HOW DO CULTURAL AND POLITICAL FACTORS AFFECT THE CLOTHING MARKET IN THE MIDDLE EAST?

How do cultural and political factors affect the clothing market in the Middle East?

How do cultural and political factors affect the clothing market in the Middle East?

Methodology

This is the first exploratory study carried out with fashion retailers trading in the Iran and hence the approach was based on the three stages of QRI identified by KSA (1997a) and previous research by Fiorito et al. (1995, 1998). A structured questionnaire was created to enable assessment of the level of QRI by retailers operating in the Iran and to facilitate some comparisons to be made between implementation in the Iran and USA. The main purpose of this exploratory survey was to evaluate retailer understanding of QR concepts and the degree of implementation of relevant technologies to support QR. The four page questionnaire consisted of 35 questions. The introductory section identified the company, the name of the interviewee and their position. The next six questions based on Fiorito et al. (1995, 1998) identified whether the company had a QR sourcing programme, used automatic replenishments or ECR; how many years these processes had been used; how the respondent would define QR; if the company used at least one EDI or Internet transaction set for the exchange of basic business documentation; the level of formality of the QR process; and how the QR process is operational zed. The next sections were developed using KSA suggestions for the three stages of QRI. This section comprised 20 questions and used a scalar response of 1 to 5 where 5 indicated a high level of implementation. The final two sections identified the perceived benefits and disadvantages of QRI; whether the company was planning to increase the level of QR; who or what was the driving force for QRI; and concluded with questions to identify the size of the company. The questionnaire was completed either in a face-to-face interview or via e-mail at the respondent's preference. Thus, a combination of approaches was used to get the most knowledgeable person in the company to complete the survey.

Senior managers responsible for supply chain management, area managers or senior store managers were approached for initial interviews. Many companies refused to take part in the survey and this is a constant problem for researchers when dealing with Iran retail managers who regard company information as confidential. However, in all 30 companies agreed to participate in the study. These were a combination of department stores (3), variety retailers (2), specialist fashion retailers (9), supermarkets (1), independent retailers (7), discounters (1) and wholesalers with retail outlets (7). All sold in the main women swear and menswear (16), women swear only (10), menswear only (1) and footwear exclusively (3). In terms of market share, these respondents have approximately 4,480 outlets and 38 per cent of the clothing market in the Iran, representing a sales volume of rial11.42 billion (Key Note, 2000). In addition, a small number of these retailers have an international ...