Business activities, competitive resources and ownership types of Chinese textile and apparel manufacturing firms

This study aimed to gain a deep and timely understanding about the stature of textile and apparel (T&A) manufacturers in China, whose industry appears to be transitioning from the growth to the mature phase of the industry life cycle. The texts under ‘About Us’ or ‘Company Information’ available on firms' websites were coded following Barney's (Barney, J., 1991 Barney, J. 1991. Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1): 99–120. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17 (1), 99–120) resource-based theory of the firm framework. The results of Mann–Whitney and Chi-square tests of the coded data were consistent with the thesis that Chinese T&A industries might be in transition from the growth to the mature phase of the life cycle, shifting their business bases from manufacturing to retailing, designing and marketing, while putting emphasis on general operational resources, organisational knowledge and learning resources. Firms with foreign ownership or partnership were more likely engaged in non-manufacturing, value-added business activities than domestic firms. The study concludes with implications, limitations and future research opportunities.