Textile industry mainly focusing on garment and clothing manufacturing has been redefined to support economic growth and increase opportunities of employment in Cambodia. Textile companies have competitive advantage of low production costs, ample labour availability and high economic value which has provided means to increase growth and productivity within this country. It also holds beneficial status of Most Favoured Nation (MFN) from United States in 1996 and access to quota free and duty free under Arms-General System of Preferences (GSP) given by European Union in 2001.
Clothing manufacturers in Cambodia receive many advantages in form of low-cost production and high level of human resources which can work in supporting/increasing exporting finished products (here textile) to global market. Moreover, introduction of labour movement (1990) in Cambodia has identified interconnected challenges, for textile industries, in the form of industrial relations, production capabilities and working conditions. It was also noticed that women workers were available in very few numbers within garment manufacturing industries, however, after this movement, significant number of women started working in textile companies to support economy of the country. Textile industry in Cambodia has been one of the prime contributors to growth of GDP in Cambodia by featuring export processing zones which have low value-added cut, make and pack (CMP) working activities based on foreign inputs. It has been observed that analysation of relationship between innovation and economic performance of garment industry is dominated by individual technical progress instead of implying collective approach for human resources, machines and equipment.
The concept of competitiveness is widely present in clothing manufacturing market which is completely based on ability to export materials. Improvements related to exporting goods (textile) can be considered by analysing technological methods and improving relations between export and performance. These factors will significantly increase growth and development of garment manufacturers in Cambodia. There has been significant changes in technological innovation which has transformed and increased the productivity in multiple processes like machinery, knowledge management of human resources, plant blueprints and products in garment/clothing manufacturers of Cambodia, moreover attempts have been made to register knowledge based resources such as patents; industrial designs, layouts and copyrights for commercial activity increment in textile companies of this country. In terms of export process, factor of competitiveness plays a major role in increasing business of clothing because major economic activity of this industry relies on international export markets, specially those of USA and Europe.
Exports have been known to increase size of market, firms of textile industry can improve their competitiveness factor with help of technological innovation, however, there is no relation found between performance and exports. For instance, a company A and B operates in Cambodia, export from A are more because of its trust, loyalty and angel funding while B has applied latest technical equipment but is unable to maintain relations. From this example, it can be made clear that increasing export would need social factor along with technological improvements. Furthermore, researchers have identified three levels of tasks and associated capabilities which are, simple and experience based is defined as first level; for research and development (R&D) undertaking, intermediate level can be adaptive and duplicative; and the advanced level is innovative but also contains risk.
Technological changes related to manufacturing level in textile industries of Cambodia develops changes in processes, production layout, infrastructure and finished products. According to Oslo manual, first published in 1992 as international reference guide for collecting and using data on innovation, measurement of innovation changes is achievable in patents, industrial designs, copyright of blueprints, machinery, equipment and final products; but it is difficult to recognise actual value for generation of new knowledge. In order to increase productive development of clothing manufacturers in Cambodia, systematic management for employment poses as one of the major objectives for entrepreneurs and government authorities. In order to create work specific employees for textile business, employers can create learning modules, training programs for knowledge-based skill development for people from urban and rural parts of Cambodia, while more focus can be given to rural residents.
This method can be applied with help of capital investment and responsible management teams for human resources; however, time management is one of the most important factors in this process when considering competition in export oriented global market. Once human resources have achieved significant development, then productive changes will become visible in production processes, management structure, workstation layouts, time management and maintaining best output quality of finished products. From analysis of export-oriented firm engaged in clothing manufacturing process within Cambodia, it has been observed that there are higher values of labour, employment and intensity for innovation when compared with organisations holding domestic market rather than global. Since, Cambodia features in underdeveloped or developing countries, there can be challenges related to raising capital investments, increasing international market boundaries, maintenance/purchase for good quality of machines, high quality raw material and efficient employees; these can be overcome by analysing types of investments and applying cost reducing methods wherever possible, which can increase development process of clothing manufacturers and then it will further benefit Indian clothing/ textile manufacturers. Considerations from these types of improvement methods can also increase efficiency of export in Indian textile industries.
From the performance structure and market recognition of OxymCrafts, it can be understood that management teams have carefully analysed all the concepts lying within globalisation. This firm has considered use of highest quality of raw material, efficient machines from reliable firms, trained labour for making processes productive, and equipping best quality of finished clothes/garments in order to stay ahead from their competitors. These steps have established value of trust between customers/clientele of Oxym Crafts which has increased their marketing activity and generated more revenues in terms of profits. From this approach, it can be identified that positive changes made within industry can also help develop a successful venture and managing external factors become convenient as well by identifying targeted policies and using them to increase sales and hence giving high output in profits.