Re-framing fashion : from original and copy to adaptation

This article discusses the interaction between original and adaptation in the fashion system; the study also analyses, at a micro level, practices of adaptation adopted by consumers when making and re-making fashionable clothes. The article shows that the distinction between original and copy is historically determined as it grew out of the romantic notion of the authentic work of art. This article suggests that, in the impossibility to determine copyright in fashion, adaptation is a better descriptor of practices that transform garments; the concept of adaptation also abolishes trite notions of fashion as pastiche or bricolage, arguing for as a way to look at the many variations and re-contextualisations of garments historically and cross-culturally.

Technology strategy : findings from adoption and adaptation of Japanese manufacturing management (JMM) to ASEAN and Australasian automotive manufacturers

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the appropriateness of “Japanese Manufacturing Management” (JMM) strategies in the Asian, ASEAN and Australasian automotive sectors. Secondly, the study assessed JMM as a prompt, effective and efficient global manufacturing management practice for automotive manufacturing companies to learn; benchmark for best practice; acquire product and process innovation, and enhance their capabilities and capacities. In this study, the philosophies, systems and tools that have been adopted in various automotive manufacturing assembly plants and their tier 1 suppliers in the three Regions were examined. A number of top to middle managers in these companies were located in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Viet Nam, and Australia and were interviewed by using a qualitative methodology. The results confirmed that the six pillars of JMM (culture change, quality at shop floor, consensus, incremental continual improvement, benchmarking, and backward-forward integration) are key enablers to success in adopting JMM in both automotive and other manufacturing sectors in the three Regions. The analysis and on-site interviews identified a number of recommendations that were validated by the automotive manufacturing company’s managers as the most functional JMM strategies.