27
June
2019
|
15:06
Europe/London

Dr Amy Benstead receives IJOPM award

Dr Amy Benstead, Lecturer in Fashion Management in the School of Materials, has collected a prestigious award for her paper on modern slavery published in a 4* journal. The award forms part of the publisher’s ‘Emerald Literati Awards for Excellence’, celebrating high quality scholarly research.

Presented at the European Operations Management Association (EurOMA) Conference 2019 in Helsinki, Finland, the International Journal of Operations and Product Management (IJOPM) Highly Commended Paper Award is given for a paper with a unique contribution to the field that is innovative, timely and well executed.

Dr Benstead's paper, "Horizontal collaboration in response to modern slavery legislation: An action research project", is an investigation into collaboration amongst brands and retailers in the textiles and fashion industry in response to modern slavery legislation.

Modern slavery is an important global issue that is affecting the textiles and fashion industry given the growing demand for cheap, fast fashion - which can lead to worker exploitation. This research advances knowledge on the creation of socially-sustainable competitive advantage (eg cost savings, knowledge sharing and enhanced reputation) through horizontal collaboration. 

A key breakthrough is in understanding how competing buyers collaborate with one another. Previous research has focused on vertical collaboration between buyers and their suppliers, particularly in a socially-sustainable supply chain context. Successful horizontal collaboration is dependent on both relational capital (eg trust and commitment) and effective (formal and informal) governance mechanisms (eg legislation and the involvement of non-governmental organisations and trade bodies). 

Dr Benstead's research provides managers with examples of how successful collaborative relationships can be formed in response to new legislation.

The Editor in Chief of the IJOPM presented the award to Dr Benstead. He said: "With this award, we hope that other authors will follow your path and pursue research that is as exciting and relevant as yours."

Dr Benstead's research can also be viewed In Abstract.

 

I am delighted to receive an award from a leading journal for my modern slavery research, which raises awareness of an important global issue in the context of supply chain management.
Dr Amy Benstead, Lecturer in Fashion Management, The University of Manchester

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