Product details

MAS is an apparel supplier to the world''s leading brands. Beginning January 2005, a quota-free international textile trade regime will replace country-specific textile quotas for goods entering WTO (World Trade Organisation) member states. Small apparel manufacturers are not expected to survive - Chinese firms could corner as much as 50% of the worldwide market. The case looks at how MAS should be organised to best meet customer demands in a rapidly changing, fashion-driven industry where both speed and flexibility in operations are critical to success. How vertically integrated should MAS become? Should it invest in building a retail brand? Or should it go downstream and bring raw material suppliers in-house? Or instead focus on configuring its supply chain to optimise its existing business processes? How should MAS manage and deploy its IT (information technology) systems to improve knowledge sharing and information management capabilities across the organisation, and perhaps strive for a competitive edge?