Master of Business Administration (MBA)
Graduation Dissertation
Do Apparels Buying Agents
have Strategic Competitive Advantages in Hong Kong for competing in the USA market?
A descriptive Case study on
The Strategic Competitive Advantage of Apparels Buying Agents
in the Business Environment of Hong Kong for the USA Market
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Chapter
Heading
Page
1
Introduction/Purpose
1.1 Background of the Company
1.2 Company Profile
1.3 Vision & Mission
1.4 Key Issue that this company has been facing
1.5 Rationale of doing the study
1.6 Significance of the study (referring to the section 1.5)
1.7 Initial Judgment on the key issue (referring to the section 1.4)
Research Question and Hypothesis made
1.8 Scope of The Study (Referring to the section 1.4)
Conceptual Frame of the study
1.9 Aim of The Dissertation (referring to the section 1.5)
1.10 Objectives of the Study (referring to the section 1.6)
2
Literature Review (Referring to the section 1.7 and 1.8)
(Relevant concepts and analytical tools)
2.1 For Vision/Mission Statement
2.2 For External Assessment
2.3 For Internal Assessment
2.4 For SWOT analysis (Long-term Objective)
2.5 For Strategic Choices
2.6 For Implementation analysis
2.7 For Evaluation analysis
3
Research Methodology (Referring to the section 1.7 and 1.8)
3.1 Introduction/purpose
(e.g. for verification of hypotheses)
3.2 Data & Information required
3.3 Approach
(e.g. Survey, Interview, questionnaire, and / or observation)
3.4 Data Organization
3.4 Validity and Reliability test
(e.g. Statistical Testing and measurement of association, ready for verification of the hypotheses of the suppositions individually.)
3.5 Difficulties and Limitation of the research
4
Findings (Referring to the section 3)
4.1 Analysis of the current situation
4.1.1 External Assessment of the Industry / Market
a. PEST analysis
b. Industrial/Market Life Cycle
c. Michael Porter’s five forces
4.1.2 Internal assessment of the company
a. Competitive Advantage
b. Value Chain
c. Distinctive Competencies
Are these adequate to highlight competitive advantages of the case study company over the key competitors in the USA market.
Say, any introduction of competitive advantages of the key competitors???
5
Discussion/Analysis (Referring to the section 4)
5.1 Outcomes of New Vision/Mission Statement
5.2 Outcomes of Competitive Profile (CP Matrix)
5.3 Outcomes of External Assessment (EFE Matrix)
5.4 Outcomes of Internal Assessment (IFE Matrix)
5.5 Outcomes of SWOT analysis (IE Matrix))
5.6 Outcomes of Strategic Choices (Business, Investment & Corporate)
5.7 Outcomes of Implementation analysis
- (Organization restructuring and control)
5.8 Outcomes of Evaluation analysis (Balanced Scorecard)
6
Conclusion (Referring to the section 1.10, 3 and 4)
6.1 Summary of Objectives to have achieved
6.2 Implication of the findings and the fact (referring to the section 1.4)
6.3 Future expectation
6.4 Limitation of the study
7
Recommendation (Referring to the section 5.3, 6.2, 6.3 and 6.4)
7.1 Improvement idea
7.2 Improvement action
7.3 Control and Evaluation
8.
Epilogue
Appendices
Bibliography
Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Background of the Industry
Throughout the years, the strategic competitive advantage of the apparel business in Hong Kong is quite expressive. There are several instances that this type of business has been marketed not only in Hong Kong but also in international market. However, because of the quick development in the current era, particularly the technological progress, businesses of this type also need some progress in order to stay or have an advantage not only in their current market but also to the said international/global market. With regards to the development in the clothing and apparel industry, there are now several individual, groups and organizations who are acting as buying agents of apparels. Basically, the major focus of the study is to present analysis regarding business practices and the strategic competitive advantage of buying agents of apparel in Hong Kong used to adapt to its marketing environment.
The companies within this industry are currently engaged in manufacturing and exporting as well as buying agent of woven and knitted apparel specializes in denim. They were also known to their design and production of high quality fashion clothing. Despite of the success in the business, the changes in the environment had alarmed the buying agents in Hong Kong as it operates within and beyond its national boundaries. In order to make sense of the growing complexity of the environment that clothing manufacturers are operating within, it is necessary to examine in greater detail the dynamics of the clothing chain of production and understand the strategic options available to local manufacturers (Porter M, 1980). Similarly in Australia, these options must be placed in the context of two further structural developments over the past decade: the progressive vertical disarticulation of the clothing supply chain and the growing concentration of power within certain nodes of the supply chain (Greig, 2001, 4). With concerns to the buying agent is Hong Kong, it is important that the they know, how to handle its business properly since it is undeniable that there are many people who want to have a long lasting career in terms of business. Thus, this dissertation will tackle about a strategic competitive advantage, structures and technology that will help them improve their business. The group of people that will be given focus on this paper is the apparels buying agents in Hong Kong who are doing business in the US market.
1.2 Profile of the Industry
It is now a widely held view that the world economy has entered a much more complex phase where individual national economies have become inextricably linked. In this new world economy, resources and markets have ceased to have the indelible national identity of the past. Restricted resources and markets that were once legally isolated have become much more accessible to enterprises that have acquired a global strategic vision. To the more visionary global enterprises, the world is but a borderless environment with homogeneous consumers who have developed an unforgiving taste for the most sophisticated and high-quality products. In response to the needs of these global consumers, the enterprises have developed global products. How such homogenised consumers are served, however, is a question of the strategic orientation of the enterprises and their ability to exploit the ever-evolving global economic environment.
From the given discussions, the apparel industries in Hong Kong are now moving to International market to gain competency. Actually, the total apparel market in Hong Kong for 2001 was US$1.4 billion in which 20% of it were retained imports and 80% were domestic products (www.fibre2fashion.com, 2006). As seen in the given report 93% of Hong Kong's apparel imports came from China. Other apparel suppliers were normally from Italy, France, Japan, U.K. and the U.S. in which the U.S. supplied US$49 million of Hong Kong's apparel imports in 2001 (www.fibre2fashion.com, 2006).
Hong Kong clothing market was once a foundation of the HK economy but since the production work has been outsourced to other countries most of production houses and factories in HK have been closed. The prices of clothing are falling due to outsourcing in the developing countries and generating cheaper supplies. However the most important issue in clothing market is the Republic of China, after the end of world trade agreement in 2005, China has flooded the US markets with cheap products. This has resulted in a drop in employment in textile and leather industries from half a million in 1980 to less then 140,000 in 2005. According to Business Monitor PA1003 there were 12,030 VAT-registered companies involved in clothes retailing in the HK in 2003, where the vast majority of clothing retailers (89.3%) employed fewer than ten people in 2003, while 72.1% employ fewer than five. Those employing 50 or more accounted for just 1.9% of the total (Key Note, 2006).
The HK clothing industry is growing strong in fashion and design and also the costs of production are falling as manufacturing is increasingly being relocated to cheaper locations around the world. However the HK clothing industry has lower productivity than leading competitors and is increasingly being threatened by low-cost foreign competitors who are eroding the profit margins. Also downturn in the economy is a major threat to the clothing industry as it could cause men, in particular, to cut back on overall spending in this sector.
It’s a serious task for international retailers to find a potential market for them to expend their business. Because developed countries’ markets are getting saturated, more and more retailers are targeting at those emerging markets. According to Jones (2002), emerging markets are considerable, expandable and unsaturated markets. As Garten (1996) defines, emerging markets are so-called Chinese Economic Area (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea); Indonesia and India; South Africa; Poland and Turkey and, in Latin America, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. China and Russia are two of the biggest countries in the world. The following charts describe two nation’s GDP, population and the ratio of total consumer expenditure to clothing expenditure.
According to above charts, China has a huge amount of population and its GDP is growing year after year whilst Russia is developing slowly. These two countries are both attractive to international retailers. However, considering the potential, China might be the biggest emerging market in the world. From this illustration Hong Kong as one promising industry in terms of apparel business, tends to show expressive development.
Angel Garment Limited is a well-established sourcing and trading company specializing in denim jeans, woven and knitwear for ladies and man. With their corporate office in Hong Kong, Angel Garment has been efficiently sourcing materials from all over the world, with a strong focus on the Asia pacific region as the base. Their experience in the garment industry has helped them in developing very strong links with manufacturing facilities which the clients are looking for. They also manufacture and export designer goods to U.S., Canada and other European countries and have been providing excellent services to well known clients like BUFFALO, I-JEANS, O.K. JEANS, BCBGMAXAZRIA, LEVIS, LUCKY, B.U.M. EQUIPMENT, and REQUEST. They also do a lot of private labels for specialty stores.
Angel Garment Limited offers a wide range of both woven and knitted apparel like Ladies' blouse, jackets, skirts and pants. Their specialty lies in high quality denim garments especially fashion jeans designed for the youth group. They actually manufacture more than 1000 styles for each season in different colors with attractive accessories. The styles and fashions has been very well received and highly popular in the U.S., Canadian and European Markets.
1.3 Vision
To ensure consistent high quality products,
- Continuous training and education for our employees to ensure better understanding of the importance of quality and to raise our quality standard.
- Skilled and stable workers are the key to consistently high quality product.
- Long term workers have better understanding of individual customer’s requirement.
- To have long term relationship with suppliers, to ensure supply of high quality material that can meet our quality requirement.
- Thorough and traceable record system can give clear guidelines to all workers of our high quality requirement and at the same time provide management the statistics to make improvements.
1.4 Key Issues
With regards to the current structure and business practices of Angels Garments Limited Apparels Buying Agents in Hong Kong, the following problems had been forecasted and aimed to be addressed in this dissertation.
- The current climate is extremely difficult in the apparels sourcing industry with the most senior of Managers and Directors unsure of their future position. Cooperation may not always be forthcoming from such a high competitive working environment.
- Confidentiality and sensitivity of information may prevent access to key data and deter interviewees from giving full and accurate answers. This will be particularly true of the Chinese who require as a matter of course, a written, structured questionnaire prior to any interview so that answers may be prepared and authorized before being released.
- Suspicion of the true motivation for the study may prevent suppliers from fully cooperating.
- Any comparisons drawn must ensure that as far as possible, they compare ‘like with like’ and note all relevant exceptions.
- Where structured questionnaires cannot be followed up with interviews, for example in USA, it may be difficult to confirm the accuracy of the answers.
- Case studies, whilst allowing an in depth study of a problem can be ‘difficult to cross check information and so there is a danger of distortion’ Bell (1993). Where possible, follow up interviews should be carried out to verify case study data.
- Interviews can; ‘pose serious problems of reliability and validity…..the effects of interviewers on respondents…..interview bias…..and the greater the status differences between interviewer and respondent, the less likely the respondent will be to express his true feelings.’ Haralambos and Heald (1985).
- Good time management will prove vital for the author to gather sufficient data to complete this research paper. This is only hampered by the current climate of closure in which he has to function.
1.5 Rationale
Why you ????
For what purpose???
With regards to the strategic competitive advantage, the rationale of this paper is to review whether the concept of strategic competitive advantage to the organization by examining a large apparels sourcing organization with respect to a range of casual wearsapparel sourcing enterprises in Hong Kong. The evaluation of the current status of apparel industry in Hong Kong would reflect to its competitiveness when it comes to the market of USA. Actually, in order to minimize the risk and uncertainly, it is essential to analyze carefully the marketing environment. Hong Kong is a great, undeveloped and full of potential market in terms of buying apparel agents in United States of America.
1.6 Significance of the Study
This analysis will be a significant endeavor to strategic and business management students. Aside from this, this study would be beneficial not only to foreign apparels buying agents but to apparel businesses in Hong Kong as well, as this may provide information on the best way of how to improve business sales and minimize inefficiencies through an effective Supply Chain Management.
In addition, this study may be a welcome addition in studies on supply chain management. Especially since this study will focus on the Hong Kong and US market, which many foreign multinational companies are studying to invest, this study may provide an interesting insight on the apparel sector market of Hong Kong, which is also one of the attractive sectors of the country. Finally, this study may provide authentications on existing theories on strategic competitive advantage or at least provide generalizations that may contribute in the academe field (e.g., students and researchers).
What happenings will take place if situation does not change anymore? Any impact on the case study company, the market or the industry will occur ????
1.7 Initial Judgment on Key Issues
Any research question made for the study????
The focus of the problem is to determine the effectiveness of the current business strategy of Angel Garments limitedcompetitiveness of Hong Kong apparel buying agents in the market of USA. Currently, there are limited studies that provide definitive answer regarding the topic. However, there is a growing popular literature on chaos and complexity (Wheatley, 1992 and Merry 1995) which draws to address management concerns and practices. This arena is called ‘management complexity’. There is some evidence of managerial take-up of ‘complexity’ as a framework for informing organisational practice. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a discussion of the validity and significance of these ideas for the management of organizations within apparels buying agents in the business environment of Hong Kong for the USA market. Justifications of the significance of complexity theory for management generally start from a description of the pre-existing state of management theory and practice, which stresses its unacknowledged but self-imposed limitations, its tunnel-vision. Factors, targets, organisational structures all need to be nailed down. The management task is seen to be the enunciation of mission, the determination of strategy, and the elimination of deviation. The researcher is hopeful that this proposed research will yield a significant result regarding the topic. Thus, the study will work on this hypothesis: “The current Strategic strategic Competitive competitive Advantages advantages practices of Angel Garments LimitedHong Kong apparels buying agents is applicable to the current business market in United States of America”
With regards to the said hypothesis, the study will also attempt to answer the following questions:
Since your study just focus on the competitive advantages of the case study company in the market, I am afraid that these questions are irrelevant to the topic.
I suggest you to narrow the scope of your study into competitive advantages only. Say, efficiency, quality, innovation and customer responsiveness of the case study company with her key competitors in USA market.
1. What are the related factors influencing the business practices of Apparels Buying Agents in Hong Kong with respect to the market of USA?
2. How does the management of Angel Garments LimitedHong Kong apparel industry maintain a effective business processtheir competitiveness in the global market?
3. How do Apparels Buying Agents in Hong KongAngel Garments Limited innovate their strategies to cope in the current market?
4. What is the degree of effectiveness of Apparels Buying Agents’ Angel Garments Limited’s business management in terms of doing business in US?
1.8 Scope of The Study
The conceptual framework that will be used in the study is the Input-Process-Output Model. In the IPO model, a process is viewed as a series of boxes (processing elements) connected by inputs and outputs. Information or material objects flow through a series of tasks or activities based on a set of rules or decision points. (Harris & Taylor, 1997) Flow charts and process diagrams are often used to represent the process. (Harris & Taylor, 1997) What goes in is the input; what causes the change is the process; what comes out is the output. (Armstrong, 2001) Figure 1.1 illustrates the basic IPO model:
Figure 1
Input – Process – Output Model
The IPO model will provide the general structure and guide for the direction of the study. Substituting the variables of this study on the IPO model, the researcher came up with the following:
Figure 2
Conceptual Framework
INPUT Process OUTPUT
From the given framework, this study attempts to cover the following scope.
These are not the scope of your study!!!
The scope of your study suggested on the company’s competitive advantages over the key competitors in USA market are:
1. To highlight and comment whether the case study companyapparel industry particularly the Apparels Buying Agents in the Business Environment of Hong Kong has superior efficiency over the key competitors in USA market.
2. To highlight and comment whether the Apparels Buying Agents in the Business Environment of Hong Kong case study company has superior quality of service over the key competitors in USA market.
3. To highlight and comment whether the Apparels Buying Agents in the Business Environment of Hong Kong case study company has superior innovation over the key competitors in USA market.
4. To highlight and comment whether Apparels Buying Agents in the Business Environment of Hong Kong the case study company has superior customer responsiveness over the key competitors in USA market.
What you should do in your study is focusing on highlighting the above items by
identifying any past studies on the topic and what relevant definitions, concepts, analytical tools and assessment model to be employed for the study in the section 2 of literature review.
Critically analyzing each item by using of the above tools and models in the section 3 of Research Methodology.
Highlighting the fact and finding from the analysis in the section 4of Finding.
Commenting on the fact and finding in the section 5 of Discussion for drawing conclusion and making recommendation.
For your information, drawing conclusion should include showing approach for recommendation.
Approaches include “Immediate action, no action, and/or pending.
Please amend the study accordingly before going through further more.
The study will determine the various challenges of the business management practices of Apparels Buying Agents in the Business Environment of Hong Kong with respect to the market of United States of AmericaAngel Garments limited. The implementation of the program that directed by these challenges will be discussed and analyzed. This study will also gather pertinent data. Challenges and problems in the company particularly the implementation of effective business strategy will be the focus of this research. However, every study has its own limitation, since Angel Garmentssubjects are apparel industries in Hong Kong limited is located in the Hong Kong, majority of the perspectives to studied and analyzed are respondents residing in the Hong Kong. However, the details of reports pertaining to the current status of apparel business within Hong Kong and USA will be evaluated to determines their competitive advantages.
1.9 Aim of the Dissertation
The aim is to investigate the potential benefits that the Supply Chain Management concept has to offer and what approaches should be adopted for Supply Chain Management to give Strategic Competitive Advantages in a casual wears sourcing agent.competitiveness of Apparels Buying Agents in the Business Environment of Hong Kong against the competitors in USA market. With this regard, appropriate evaluation using External and Internal Analysis of the industry will be conducted. Analysis using SWOT, Porter’s Five Forces Model, Value Chain and PEST are considered.
1.10 Objectives of the Study
The research document will seek to achieve the Aim by meeting the following objectives:
- Identify and describe existing Supply Chain Managementcompetitiveness of apparels casual wears sourcing agents for the business environment in the Hong Kong.
- Explore competitivenessSupply Chain Management of apparels sourcing agent in Hong Kong for the US market by examining other case studies in the Supply Chain areas.
- Examine the concept of competitiveness Supply Chain Management from a Global prospective.
References:
Armstrong, P. (2001). Input-Process-Output Model. Colorado: Colorado State University.
Bell, (1993). “Doing your Research Project, A guide for first-time researchers in education and social science”. Open University Press.
Garten, J. (1996). The Big Emerging Markets. Columbia Journal of World Business, 31, 6-32.
Greig, A (2001). The Disarticulation of the Australian Clothing Supply Chain and its Reconfiguration within Global Networks Working Paper. AEGIS Senior Research Associate the Australian National University Canberra. pp 4
Haralambos,M & Heald, R (1985). Sociology. Themes and Perspectives. London: Bell & Hyman.
Harris, G & Taylor, S (1997). Escaping from the Box: A New Process Model to Support Participation and Improve Coordination. In Center for Quality of Management Journal, Volume 6, Number 3. Cambridge, MA: The Center for Quality of Management, Inc.
Jones, M. (2002). The apparel industry, Oxford : Blackwell Science.
Key Note (2006), Clothing and Footwear Industry, Keynote, London.
Merry, U. (1995). Coping With Uncertainty: insights from the new sciences of Chaos, self-organization and complexity. Praeger: Westport, Conn. (pp 98-108).
Porter M (1980). "Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors", Free Press, New York. For a summary, see his article, "How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy", Harvard Business Review, March- April, 1979.
Wheatley, M. J. (1992). Leadership and the New Science: learning about Organization from an orderly universe. Berrett-Koehler: San Francisco.(pp 87-96)
www.fibre2fashion.com (2006). Hong Kong : Over 200 apparel industry converged at Prime Source. Available at: http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/apparels-fairs-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=15384&page=2
Chapter 2
Literature Review
This review of related literature initially considers key areas of broadly acknowledged theoretical material covering supply chain management and strategic management. The influence of these aspects of management with respect to the Strategic Competitive Advantage may well prove significant in both application and effectiveness.
Basically, Hammer (1992) looks at ‘Outsourcing and the value Chain’. He states:
“One method of reducing costs is to outsource non-core activities. Outsourcing can bring a number of benefits.”
Actually, the topic of outsourcing may help to understand the competitive advantage of the organisation.
On the other hand, competitive analysis “Porter’s five forces”; Porter’s (1998) competitive analysis identifies five fundamental competitive forces that determine the relative attractiveness of an industry: new entrants, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, substitute products or services, and rivalry among existing competitors. Competitive analysis leads to insight in relationships and dynamics in an industry, and allows a company or business unit to make strategic decisions regarding the best defendable and most economically attractive position.
Apparently, Prahalad, CK and Hamel, G (1990) wrote an award-winning HBR article on the core competence for the future based on the concept of the core competence. They encourage managers to ask themselves such fundamental questions as:
Ø What value will we deliver to our customers in, say, 10 years from now?
Ø What new ‘competencies’ (a combination of skills and technologies) will we need to develop or obtain to offer that value?
Ø What are the implications with regard to how we interact with our customers?
With regards to these management practices issues, the SWOT analysis of any company is all about strategic planning concerning company’s strengths and weaknesses. When combined with an inventory of opportunities and threats in (or even beyond) the company’s external environment, the company is effectively making what is called a SWOT analysis: establishing its current position in the light of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
Moreover, most apparel business in Hong Kong also considers the value chain as part of its competitive advantage. Michael Porter (1998) believes that it can be understood only by looking at a firm as a whole. Cost advantages and successful differentiation are found in the chain of activities that a firm performs to deliver value to its customers. Further work by Porter on ‘Value chain analysis’ may also help understand the competitive advantage of the organisation. He described the value chain as:
“Desegregating a firm into it’s strategically relevant activities in order to understand the behaviour of costs and the existing and potential sources of differentiation. A firm can gain competitive advantage by performing these strategically important activities more cheaply or better it’s competitors.”
Moreover, Syson (1992) examined the barriers to be found in supply chains. He spoke of:
“The interface Model of the traditional supply chain and the Integrated Model of the ideal supply chain, and identifies forces for change which make it important for organisations to move from the former to the latter.”
He goes on to describe the features of his integrated model including:
“The supply chain as a single entity, integrated at different levels of management – strategic, planning and operational”
From this discussion, this part of the dissertation divided the categories in several parts. The said parts assess the Vision Statement, external and internal business process, SWOT analysis will be also described, strategic choices, implementation analysis and evaluation process are also described.
2.1 Vision Statement Assessment
In apparels buying agents in the business environment of Hong Kong, the industry aimed is to be competitive with respect to the quality of products they are distributing. The industry is actually engaged in different business practices that may increase the standard of the quality of products. Apparels buying agents in Hong Kong operates in a turbulent and dynamic business environment. The current business environment is undergoing a metamorphosis as rapid technological innovations, competitive markets, diverse customer preferences, and extensive global operations prevail in it. To ensure continuous operation and survival in today’s rigid business environment, a business firm has to be open to change and improvement. Their business processes, services, products and operations should be consistently subject to evaluation and refinement. The norm is to deliver quality products and services while maintaining flexible and effective operations.
2.2 External Assessment
With regards to the external assessment, the researcher will consider the PEST analysis. A marketing model for analysis that can be utilised in order to analyse the apparels buying agents in the business environment of Hong Kong is the PEST analysis. PEST Stands for Political, Economic, Sociocultural and technological factors that influence apparels buying agents in the business environment of Hong Kong’s overall performance in the market place.
In addition, PEST analysis is a part of the external analysis when doing market research and gives a certain overview of the different macroenvironmental factors that the company has to take into consideration. Actually, political factors include areas such as tax policy, employment laws, environmental regulations, trade restrictions and tariffs and political stability. The economic factors are the economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates and inflation rate. Social factors often look at the cultural aspects and include health consciousness, population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on safety. The technological factors also include ecological and environmental aspects and can determine the barriers to entry, minimum efficient production level and influence outsourcing decisions. It looks at elements such as R&D activity, automation, technology incentives and the rate of technological change.
PEST analysis is very important that an organisation considers its environment before beginning the marketing process (Crainer, S 2002). In fact, environmental analysis should be continuous and feed all aspects of planning. The organisation’s marketing environment is made up from the following:
Ø The internal environment like staff or internal customers, office technology, wages and finance.
Ø The micro-environment such as external customers, agents and distributors, suppliers and competitors.
Ø The macro-environment such as political including legal forces, economic forces, socio-cultural forces and technological forces.
The acronym PEST or sometimes rearranged as STEP is used to describe a framework for the analysis of these macro-environmental factors (Crainer, 2002). A PEST analysis fits into an overall environmental scan as shown in the following diagram (see Figure 3):
Figure 3. Overall Environmental Scan
Figure 4 the graphical explanation of PEST analysis
The number of macro-environment factors is virtually unlimited. In practice, the firm must prioritise and monitor those factors that influence its industry (Markides, 1999). Even so, it may be difficult to forecast future trends with an acceptable level of accuracy. In this regard, the firm may turn to scenario planning techniques to deal with high levels of uncertainty in important macro-environmental variables.
PEST is a nonlinear parameter estimation package with a difference. (Markides, 1996:58) The difference is that PEST can be used to estimate parameters for just about any existing computer model, whether or not a user has access to the model's source code. PEST is able to "take control" of a model, running it as many times as it needs to while adjusting its parameters until the discrepancies between selected model outputs and a complementary set of field or laboratory measurements is reduced to a minimum in the weighted least squares sense.
Most parameter estimation packages suffer from two serious drawbacks that inhibit their ability to optimise parameters for the plethora of computer simulation models that are used today in all fields of study (Moncrieff, 1999) The first of these difficulties is that a model normally needs to be partially recoded in order to communicate with an estimation program; this usually involves recasting the model as a subroutine which is then called by the estimator each time it needs to run the model. The second disadvantage is that the performance of many commercial and public-domain estimators is seriously degraded when optimising parameters for large numerical models or for the sometimes complex models used for simulating "messy" environmental processes.
PEST overcomes the first of these difficulties by communicating with a model through the model's own input and output files (Moncrieff, 1999). Thus PEST adapts to the model; the model does not need to be adapted to PEST. It overcomes the second problem by implementing a particularly robust variant of the Gauss-Marquardt-Levenberg method of nonlinear parameter estimation. Furthermore, through adjustment of a number of control variables, a user is able to "tune" PEST's implementation of the method to suit the model for which parameters are sought.
Because PEST is model-independent, the "model" can, in fact, be a series of models which PEST runs in succession through a batch file; PEST can estimate parameters for one or all of the models simultaneously (Moncrieff, 1999). Thus, a first model can provide input data for a second model; a single model can be calibrated against a number of different historical datasets all at once; a preprocessor can be run, followed by the model, followed by a postprocessor; the possibilities are endless.
2.3 Internal Assessment
To evaluate the business process of apparels buying agents in the business environment of Hong Kong, it is also very vital to consider the internal factors. In the current era, traditional factors--such as labour costs, access to financial resources and raw materials, and protected and regulated markets—continue to be sources of competitive advantage, but to a lesser degree than before (Williams, 1992). One important reason for this decline is that the advantages created by these sources can overcome through an international strategy and by relatively free flow of resources through the global economy.
With regards to the internal environment of the company, the study of Porter (1998) has concentrated on the strategies that would be able the companies to gain competitive advantage. In addition, in order for firms to develop a strategy that can provide superior performance, these firms must achieve and sustain competitive advantage. In order for these firms to survive in the highly competitive market, it has been suggested to develop some degree of competitive advantage.
In the case wherein the products and services are virtually identical, advantage is minimal and firms in these market struggle to remain profitable and grow. However, in the case of a convenience store or a gasoline station, competitive advantage would as simple as having a favourable location. However, in many industries, competitive advantage would be more complex. Competitive advantage is derived from the combination of product appeal, pricing, marketing practices, distribution capability, and many others.
Aside from the previous factors which are all referring to competitive factors, market position is also important. Market positions can be defined by the combination of the value provided and the price charged. The value-based market positions are usually the more profitable. It is, therefore, a common strategy to try to move upward in the market by introducing a premium line. This requires careful separation of the brands to minimise the association between them in the perceptions of the market. Value-based positions also usually rely on intangible appeals, particularly when it is difficult to demonstrate real differences.
Companies producing branded products will often also supply private brand or no-name products, a "same-for-less" position that can make a contribution to earnings by absorbing overhead costs, but at the risk of cannibalising their own sales.
The strategic decision on the choice of market position is, however, only the starting point. Competitive advantage requires the ability to serve the chosen market better than competitors. A value-based position requires the ability to provide a differentiated product or service. A price-based position requires cost leadership. The issue then becomes one of achieving operational effectiveness, which is primarily a challenge of implementation.
To summarise, the sustainability of competitive advantages in internal environment is considered to depend on the following three factors, which includes the different approaches to market positioning and type or specificity of customer needs met and the value provided; the idiosyncratic nature of the firm's resources or capabilities; and the availability of isolating mechanisms that can shield these competitive advantages from rival onslaught (Williams, 1992).
2.4 SWOT analysis
The SWOT analysis is usually considered in internal environment assessment of a certain company. “The SWOT analysis provides information that is helpful in matching the firm's resources and capabilities to the competitive environment in which it operates.” As such, it is instrumental in strategy formulation and selection (Sidorowicz, R. 2000).
Basically, firms are competing to achieve above normal return, but being monopoly is not the only way to achieve it. Firms can differentiate themselves with others through innovation: competing to be different. Although the innovation itself maybe profitable, the innovating firm itself may not profit from it. Therefore it is important to establish complementary assets alongside firm’s innovative capability to capitalise majority of the gain (Teece, 1986). Scholars refer the development of complementary assets as the sixth force (Grant, 2001), in addition to Porter’s seminal five forces model (Porter, 1998). Another major problem for companies not profiting from their innovation is that they spend too much time on seeking and creating innovation but “inability of corporation to turn knowledge into practical applications and profit” (Leonard-Barton et al., 1996). Firms need to look deeper into their knowledge base, and often to exploit hidden knowledge inside the firm is more profitable than to explore new knowledge. This is partly because of the cost saving. However, when hidden knowledge inside the firms are well exploited, it is important for the firm to innovate through reconfiguration of existing knowledge and/or seeking new knowledge externally (Kluge et al., 2001).
When the knowledge of an innovation is spill over across firms, “we expect appropriability to fall during the life cycle of a technology as the cumulated search efforts and the fraction of agents knowing the code increase (Kluge et al., 2001)”. However, this long-term trend may be counteracted by a number of strategies designed to limit or to compensate the fall in appropriability.
The most promising way of achieving competitive advantage through innovation is to continuously innovate, and innovate in a way that competitors are unable to catch up through their incremental innovation and unmotivated for radical innovation. An interesting case would be industries engage in apparels buying agents in Hong Kong for the USA market in which constantly improving their products.
2.5 Strategic Choices
Strategy is now a common business word, and is probably the most used and abused term in the business world, but it was not originally used in a business sense. It was first used in popular English literature sometime before 1050. The Greek origin of the word `strategy' is `strategos', which means ‘general’, and in the Byzantine Empire the term was also used in the to describe a military governor (Dai, 1996, p. 54). It is argued by many authors in strategic studies that the concept of strategy is an analogy of or originated from the classical as well as modern military art (James, Mintzberg & Quinn, 1991). Although strategies have been used throughout the history of commerce and industry, the study of strategy as an academic subject did not receive serious attention until the 1960’s (Dai, 1996, p. 14). Nowadays, it is used in the business field with unsurprising familiarity, from the more specific areas of management, finance and, in the context of this paper, marketing. The strategy literature is diverse. Scholars and practitioners have different frameworks for the concept and some do not even agree on a single definition. It is therefore only proper to present as much meaning as possible to acquaint oneself with the various interpretations of strategy.
If the concept is boiled down to its essence, businessmen and entrepreneurs can gain the clearest insight on how thinking strategically can benefit the business venture. There are quite a number of traditional views regarding strategy. According to Porter (1986), strategy is ‘about being different’ and ‘it means deliberately choosing a different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value’. Porter argues that strategy is about competitive position, about differentiating yourself in the eyes of the customer, about adding value through a mix of activities different from those used by competitors. Sidorowicz (2000) gave several definitions, and the following is one of them: ‘Strategy as a definition of the economic and non-economic contribution the organisation intends to make to its stakeholders, where sustained profitability is the legitimate and deserved reward of a job well done’. Tregoe & Zimmerman briefly defined strategy as the framework which guides those choices that determine the nature and direction of an organisation. Kenneth Andrews (1980), meanwhile, presents a lengthy definition of the word:
‘Corporate strategy is the pattern [italics added] of decisions in a company that determines and reveals its objectives, purposes, or goals, produces the principal policies and plans for achieving those goals, and defines the range of business the company is to pursue, the kind of economic and human organisation it is or intends to be, and the nature of the economic and non-economic contribution it intends to make to its shareholders, employees, customers, and communities (pp.18-19).’
Nickols (2000) succinctly gave this meaning of the word: Strategy is all these—it is perspective, position, plan, and pattern. Strategy is the bridge between policy or high-order goals on the one hand and tactics or concrete actions on the other. Strategy and tactics together straddle the gap between ends and means. In short, strategy is a term that refers to a complex web of thoughts, ideas, insights, experiences, goals, expertise, memories, perceptions, and expectations that provides general guidance for specific actions in pursuit of particular ends. Strategy is at once the course we chart, the journey we imagine and, at the same time, it is the course we steer, the trip we actually make. Even when we are embarking on a voyage of discovery, with no particular destination in mind, the voyage has a purpose, an outcome, an end to be kept in view. Given the wealth of literature on the concept, it is hard to come up with a final, unambiguous definition of strategy. Simply, there is no one absolutely correct meaning of the word, that strategy is a broad, ambiguous topic. Each individual, depending on the need, must come to one’s own understanding, definition, and meaning of this diverse term.
If studies on strategy are in profusion, one would be surprised at the doubly large number of studies done on strategic planning. The reason behind this is that there has been acceptance in the business circle that strategic planning, indeed, is the place to start if one wants to go from one point of origin to somewhere. The term has become a catchy buzzword with obvious benefits, less obvious pitfalls, and a variety of meanings. The aura of complexity, importance, and expense it has assumed through popularisation might have confused or discourage business people from adopting it into practice but it is now apparent that this is not the case.
Goodstein, Nolan & Pfeiffer (1993) defined the term as ‘the process by which the guiding members of an organisation envision its future and develop the necessary procedures and operations necessary to achieve that future’ (p. 3). Steiner summarised his meaning of the word in one sentence: ‘Strategic planning is a backbone to support the strategic management’ (p. 4). Bryson (as cited in Alston & Bryson, 2005), defined strategic planning as ‘a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that an organisation (or other entity) is, what it does, and why it does it (p. 3). Cook (2000) gave this meaning of the word: ‘is the technique by which all variables are synthesised and the means by which all energies are dedicated to one real intent. Understanding and commitment are set forth in a plan that is, in effect, both stimulus and expedient’ (p. 4). In the words of Andreas Raps, ‘a well-formulated strategy can only generate a sustainable added value for the company if it is implemented successfully, so regardless of the intrinsic merit of a particular strategy, it can't succeed if an effective implementation procedure is missing’ (2004). Alignment of strategic plan throughout the business could also contribute to the success.
Mercer (1991) said that the main purpose of strategic planning is to provide management with a framework in which decisions can be made which will have an impact on the organisation. A conscious effort to systematise the effort and to manage its evolution is preferable to an unmanaged and haphazard evolution. Goodstein, Nolan & Pfeiffer defined the word as ‘the process by which the guiding members of an organisation envision its future and develop the necessary procedures and operations to achieve that future’ (p. 1). Mercer claimed that strategic thinking entails operational (tactical) planning - the planning of those actions to be taken to put strategies into effect. This type of planning answers the question of how to get the job done. It often consists of specific objectives accompanied by short narrative action plans.
Below is an illustration of the evolution of strategic planning in the private sector (Mercer, 1991, p. 19):
1950's
Early 1960's
Late 1960's
to 1970's
1980's
GENERAL
MANAGEMENT
PROFIT
PLANNING
BUSINESS
PLANNING
STRATEGIC
MANAGEMENT
Business
Survey
Business
Assessment
Business
Assessment
Business
Assessment
Management
Audit
Company
Performance
Company
performance
Environmental
Intelligence
Organisational Studies
Future
environment
Corporate
Strategic Plan
Profit Plan
Objectives
Stake holder’s
expectations
Forecasts
Plans
Strategic
Plan
Division
Strategic Plans
Mission Objectives
Organisation
Effectiveness
Product/Market
Strategy
Resource
allocation
Operational
Plans
Operational
Plans
Performance
Standards
Annual Plans
& Controls
Budgeting
& Control
Annual Plans
& Controls
Budgetary
Control
Budgets
MBO
Control Systems
Lemberg, P (2006) asserted that the word is focused on reaching specific, well-defined goals designed to benefit the organisation as a whole. He said that it is possible to have a number of long-range goals and plans that are quite independent of one another and in fact lead in different directions. Strategic planning is a means of making some very fundamental decisions and charting a course so that short- and long-range planning is more efficiently focused and integrated. The organisation, in the course of strategic planning, must: (1) identify and/or clarify organisational values; (2) develop CEO of vision statement; (3) conduct internal assessment by examining the mission and values statement and composing a list of strengths and weaknesses of organisation; (4) conduct external assessment by composing a list of challenges, obstacles, opportunities and niches; (5) determine what business organisation is in or wants to be in; (6) determine key result areas in which goals will be set; (7) set goals in key result area by developing a consensus on goals and relating it to vision and values; (8) set strategies regarding goals; (9) determine tactics as to how to achieve strategies; and finally; (10) assign accountabilities (O’Neil, 2001). Mercer (1991) said that effective strategic plans include six key elements: (1) an environmental scan (situation analysis, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats--SWOT--analysis, or size-up) including an examination of both external and internal factors; (2) a mission statement which defines the fundamental purpose of the organisation and its boundaries; (3) a set of strategies indicating what will be done to carry out the mission; (4) objectives for each strategy; (5) tactics or short-term operating plans for meeting objectives; and (6) controls, measures, and evaluation steps to determine how well the strategic plan is progressing.
2.6 Implementation analysis
The providing of a strategic marketing methodology as the company needs this implementation process in order to get things started at the right phase of the process that will justify every bit of the situation. Since, possible faulty strategies, inconsistent planning techniques and poor execution account much of the failure the companies are feeling today as they take for granted about the importance of doing careful and thorough strategic planning. Consider the changes in business procurement as business customers have focused on improving efficiencies in their inbound supply chain by consolidating supply contracts, implementing integrated supply agreements, installing e-procurement systems, experimenting with reverse auctions, and rationalising vendors. Today, customers are increasingly using the Internet to bypass sales channels and directly gather product specifications and return information, material safety data sheets and potential suppliers. The challenges to traditional marketing methodology are not direct-buy strategies. Therefore, they are well-positioned to evaluate the business needs of their production partners before implementing new programs for the e-books initiative in order to benefit customers as well as demonstrate a clear return on investment for distributors and dealers. Moreover, evaluations should be conducted and will have to include both quantitative and qualitative assessments. Quantitative measures can include the purchase patterns, pricing abilities and market share. Qualitative assessment can include the strength of the stakeholders’ management, the effectiveness of their growth plans and overall customer experience they offer. Growth plans must be realistic, reflecting the investments and skills required to sell new products and must be able to articulate the reasons why a customer buys from them and have a clear plan for how technology fits into their company since a strategic perspective on an evolving initiative will create a better and more effective go to the market strategy.
In implementation process, Total Quality Management should be emphasised. In definition, Total Quality Management or TQM is a management philosophy that may refer to any number of employee interventions and techniques used to improve quality, and may also be a basic business strategy to provide goods and services that completely satisfy the customers by utilising the employees’ talents while providing a positive financial return to the shareholders (cited in Fredendall and Robbins 1995).
Hackman and Wageman (1995) states for principles that should guide any organisational interventions intended to improve quality. The first principle is to focus on work processes, for the quality of products and services depends most of all on the processes by which they are designed and produced. It is not adequate to only provide clear direction about hoped-for-outcomes, rather, the management must train and coach employees to assess, analyse, and improve work processes. The second principle is analysis of variability, for uncontrolled variance in processes or outcomes is the primary cause of quality problems and must be analysed and controlled by those who perform an organisation’s front-line work. Only when the root causes of variability have been identified are employees in a position to take appropriate steps to improve work processes. In addition, the central problem of management is to understand better the meaning of variation, and to extract the information contained in variation (cited in Hackman and Wageman 1995). The third principle is management by fact, for the process of Total Quality Management calls for the use of systematically collected data at every point in a problem-solving cycle, beginning from determining high-priority problems, through analysing their causes, to selecting and testing solutions. This quality-improvement program is based on collecting data, using statistics, and testing solutions through experiment. Lastly, the fourth principle is learning and continuous improvement, for the long-term health of an enterprise depends on treating quality improvement as a lifetime quest. Opportunities to develop better methods for carrying out work always exist, and a commitment to continuous improvement measures that people will never stop learning about the work they do (Hackman and Wageman 1995).
With the guidance of the discussed principles, companies or business organisations that adopt and implement the concept of Total Quality Management will be in more advantaged than other companies, for TQM has several benefits. Wilson (1995) reports, that through the application of total quality management in a company, the senior management will empower all levels of management, including self-management of the employees to manage quality system. These benefits are grouped into five key areas, namely, continuous improvement, multifunctional teams, reduction in variation, supplier integration, and education and training (Wilson 1995).
2.7 Evaluation analysis
With regards to the evaluation of the performance who are engaged in distribution of apparel in US market, six sigma is considered in this paper. Six Sigma, at its basic level, is attempting to improve both effectiveness and efficiency at the same time (Eckes 2003). It is a highly statistical quality improvement technique, born in the manufacturing bays of Motorola in the mid-1980s, and is often used at an operational level to help cut costs, improve processes, and reduce business cycle times (Blakeslee and Smith 2002).
In definition, Six Sigma means a measure of quality that strives for near perfection, a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects in any process, from manufacturing to transactional and from product to service (‘Six Sigma – What is Six Sigma?’ 2008). In addition, the statistical representation of Six Sigma describes quantitatively how a process is performing, and to achieve this, a process must not produce more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities, where a Six Sigma defect is defined as anything outside of customer specifications. A Six Sigma opportunity is then the total quantity of chances for a defect (‘Six Sigma – What is Six Sigma?’ 2008).
Six Sigma was started in the mid-1980s and here was a quality initiative that had a significant role for management in its implementation. Started at Motorola but popularised in the 1990s by Allied Signal and General Electric, Six Sigma was different from previous approaches to quality improvement (Eckes 2003). With other quality approaches, management played little if any role other than approval of bringing in external consultants to train the workforce, while with Six Sigma, the work begins with management. First, executives create the Process Management system, and before work is done that affects the average worker, management has already spent several months working on identifying and measuring the processes of their organisation (Eckes 2003). Moreover, the process is defined as the series of steps and activities that take inputs provided by suppliers, add value, and provide outputs for their customers. Six Sigma, as a management philosophy instructs management to begin identifying the 20 or 30 most important processes in their business (Eckes 2003). Next management measures the current sigma performance of each of these processes, and then identify the lowest performing processes that have the most direct impact on the company’s business objectives (Eckes 2003).
The strategic Six Sigma principles and practices can help companies to formulate, integrate, and execute new and existing business strategies and missions, to deal with constantly changing and increasingly complex customer requirements, to accelerate innovation, globalisation, and global integration efforts, to facilitate mergers and acquisitions, to ensure effective implementation of e-business ventures with their associated strategies and infrastructure, to drive revenue growth and systemic, sustainable culture change, and to enhance and condense the corporate learning cycle, or the time it takes to translate market intelligence and competitive data into new business practices (Blakeslee and Smith 2002).
2.8 Synthesis
With the continuously tighter global market competition, apparels buying agents in the business environment of Hong Kong are increasingly focusing on their operations to gain market leadership and thus increase profitability. In many organisations—and at many business schools—the boundaries between operations and other functional areas is rigid and nearly impenetrable. Yet as competition heats up and cost-cutting pressures mount, corporations are demanding that all functional areas in the organisation work together to bring products and services to market quickly and cost-effectively. As business sharpens its focus on productivity and cost control, the future belongs to those companies that can integrate operations management theory and practice throughout their enterprise. Recent experience shows that even huge companies are feeling the need to be able to move quickly in the competitive arena. Decentralised organisation structures can enhance the quality of such decisions, while also providing higher managers a greater opportunity to pursue strategic planning. Technological improvements in product design, resource planning software, and manufacturing itself also reduce the time it takes to institute strategic changes.
The field of operations and business management is complex, both in an organisational and in a technical sense. It is especially complex if one intends to exploit the full potential of integral optimisation along the entire value chain from procurement to the final customer. Such a complex field requires sophisticated analysis with sound theoretical foundations. In practice, however, clever strategic analyses will only be successfully realised if they are embedded in a sound approach to the process of strategy formulation and implementation. In view of the many process-related shortcomings in present business practice, it is essential that effective techniques are used to overcome these shortcomings. This, however, is not sufficient. In the long run the major challenge in developing a successful operations strategy may well lie in achieving a synergetic combination of both rigorous technical analysis and effective process facilitation. The high degree of internationalisation in operations management (increasingly, even for smaller firms) has certain implications for managers. An operations manager can become more valuable by developing the skills necessary for conducting business in various settings. These would include language skills and a certain amount of flexibility, understanding, and resourcefulness in dealing with different cultures, as well as more developed decision-making skills needed in handling difficult circumstances with limited, imperfect information.
References:
Alston, F. & Bryson J. (2005). Creating and Implementing your Strategic Plan. California: John Wiley and Sons.
Andrews, K. (1980). The Concept of Corporate Strategy. (2nd Ed.). Illinois: Dow-Jones Irwin.
Blakeslee, J & Smith, D (2002). ‘The New Strategic Six Sigma: The Old Standby Quality Approach, Six Sigma, Can Change Your Organisation’s Culture to Drive Strategy Deployment and Business Transformation’, T&D, vol. 56.
Cook, W. (2000). Strategics: The Art and Science of Holistic Strategy. Connecticut: Quorum Books.
Crainer, S (2002). The Ultimate Business Library : The Greatest Books That Made Management (The Ultimate Series). Capstone.
Dai, X. (1996). Corporate Strategy, Public Policy and New Technologies. London: BPC Wheatons Ltd.
Eckes, G (2003). Six Sigma for Everyone, Hoboken, New Jersey.
Fredendall, L & Robbins, T (1995). ‘Modeling the Role of Total Quality Management in the Customer Focused Organisation’, Journal of Managerial Issues, vol. 7.
Goodstein, L., Nolan, T. & Pfeiffer, J. (1993). Applied Strategic Planning: How to develop a plan that really works. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Grant RM. (2001). Contemporary strategy analysis : concepts, techniques, applications (4th ed ed.). Blackwell Publishers: Malden, MA
Hackman, J & Wageman, R (1995). ‘Total Quality Management: Empirical, Conceptual, and Practical Issues’, Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 40.
James, R., Mintzberg, H. & Quinn, J. (1991). The Strategy Process. New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs.
Kluge J, Licht T, Stein W, McKinsey & Company (2001). Knowledge unplugged : the McKinsey & Company global survey on knowledge management. Palgrave: New York, NY
Lemberg, P. (2008). ‘Strategy as Invention’. Ezine Articles. Retrieved January 17, 2008, http://ezinearticles.com/?Strategy-as-Invention&id=154857.
Leonard-Barton D, Doyle JL. (1996). Commercialisation Technology: Imaginative Understanding of User Needs. In RS Rosenbloom, WJ Spencer (Eds.), Engines of Innovation: U.S. Industrial Research at the End of an Era. Harvard Business School Press: Boston, Massachusetts
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Mercer, J. (1991). Strategic Planning for Public Managers. New York: Quorum Books.
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Chapter 3
Research Methodology
This chapter will focus on the methods and strategies that were used by the researcher in gathering of the information, the assessment of the data, and finally with the completion of the study. The provision of these data is a necessary move to ensure the validity of the information gathered and used for the conclusion, especially based on from whom and where the information were garnered as well as how. The first chapter has already provided the main ideas of the study and the objectives; this chapter will then provide the means in how these aims will be reached.
Each of the sections will be discussed in earnest and will give some clear examples on how the information can be gathered from specific ways. It is recommended that the reader use the stated methods and be able to determine the legitimacy of the information and the techniques that were used for the gathering of the information. Finally, within these sections on strategies, techniques in which the information will be interpreted will be included and give the readers some clearly idea on the direction in which this study is going, as well as the ways in which these gathered information can be used.
3.1 Introduction/purpose
This study employs the descriptive research method, which uses observation and interviews. In this method, it is possible that the study would be convenient and quick since this paper aims to determine the strategic competitive advantage of the business environment for apparels buying agents in Hong Kong for the US market. Descriptive research could also suggest unanticipated hypotheses. Nonetheless, it would be very hard to rule out alternative explanations and especially infer causations. Thus, in this paper it is practical and reliable to use this kind of research approach. This descriptive type of research also utilises observations in the study. To illustrate the descriptive type of research, Creswell (1994) will guide the researcher when he stated: Descriptive method of research is to gather information about the present existing condition. The purpose of employing this method is to describe the nature of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study and to explore the cause/s of particular phenomena. The researcher opted to use this kind of research considering the desire of the researcher to obtain first hand information from the interviewees so as to formulate rational and sound conclusions and recommendations for the study.
All research will possibly involve categorical or numerical data or data that can be use for analysis to help the researcher answer the research questions (Saunders, Lewis,& Thornhill, 2004). Moreover, Saunders et al (2004), defined quantitative as a type of empirical knowledge. Actually, qualitative data are described in expressions of quality (Saunders et al, 2004). Qualitative is the converse of quantitative, which more precisely describes data in terms of quantity (that is, using 'formal' numerical measurement).
3.2 Data & Information required
The research described in this document is based fundamentally on both qualitative research methods. This permits a flexible and iterative approach. During data gathering the choice and design of methods are constantly modified, based on ongoing analysis. This allows investigation of important new issues and questions as they arise, and allows the investigators to drop unproductive areas of research from the original research plan.
Basically, qualitative research is multi-method in focus, involving an interpretative (Saunders et al, 2004), naturalistic approach (Matveev, 2002) to its subject matter. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them. Accordingly, qualitative researchers deploy a wide range of interconnected methods, hoping always to get a better fix on the subject matter at hand. The reasoning process used in qualitative research involves perceptually putting pieces together to make wholes. From this process, meaning is produced. However, because perception varies with the individual, many different meanings are possible.
With this particular study, the researcher utilised both documentary secondary data in the form of articles from books, journals, magazines, and newspapers that are generally about strategic competitive advantage or business management), and interview and company-based secondary data.
3.3 Approach
To come up with pertinent findings and to provide credible recommendations, this study utilises two sources of research: primary and secondary. The primary source of information came from a semi-structured questionnaire (i.e. to USA buyers) and informal interviews (i.e. to Directors, Senior Managers, Accountants and Suppliers Officers of the Hong Kong Agents) conducted by the researcher in accordance to their perceptions regarding strategic competitive advantage. The research target are both staff and clients of apparels buying agents in Hong Kong for the USA Market.
For this research design, the researcher gathered data, collated published studies from different local and foreign universities and articles from management and business journals; and make an analysis of the collected documentary and verbal material. Afterwards, the researcher summarised all the information, make a conclusion based on the null hypotheses posited and provide insightful recommendations.
3.4 Data Organisation
Data collection will begin with an examination of existing casual wears buying agent in Hong Kong under current business environment followed by case study reviews aimed at highlighting how buying agents in Hong Kong are currently operating and which aspects have proven to be effective and which have not. The report will later need to analyse the reasons for this against the background reference work carried out.
Further data will be gathered through internal audits, structured but informal interviews targeting Directors, Senior Managers, Accountants and Suppliers Officers of the Hong Kong Agents. Companies will be selected to cover a sufficiently representative band across the industry.
Data from USA buyers will be obtained through questionnaires sent via electronic mail to existing contacts in the US and by structured interview with USA buyers who are regular visitors to Hong Kong.
The output from the review of existing buying agents in Hong Kong, case studies and USA buyers should provide a factual base to analyse what are the potential benefits of Geographic Position and Supply Chain Management with respect to Competitive Advantage and what is the most effective methodology for their implementation.
3.5 Validity and Reliability test
For validation purposes, the researcher initially submitted a sample of the set of questionnaires and after approval; the initial questioning were conducted to five respondents (clients). After the questions were answered, the researcher e-asked the respondents for any suggestions or any necessary corrections to ensure further improvement and validity of the instrument. The questioning is done through internet messengers (e.g. yahoo, msn, google messengers). With regards to interview of local participants, the researcher examined the content of the interview questions to find out the reliability of the instrument. The researchers then excluded irrelevant questions and changed words that would be deemed difficult by the respondents, to much simpler terms. The researcher excluded the five respondents who were initially used for the validation of the instrument. The researcher also tallied, scored and tabulated all the responses in the provided interview questions.
Furthermore, the researcher adopted the three-stage process devised by Saunders et al (2003, p. 205):
The first stage is assessing the overall suitability of data to research questions and objectives. During this stage, the researcher paid particular attention to measurement validity (measuring / estimating whether the secondary data will result to a valid answer to the research questions and objectives) and coverage (this includes ensuring whether or not the data is wanted and can be included, as well as making sure that sufficient data remain for analyses to be undertaken once unwanted data have been excluded).
The second stage is evaluating precisely the suitability of data for analyses needed to answer and meet the research questions and objectives. In this stage, the researcher made sure of the validity and reliability of the secondary data by assessing how it was previously gathered, who are its sources, and the likes. Also, the researcher was cautious not to commit measurement bias (which can occur due to deliberate distortion of data or changes in the way data are collected) had been paid close attention. The researcher judged whether to use data based on an assessment of costs and benefits in comparison with alternative sources.
To ensure the reliability of interview results, a test-retest was conducted – the researcher administered the same test to the same (or a similar) set of interviewees on two different occasions. This approach assumes that there is no substantial change in the construct being measured between the two occasions. Thus, two tests was conducted – a pretest or a pilot test was done and a post-test. Interviewees are questioned twice themselves. Furthermore, the approaches, structured interview and telephone questionnaire are interview-administered in mode. This also encouraged credibility and accuracy in the interviews.
3.6 Difficulties and Limitation of the research
The study aims to have, as its respondents, staff in apparels buying agents of Hong Kong and US buyers. Should the researcher encounter a scarcity in number of respondents within the area, the researcher will include randomly selected staff of other companies who are related in apparel industry.
The reason for this limitation is enable the study to obtain a level of focus that will not be otherwise possible with a scope that includes a broader area or territory of concern. Moreover, a heterogeneous mixture and number of respondents such as those from Hong Kong and US will require tremendous logistical requirements that are well beyond the economic resources available for this study. Besides, it is unwise to conduct a research that renders it logistically impossible for the researcher to pursue given a limited capability and resources.
This research study only covers the strategic competitive advantage of the business environment for apparels buying agents in Hong Kong for the USA Market. The outcome of this study is limited only to the data gathered from books and journals about strategic competitive advantage, business performance and from the primary data gathered from the result of the semi structured questionnaire and informal interview that will be conducted by the researcher.
References:
Creswell, J.W. (1994)Research Design: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
Guilford, J.P. and B. Fruchter (1973). Fundamental Statistics in Psychology and Education, 5th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Matveev, A.V. (2002). The Advantages Of Employing Quantitative And Qualitative Methods In Intercultural Research: Practical Implications From The Study Of The Perceptions Of Intercultural Communication Competence By American And Russian Managers. Russian Communication Association. New York, U.S.A.
Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2003). Research Methods for Business Students, 3rd Ed. London: Prentice Hall Financial Times.
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