International competitive strategies of Italian jeans manufacturers in the global growth markets

Abstract

This work will analyse Italian apparel and jeans firms in order to understand how they remain competitive in the international scenario. However, since the difference between apparel companies in general and firms specialized only in denim jeans is almost disappear, the analysis will proceed in parallel, showing that the set of strategies applied by apparel firms are also related to jeans brands. The path followed in this study will go from global to local, namely from the international apparel and jeans market to a specific case study; in this way, the similarities and the differences between Italian and foreign apparel and jeans firms will be highlighted. Moreover, this study aims to be a useful tool for those firms which are deciding to expand abroad; indeed, the import-export analysis together with the forecasts about future growth have allowed us to find which could be considered as the strategically most important countries for what concerns both delocalization of production and internationalization of sales. For what concerns international production, it was found that Bangladesh represents the main partner for Italian firms and the expected growth confirm this also for the near future. In general, Italian apparel and jeans companies rely on a transnational network of subcontractors spread among the Mediterranean area and the Far East so as to be able to choose the best option in each case (in general, the trade-off is between low prices and high quality). As regards potential target markets, the analysis found four main locations: China, Russia, South Korea and Poland. These could be viewed as the most interesting markets for a firm deciding to enter a new country. Among the four, China is about to become the most important one, the market in which each apparel company should invest. Therefore, this study tried to give not only an overview of how Italian apparel and jeans firms stay competitive on the global scene but also a real picture of which markets should actually be approached. Of course, there is still much room left to perform more accurate analysis on expected growth. Indeed, in the trade-off between simplicity and accuracy, it has been decided to rely more on simplicity in order to give clear and immediate answers to be used as a first tool in the decision process