Sustainability in the fast fashion industry
Speakers
Javad Nasiry
Professor, Operations Management; Director, Sustainable Growth Initiative (SGI), Desautels Faculty of Management McGill University
Javad Nasiry is a professor of Operations Management at McGill’s Desautels Faculty of Management where he joined in 2019. He is the director of Sustainable Growth Initiative (SGI) which is a cross-faculty initiative to mobilize the talent and expertise within McGill University to help businesses move towards more socially and environmentally sustainable business models.
His main research interests are in behavioural operations, supply chain management, sustainability, retail operations, and operations-marketing interface. His research in sustainable operations focuses on the environmental consequences of new business models in apparel, renewable energy, and agriculture industries.
Prior to joining McGill, he was an associate professor of operations management in the School of Business and Management at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) where he joined in 2010.
| Date: |
| Friday, 28 April 2023 |
| Time: |
| 10:00 am - 11:30 am |
| Venue: |
|
Institute of Data Science Innovation 4.0 I4-01-03 (Level 1, Seminar Room) 3 Research Link Singapore 117602 (Map) |
Abstract
We establish a much-needed link between the fast fashion business model and its environmental consequences. A fast fashion system allows firms to react quickly to changing consumer demand by replenishing inventory (via quick response) and introducing more fashion styles. We study the environmental impact 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 offer variety to hedge against 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 assess the effectiveness of three environmental initiatives (waste disposal regulations, consumer education, and production tax schemes) in countering the environmental impact of fast fashion.