The globalisation in the clothing sector and its implications for work organisation: a view from the Portuguese case
Abstract
The clothing sector in Portugal is still seen, in many aspects as a traditional sector with some average characteristics, such as: low level of qualifications, less flexible labour legislation and stronger unionisation, very low salaries and low capability of investment in innovation and new technology. Is, nevertheless, a very important sector in terms of labour market, with increased weight in the exporting structure. Globalisation and delocalisation are having a strong impact in the organisation of work and in occupational careers in the sector. With the pressure of global competitiveness in what concerns time and prices, very few companies are able to keep a position in the market without changes in organisation of work and workers. And those that can perform good responses to such challenges are achieving a better economical stability. The companies have found different ways to face this reality according to size, capital and position. We could find two main paths: one where companies outsource a part or the entire production to another territory (for example, several manufacturing tasks), close and/or dismissal the workers. Other path, where companies up skilled their capacities investing, for example, in design, workers training, conception and introduction of new or original products. This paper will present some results from the European project WORKS – Work organisation and restructuring in the knowledge society (6th Framework Programme), focusing the Portuguese case studies in several clothing companies in what concern implications of global context for the companies in general and for the workers in particular, in a comparative analysis with some other European countries.Download Info
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Paper provided by University Library of Munich, Germany in its series MPRA Paper with number 10165.Length:
Date of creation: Jul 2008
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:10165
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Keywords: Clothing Industry; Restructuring; Work; Knowledge Society;Other versions of this item:
- António B. Moniz & Margarida R. Paulos, 2008. "The globalisation in the clothing sector and its implications for work organisation: a view from the Portuguese case," IET Working Papers Series 05/2008, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, IET-Research Center on Enterprise and Work Innovation, Faculty of Science and Technology.
- L67 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Other Consumer Nondurables
- F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
- J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
- F01 - International Economics - - General - - - Global Outlook
- L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
- A14 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Sociology of Economics
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-ALL-2008-08-31 (All new papers)
- NEP-CSE-2008-08-31 (Economics of Strategic Management)
- NEP-KNM-2008-08-31 (Knowledge Management & Knowledge Economy)
- NEP-LAB-2008-08-31 (Labour Economics)
References
References listed on IDEASPlease report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Gersbach, Hans & Schmutzler, Armin, 2005.
"The Effects of Globalization on Worker Training,"
CEPR Discussion Papers
4879, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
- Gersbach, Hans & Schmutzler, Armin, 2006. "The Effects of Globalization on Worker Training," IZA Discussion Papers 2403, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Moniz, António & Woll, Tobias, 2007.
"Main features of the labour policy in Portugal,"
MPRA Paper
6967, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Sep 2007.
- António B. Moniz & Tobias Woll, 2007. "Main features of the labour policy in Portugal," IET Working Papers Series 02/2007, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, IET-Research Center on Enterprise and Work Innovation, Faculty of Science and Technology.
- António Brandão Moniz & Tobias Woll, 2007. "Main features of the labour policy in Portugal," Post-Print hal-00287900, HAL.
- António Moniz & Rogério Puga Leal, 2005. "Editorial Note," Enterprise and Work Innovation Studies, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, IET-Research Center on Enterprise and Work Innovation, Faculty of Science and Technology, vol. 1(1), pages 7, November.
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