Internationalization and the Dutch fashion industry

In today's global world, it is hard to deny that organizations are increasingly internationalizing in order to remain competitive, to access growth markets and resources and to reduce operating costs. Access to global resources and markets has had profound impact on many industries, the fashion industry being only one example. Since the 1970s, manufacturing in the fashion industry has undergone significant changes, leading to the fragmentation of the value chain and the decline of fashion/textile manufacturing in developed countries. As in other developed countries, the manufacturing of clothing and textiles in the Netherlands has been largely, if not completely, off-shored, making it essential for Dutch fashion firms to engage with international partners.

The series of studies in the book, Internationalization and the Dutch Fashion Industry, explore the inward and outward internationalization of small- and medium-sized fashion firms and ask three main questions: 
*	What attracts fashion entrepreneurs to a city?
*	How do fashion firms manage quality control in international production partnerships?
*	How do they monitor corporate social responsibility of their international production partners?

Key employees of fashion firms (founders, designers, CEOs and production managers) were interviewed for this research and uncovered important insights into i) how the young fashion designer accesses critical resources in two comparable cities, Amsterdam and Berlin, and ii) how international supplier relationship characteristics and control mechanisms affect quality management and social responsibility issues.

About the editors:

Lori DiVito
Dr. Lori DiVito (PhD) is a senior lecturer at the International Business School, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and a researcher at the Center for Applied Research in Economics and Management. She conducts international comparative research and focuses on understanding the dynamics of knowledge-intensive and science-based firms, including their formation, internationalization and innovation strategies, given their national and sectoral institutional environment. She is (co) author of several articles on science-based entrepreneurship and is currently engaged in a research project on sustainable entrepreneurship.

Willem van Winden
Dr. Willem van Winden (PhD) is a professor at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and the Amsterdam Knowlegde Economy Research Group. He is an expert in the field of urban and regional economic development and strategies. He was involved in numerous international studies and projects in these fields. Recent research and advisory work include a variety of topics, (but always related to urban development): developing science parks and other 'knowledge locations'; regional-economic aspects of climate adaptation; regional knowledge-based economic development; new methods of mapping the local knowledge economy; regional clusters&innovation; finding solutions for vacant office and retail space; entrepreneurship in distressed neigborhoods. Dr. van Winden is (co) author of several books and many articles in the field of urban and regional development, strategies and policies. He is the president of the Research Council of the School of Economics and Management of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. Also he runs his own consultancy firm, UrbanIQ.