An evaluative study of innovation and competitiveness in selected local small, medium apparel companies in Metro Manila

• Main Authors: Ang, Jann Kevin, Chua, Jennibel, Kim, Yoon Tae, Xu, Stephanie
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2013
• Subjects: Business Administration, Management, and Operations
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/17941
• Institution: De La Salle University

The Philippine apparel sector has encountered several challenges but is still able to be a thriving industry. There are a lot of external factors that are affecting the apparel industry and the local SMEs. The government is one of the factors that played a key role for the development of the apparel industry. Different initiatives were done by the government like the Save Act Bill, research on textiles, etc. however, the local apparel SMEs seem not to feel the support of the government. Other external factors that affect SMEs consist of education, environment, lack of infrastructure for the textile industry, new technologies, insufficient capital, high labor and electricity cost, and changing fashion trends. Given these challenges, the local apparel SMEs are continually making their effort to compete in the apparel industry through the use of innovation whether in product, process, or market. In this study, the researchers used two companies, namely Nelle's Dress Shop and St. Patrick Babies Wear to evaluate what innovations they currently use and how these innovations helped the companies to be competitive. The researchers also interviewed fashion designers, consultants, and professors on how they think about the apparel industry and the domestic market and what knowledge they can share about innovation.