First, what exactly is outsourcing? The term outsourcing means that something which could be managed or done internally, instead gets handled by an external supplier or service. This is often done to minimize the costs within a business, and focus on the areas in which the business is strong (Hansen, 2014). Within a fashion business this could be areas such as marketing, designing, or as in this case, production.
• Did you know? Close to 98% of clothing sold in the US is produced overseas (Marcketti and Karpova, 2020).
The practice of outsourcing of production within fashion businesses really took off around the 1990s. However, outsourcing has been a familiar practice for time. Globalization has presented new opportunities for businesses, as mobility between borders and countries became easier. Outsourcing is therefore highly associated with globalization, and with globalization new opportunities arose for companies worldwide. This is due to the possibility of moving production to external factories and manufactures (Steele, 2015). By doing this, expenses could be cut, providing a new opportunity for a higher profit.
During this period, it became possible and more well known for companies to exploit outsourcing (Steele, 2015). The production would typically be moved to countries in the East, where the costs of production would be lower than in the West. Here, the wages and working conditions are typically also found to be worse than in the West (Steele, 2015). In some cases, companies even make use of multiple manufactures located around in different countries in the Eastt. By doing this, the price of production can be negotiated and pushed to be even lower, as a competition between the manufactures arises to be appointed the task. The task will often be offered and appointed to the manufacture, which is able to offer the best deal, which is typically the lowest price (Turner, 2019). Production is typically viewed as one of the less influential parts of the business and is therefore favorable as a subject of outsourcing. At the same time, more influential areas such as marketing and designing, are typically kept internally within the business (Turner, 2019).
Bibliography
Turner, T (2019). The Sports Shoe: A History from Field to Fashion. Bloomsbury Visual Arts.
Hansen, C (3 Juni 2014). Outsourcing. Retrieved November 3rd 2023 from Denstoredanske:
Marcketti, S. B., & Karpova, E. E. (Eds). (2020). The dangers of fashion: Towards etchical and sustainable solutions. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Steele, V. (Ed.). (2015). The berg companion to fashion. Bloomsbury Publishing.
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