IRM Social Media and the Ethically Informed Global Supply Chain

This report analyzes the role of social media in the apparel industry, including its potential to attract more youth buyers and enhance business to customer relationships. It also discusses the importance of sustainable, ethical, and legal practices in the global supply chain of the private sector fashion industry, with a focus on worker rights. The report includes recommendations for companies in the industry to improve their practices.

IRM social media and
the ethically informed
global supply chain

Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Role of social media platforms as a mechanism to improve communication with external customers........3
Discuss the way in which social media platforms can be employed to aid relationship development
within a business to customer relationship in context of apparel industry.................................................5
Discuss how private sector fashion industry that global supply chain adhere with business practices which
are clean, informed ethical and sustainable. While give answer also consider importance of being legally
complaint with all operational practices which are associated with worker rights.......................................6
Recommendations.....................................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................11
References.................................................................................................................................................12

Introduction
Technical advancements which are taking place in current world proved beneficial for
apparel industry. Enhancement in social media proved highly beneficial for fashion industry.
With the increasing use of social media, now companies belong to apparel industry has the scope
to target millennia audience than earlier. Brand can ensure genuine interaction with customers
proper & systematic use of social media (Hodosi and Rusu, 2019).It also helps in enhancing
business to customer relationships which further lead towards long term collaborative
relationship. Apart from this, it also important to ensure that the business practices including
supply chain, daily operations managed ethically, legally for ensuring sustainability in future
period of time. In the current scenario, company of apparel industry is looking forward to expand
business in youth segmentation. The present report includes analysis of market along with the
role of social media in attracting more number of youth buyers. Here, ways to ensure
sustainability, ethics in global supply chain activities within apparel industry has also been
discussed in the report.
Role of social media platforms as a mechanism to improve communication with external
customers
Social media is growing rapidly and has become a crucial medium of exchanging
necessary information with each –other. Now, social media is considered as a vital part of daily
life of individuals. There are some social media apps such as Whatsapp, Face book, Instragram
and more are used by people on daily basis. These platforms also hold an important place in
trade practices. Through the implementation social media practices, now it is possible for
business entities to share short and east messages with customers. For a business entity, it is easy
to connect with buyers through social media. It is often seen that after making purchase, reviews
are sought by business entities through social media (Vieler-Porter, 2020). Almost each and
every business entity has its own social media page where customers can stay in touch with
them. Here, customers can share the reviews, feedbacks and even can tag the company in their
post. It enhances reach of business entity thus they are able to attract more number of potential
buyers. Through the increasing use of social media, customers can easily consult with business.
Here, organization can also address the issues faced by buyers instantly.

Social networking enables company to maintain positive relationship with domestic as
well as foreign customers. Social media is highly potential in making the global image of a
brand. It also helps in increasing brand awareness among local as well as distant customers. In
addition to this, social media also helps in reaching to millions of audience. As thousands of
people visit over social media platforms thus visibility of brand is also increased. It makes people
familiar with the brand that is crucial to stay connected with current & potential buyers in
positive way. Social media platforms increase traffic over website and also allow companies to
increase online sales as people visit to webpage via social. In present scenario, Appearal
Company is looking forward to expand business in youth segment. Youth remains highly active
over social media. Their preferences, choices is also get affected through social media. For
respective company, social media is a great way to communicate with potential buyers. It will
help them to stay connected with existing users and also make it possible to attract new ones. For
As per one of the study, it is examined that nearly 130 million Instragram users tap on shopping
post each and every month. In addition to this, millennial like to watch online videos before
purchase any product and 85 % of out of those purchase products after watching the video (10
Social Media Stats Affecting the Fashion Industry, 2020).
Role of social media in apparel industry is explained with application of 6 C’s model of
social media marketing. Here, factors of this model are mentioned below:
Content Individual can share their own blogs, personal and other social media
interactions which are highly adaptive. Content really plays an
imperative role in fashion industry as it affect buying habits, attitude,
and perception of buyers (Ghadimi and et. al., 2020).
Context With advance algorithms, social media is able to offer valuable insights
to customers. It offers unique services based on the context from which
customers come from.
Commerce Social media is important in e-commerce. With increasing number of
smart phones, social media has become a crucial method of commerce
& trade. With enhancement in social media marketing, it is possible to
trade online to meet with specific requirements of customers of apperal

industry (Leguey-Feilleux, 2017).
Connection Stay connected with potential as well as existing buyers is really worth
in Apparel industry. Whether the interaction is technical, social or casual
but it allows to maintain communication with other people and offer
opportunities to build strong relationships for future.
Community In offline or traditional market, a particular geographic location termed
as community. However, this meaning has been changed with spread of
social media. Here, lager communities are established with the help of
telecommunication, computer systems, social networks and more. It also
offers huge scope to apparel companies to sale products within large
communities.
Conversation Social media network allow companies to stay connected with
customers. By this, they can easily know the choices, preferences of
customers which further help in producing products accordingly. Here ,
certain intelligent advertiser look for such customers who will really like
to purchase their product (AlGhamdi, Win and Vlahu-Gjorgievska,
2020). In apparel industry, marketers are well aware with significance of
social media marketing.
Discuss the way in which social media platforms can be employed to aid relationship
development within a business to customer relationship in context of apparel industry
Social media platform play a crucial role in attracting customers. Social media allows
people to develop as well as share content for the purpose of communication and link building. It
is observed that social media has changed the way in which customers and business entities used
to interact previously. It is regarded as the avenue for real time communication where it is also
possible to provide timely feedback. Converting customers through lead or sale does not mean
that work is done (Derrien and et. al., 2021). Rather, it develops the scope for customer
relationship that is important business process. If, company only offers one-time service to
customers and then does not stay in touch then it is possible that customer will not prefer to that
particular brand.

Social media provide a scope of maintaining long term relationships with customer by replying
their queries timely, addressing feedback, taking reviews and more. These practices facilitates
positive relationship between company and its customers that further leads towards business
enhancement. In apparel industry, keeping in touch with customers is really important in order to
face extensive market competition. There is lower probability of survival of such companies
which are failed in maintaining positive association with buyer. Here, positive association proves
beneficial in different terms. It helps in formulating loyal customer base who stay with company
for longer run (Kling, 2020). Extensive competition is present within apparel industry thus it is
crucial to maintain positive relationship with existing & potential buyers. Word of mouth is one
of imperative ways of publicity. If, customers are satisfied with services of business entity they
also refer it to their friends, known which further enlarge customer base of company. Also, social
media is a great platform of word of mouth marketing & positive publicity. There are a lot of
ways by which an organization can build strong relation with customers. Here, emails, websites,
blogs are some tested ways of relationship building.
To get started with customer relationship building, customer service channel is one of the
best ways. Here, one can make customized web-pages on Twitters, Face Book, Instrgram which
allow customer to put their queries or direct people towards support page. Here, it needs to
ensure that customer get timely response. Give the feeling to customers that how much they
value for business. For this, take their feedback and resolve their queries in timely manner. In
order to stay in apparel industry for longer run, company is required to put constant efforts with
an aim to build positive relationship with existing buyers.
Discuss how private sector fashion industry that global supply chain adhere with business
practices which are clean, informed ethical and sustainable. While give answer also consider
importance of being legally complaint with all operational practices which are associated with
worker rights
Garment industry has the most longest as well as fragmented supply chain across the
world. There are several intermediaries present in between company and end users. Effective
supply chain is an imperative part of each & every industry. This is really true in case of apparel
industry. Due to ever changing trends and limited verities, fashion retailers have to face

complexity in supply chain than other industries. For this purpose stages of apperal supply
chain are mentioned as under:
Design: It is the first step wherein, designs are prepared with proper planning. Here,
companies need to do extensive research in order to prepare appropriate designs as per
requirement of customers (Mourão, Costa and Paul, 2020).
Textile production: Here, raw material is blended, dyed before turning into actual cloth.
This process also caused high emissions & pollution due to use of chemicals and other hazardous
material.
Apparel production: It is about taking the fabric in next step where cutting, piecing and
sewing is done.
Distribution: Every company has a different mechanism to provide end product to
customers. Here, product can either shipped to a warehouse or sent directly to a retailer. In
addition to this, movement of garment is tracked digitally with an aim to maintain adequate
records of supply (Orozco, 2020).
Purchase: It is the final step where garments are purchased by final customers from
retailers or wholesale channel.
Supply chain is crucial aspect of apparel industry but it is also required to ensure the
adherence of sustainable, ethical and legal practices while implementing supply chain
mechanism in business. Clothing is a fundamental need of each and every people belongs from
different nations across the globe. Production of garments causes huge emission which further
pollutes the environment (Modern, 2021). In addition to this, inhuman working conditions &
environmental degradation has also become a major issue in manufacturing of apparel. For this
purpose, global clothing organizations such as Zara, Marks & Spencer, H & M, Nike, Tesco are
commited towards adopting sustainable practices for supply chain. Here, it is required to install
such equipments which are environmental friendly and do not cause emission.

Clothing industry also significantly contributes in overall economic development thus, it
is expected them to follow all ethical and legal practices. Here, leadivg company of apperal
industry understand the value of sustainable practices thus they adopt envirovmental friendly
techniques in order to manage waste and inappropriate function of manufacturing process. In this
way, they are setting an example for other companies within the industry. They follow the best
practices by considering maximum interest of stakeholder. Apart from this, there are several
legal norms, guidelines are set by higher authorities for companies working in apparel industry.
They are required to follow the laws related to equal payment, health and safety at work place,
consumer protection law and more (Snodgrass, 2017). Exploitation of workers is the major issue
within apperla industry. Now, companies are trying to resolve this issue by making adequate
payment to workforce. For this purpose, they follow equality act 2010, health and safety act 1974
and more in order to ensure smooth functioning of business.
In apparel industry, supply chain is relatively long as it includes different parties such as
manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer and more. Here, it is required to maintain a sophisticated
supply chain to minimize lead time & achieve rapid response. Retailers maintain association with
suppliers, organize transactions and also deliver schedule agreements. Globalization has also
increased intermediaries in supply chain of apparel industry which is making it more
complicated and hard to understand. Here a model called porter’s value chain is applied in
context of apparel industry which is mentioned below:
Porter’s value chain focuses on system and also considers the process through which
inputs are changed into outputs. Under this, organization puts effort for creating values so that
they can maintain positive influence over customers. Here, companies create value with
acquisition of raw material and then further use them to produce useful products for customers.
Elements of porter’s value chain are mentioned below:
Inbound logistic: It is related with the process of receiving, storing as well as distributing
the inputs internally. In this, relationship with suppliers is the key aspect of value creation
(Chirwa and Adeyemi, 2020).
Operations: Here, inputs are converted into outputs after significant efforts. Effective
operational management techniques are applied here in order to render value to customers.

Outbound logistics: It is the activity wherein final products are delivered to customers. It
is related with collection storage and distribution system.
Marketing or sales: These activities are implied to persuade customers so that they prefer
to a particular company over competitors. Main aim of this is to persuade customers in such a
way that they get attracted towards product & services.
Services: It is related with maintaining relationship with customers when it has been
purchased.
In fashion industry, companies are likely to follow sustainable, ethical and legal practices as
they have understood the significance of sustainability within industry. They follow, CSR
practices and also embark innovative techniques in business in order to develop unique and
creative products. They contribute towards social well being by improving quality of products
and generating employment opportunities. In addition to this, operational techniques also play an
imperative role in producing quality products. Here, companies in apperal industry make sure to
install effective operational tools and techniques in order to minimize wastage during production
process. These operational techniques not only help in production but also play an imperative
role in facilitating smooth business process. now economic efficiency & sustainability both are

considered as two part of a coin. These both elements are significantly associated with each-
other (Hornstein, 2018). For maintaining economic efficiency in business, it is vital to follow
sustainable practices which are favorable for environment as well. In order to maintain positive
social image, companies are likely to follow CSR practices. As a result, they invest a significant
part of profit for social well being. It not only helps in improving supply chain practices but also
formulates positive image of brand in market. Therefore, companies in apparel industry put
significant efforts in order to maintain efficient supply chain with implementation of ethical,
sustainable and legal practices.
Recommendations
From the above analysis, it can be recommended that improving the role of social media to
enhance communication and improving global supply chain activities will be discussed is as
follows;
 firstly, it would be recommended that, knowledge sharing and collaboration between
employee as well as potential customers about product and services. This will provide a
great opportunity and diverse expertise to organisation. However, internal discussion
boards or social media allows employee to exchange ideas and experiences.
Additionally,these ideas and experiences employee can apply to influence customers and
assist to keep connected with them. This knowledge sharing also enhance the
communications with external customers and development of relationship among
employee within organisation.
 Secondly, it would be recommended that blogging is also a useful thing to post entries or
understanding the reviews of customers on behalf of the organisation. The blog related to
business can be aimed at attracting the attention of potential customers and attention of
potential employee. The blogging can be both external or internal to improve the process
of business. This means company can easily promote a brand or company and
disseminating information out to customers. Consequently, this assist organisation to how
stay connected with its employee and external customers.
 The recommendation of improvement of global supply chain within fashion industry.
Firstly, the industry will hold intermediate inventory or safety stock, if alternate
suppliers are not available immediately, the supplier of fashion industry determine how

much stock to hold in inventory, in what form and where in value chain. This process will
eliminate to most popular practice of just-in-time replenishment and lean inventories.
This practice of inventory and safety stock will cut all the costs of a disruption, including
the lost revenues and higher prices have to be paid for materials.
 Secondly, Take advantages from process innovation as firms will re-locate the parts of
supply chain, some time ask their suppliers to move with them, or sometimes bring some
production in back house. The transplanting a production line or setting up a new one is
an opportunity to make the major process of improvements. This is because as part of
change, that can unfreeze the organizational routines and make new designs to original
process.
CONCLUSION
From, the above report the conclusion of the topic is as follows; the role of social media
by using the modern technologies such as social media. This can help organisation to improve
the supply chain management. It can also create more visibility to improve communication and
reduce operational and cost of labour. The more efficient supply chain can easily enhance
satisfaction of customers. Apart from this, report also consists of what are the role of social
media platform to enhance communication, this assist to improve relationship and development
of business organisation by applying different strategies within business. In addition, how
fashion enterprise can improve its global supply chain activities as well as operational practices
that is linked with workers right and its supply chain.

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