Textile and Apparel Industry Support for the Crafted with Pride Campaign: A Systems Perspective

Abstract

The U.S. textile and apparel industries have until quite recently displayed a limited capacity to change in spite of continued challenges presented by foreign competition and other environmental factors. The apparent improvement in industry economic indicators since 1986 suggests that these industries may be demonstrating a new and positive adaptability. To some extent this turnaround coincides with the creation and execution of the Crafted With Pride (CWP) campaign. A national survey of presidents in both industries shows that support of CWP is correlated with innovative business practices. These results are logical from a systems perspective which suggests that structure and management of a system are given energy by inputs from the external environment; inputs are then converted by the system into outputs. In this project, CWP is viewed as a component in the external marketing environment of the textile and apparel industries.

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