Large U.S. apparel companies' factory monitoring methods

Dickson, Marsha A.Globalization and outsourcing trends in the textile and apparel industry have resulted in the migration of manufacturing facilities to less developed countries. Geographically dispersed and complex supply chains in the industry have reduced visibility and transparency and have resulted in labor right violations and appalling working conditions in factories. To prevent the abuses and ensure compliance with codes of conduct detailing labor rights and safe working conditions, many apparel companies have adopted codes of conduct and factory monitoring methods. This research investigated what factory inspection methods have been adopted among large U.S. apparel companies and found a correlation between monitoring methods and company characteristics. As companies characteristics, net sales, profit margins, and factory ownership were chosen. Data such as annual, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), or sustainability reports were collected from company websites and content analysis was conducted. Analysis results indicated that a majority of companies had supplier codes of conduct and conducted internal and/or external monitoring. In addition to this, while the positive correlation between net sales and factory monitoring was found, no relation was identified between monitoring and either profit margins or factory ownership. Future research areas were suggested, including similar research with small size and/or non-U.S. apparel firms and developing other research methods such as employee and field expert interviews, surveys, or focus group to obtain more data. The study results suggested that continuous efforts to increase the monitoring effectiveness are necessary, more supplier involvement in monitoring process was encouraged. Moreover, monitoring methods for small and medium size firms need be taken into consideration.University of Delaware, Department of Fashion and Apparel StudiesM.S