管理科学与工程系学术论坛第九十八讲

主 题：Sustainability in the Fast Fashion Industry

主讲人: Xiaoyang Long (School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison)

时 间：2019-07-10 12:00

地 点：明德商学楼504室

语 言：中英文

讲座摘要：   

A fast fashion system allows firms to react quickly to changing consumer demand by replenishing inventory (via quick response) and introducing more fashion styles. In this paper, we study the environmental implications of the fast fashion business model by analyzing its implications for product quality, variety, and inventory decisions. We find that a key driver of low product quality in the fast fashion industry is the firm’s incentive to introduce multiple styles in the presence of uncertain fashion trends. When variety is endogenous, quality decreases as consumers become more sensitive to fashion or as the cost of introducing new styles decreases. We also identify conditions under which expected leftover inventory increases as the firm’s fast fashion capabilities increase. To counter the environmental impact of the fast fashion business model due to low quality and overproduction, we assess the effectiveness of three environmental initiatives (waste disposal regulations, consumer education, and post-consumer recycling programs). We show that waste disposal policies which reduce the firm’s leftover inventory could have the unintended consequence of lowering product quality. We also compare firm-owned versus third-party recycling programs and propose a revenue-sharing scheme which could induce higher levels of recycling rate and product quality—while increasing the system’s total profit.

主讲人简介：

Xiaoyang Long joined the Wisconsin School of Business after completing her Ph.D. in Operations Management at the HKUST. She also holds a B.A. in Physics from Princeton University. Her research has been published on Management Science and Manufacturing & Service Operations Management.