The in-depth assessment of the situation of the European textile and clothing sector is composed by six independent reports with a close focus on key aspects useful to understand the dynamics and the development of the textile and clothing industry, drivers of change – most notably the impact of the financial crisis – and identification of policy responses and best practices. This has been done in six specific tasks leading to the six reports: Task 1 Survey on the situation of the EU textile and clothing sector Task 2 Report on research and development Task 3 Report on SME situation Task 4 Report on restructuring Task 5 Report on training and Education Task 6 Report on innovation practices The objective of task 4 was to provide an assessment of past or on-going restructuring and modernisation processes in textile and clothing enterprises in the EU and their responses. This task provides an overview of drivers of restructuring and presents an anatomy of restructuring of the textile and clothing industry in the EU in terms of changes in the company business models. Case studies were carried out in five textile and clothing manufacturing regions of the EU with a particular emphasis on emerging strategies and business models and providing evidence for the impacts of restructuring processes. Another objective has been to analyse framework conditions and identify constraints and best practice measures and initiatives at company and regional/national level concerning anticipation of change and management of modernisation and restructuring processes, so that these examples may inform policy action and initiatives in other regions in Europe.
MULTIFILE
The in-depth assessment of the situation of the European textile and clothing sector is composed by six independent reports with a close focus on key aspects useful to understand the dynamics and the development of the textile and clothing industry, drivers of change – most notably the impact of the financial crisis – and identification of policy responses and best practices. This has been done in six specific tasks leading to the six reports: Task 1 Survey on the situation of the EU textile and clothing sector Task 2 Report on research and development Task 3 Report on SME situation Task 4 Report on restructuring Task 5 Report on training and Education Task 6 Report on innovation practices The objective of task 4 was to provide an assessment of past or on-going restructuring and modernisation processes in textile and clothing enterprises in the EU and their responses. This task provides an overview of drivers of restructuring and presents an anatomy of restructuring of the textile and clothing industry in the EU in terms of changes in the company business models. Case studies were carried out in five textile and clothing manufacturing regions of the EU with a particular emphasis on emerging strategies and business models and providing evidence for the impacts of restructuring processes. Another objective has been to analyse framework conditions and identify constraints and best practice measures and initiatives at company and regional/national level concerning anticipation of change and management of modernisation and restructuring processes, so that these examples may inform policy action and initiatives in other regions in Europe.
MULTIFILE
Small and medium-sized enterprises have found their way into multi-cultural relations to outsource or offshore their business processes. Relationships are built either from an economic or emotional point of view. Our study particularly focused on how SMEs owner/managers build, maintain, and –when necessary– exit their relationships with other SMEs by using trust as a core element. We have chosen for a qualitative research strategy by conducting semi-structured interviews in The Netherlands, Germany, UK, Denmark and Sweden. The countries selected are representatives of the application of Northern-European and Anglo-Saxon business models. Our results suggest that trust is of the essence in the relationship building process and that the perception of trust needs to be understood and managed in multi-cultural relations by all parties involved. We can also conclude from our results that SMEs are intrinsically inclined to base their offshore activities on trust. For practical reasons, partners in relationships need to be educated and trained how to build trust in multi-cultural relations. Future research should focus on the firms’ culture to examine the influence on trustful multi-culture relationships.
