development process through CSP is based on a six-step process: (i) identification of environmental context, (ii) impact analysis, (iii) leadership analysis, (iv) capability analysis, (v) formulation/selection and implementation of strategies, and (vi) evaluation and review of strategic options, utilizing a suite of strategic tools and techniques and is particularly simple for application in an SME setting. Third, operationalization of such a causal mechanism based upon implementation of strategic tools is based upon using a multivariate financial indicator like Altman’s Z-score to outline the relation between ORes and business ‘health’, thus quantifying it. Finally, in order to develop a resilient organization it is important to engage and utilize effectively the key resources and assets (financial, material, social, networks) by developing dynamic capabilities (strategic and operational flexibilities, redundancy, robustness) and organizational learning (culture, employee wellbeing, attentive leadership and decision-making). These competences must be employed for the appropriate strategy development (selection, implementation, and evaluation) framed on both growth and continuity strategies, both planned and adaptive in nature. The research develops a holistic analytical framework of organizational structure for resilience development based on these two criteria. It also tests this framework for Swedish textile-related SMEs amidst economic crises. The findings in this contextual delimitation suggest that the resilient SMEs possess better financial resources, relational networks, operational &amp; strategic flexibilities. The economically resilient firms mostly showed planned resilience in economic crises based on long-term strategies through business continuity planning (BCP) and in terms of growth strategies through market penetration, diversification and transformational initiatives. These firms also showed better short-term crisis management (CM) through higher operational flexibility while the less resilient ones lacked in strategic readiness due to resource scarcity. This is beneficial for firms to understand the key areas in which to invest and develop a multistrategic CSP model, categorizing firms along different resilience types – planned or adaptive. / <p>Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Science in Technology to be presented with due</p><p>permission for public examination and criticism in Festia Building, Auditorium Pieni Sali 1, at Tampere University of Technology, on the 11th of October 2013, at 12 noon.</p>

With signing of Agreement on Textile and Clothing which entered into force in 1995, it was decided to abolish quantity limitations applied by the developed countries since the second half of 20th century. By this way, restrictions in the developed country markets against the developing countries would be lifted gradually in a ten year period and the liberalization in textile and clothing markets would be realized from 2005 onwards. This would provide smooth access to major markets for all the developing and least developed countries. However, China&rsquo / s accession to WTO in 2001 created a breakthrough in this assumption. Hereafter, China increased its shares in the developed countries&rsquo / markets at the expense of other developing countries. One of the matters wondered most during this period was how would the developing and least developed countries, that had quota-free entrance to the developed countries&rsquo / markets, perform against China. This study focuses on the export performances of developing and least developed countries, that have had preferential trade agreements with European Union and the United States of America, against China in those markets.