Purpose

This paper aims to analyze the ethical responses of the fashion industry to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic when the entire world was shocked by the rapid spread of the virus. The authors describe lessons from emergency ethics of care in the fashion industry during the initial months of COVID-19, which can assist fashion managers in improving ethical decisions in future operations.

Design/methodology/approach

Rapid qualitative research methods were employed by conducting real-time, in-depth interviews with key informants from multinational fashion companies operating in Spain, a severely affected region. A content analysis of news articles published during the first months of 2020 was conducted.

Findings

Five critical disruptions in the fashion industry were identified: (1) changes in public needs, (2) transportation and distribution backlogs, (3) defective and counterfeit supplies, (4) stakeholder relationships at stake and (5) managers' coping challenges. Additionally, five business survival responses with a strong ethics of care component were identified, implemented by some fashion companies to mitigate the damage: (1) adapting production for public well-being, (2) enhancing the flexibility of logistic networks, (3) emphasizing quality and innovation, (4) reinventing stakeholder collaborations and (5) practicing responsible leadership.

Originality/value

Despite the well-documented controversies surrounding unethical practices within the fashion industry, even during COVID-19, our findings inform managers of the potential and capability of fashion companies to operate more responsibly. The lessons learned can guide fashion companies' operations in a post-pandemic society. Furthermore, they can address other grand challenges, such as natural disasters, geopolitical conflicts and climate change.

中文翻译：

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谨慎应对：西班牙 COVID-19 大流行期间时尚行业的道德措施

目的

本文旨在分析当全世界都为病毒的迅速传播感到震惊时，时尚界对第一波 COVID-19 大流行的道德反应。作者描述了 COVID-19 最初几个月时尚行业紧急护理道德的经验教训，这可以帮助时尚经理改善未来运营中的道德决策。

设计/方法论/途径

采用快速定性研究方法，对在受灾严重的西班牙运营的跨国时装公司的主要知情人进行实时、深入的采访。对 2020 年前几个月发布的新闻文章进行了内容分析。

发现

确定了时尚行业的五个关键颠覆：（1）公共需求的变化，（2）运输和分销积压，（3）有缺陷和假冒的供应，（4）利益相关者关系受到威胁以及（5）管理者的应对挑战。此外，一些时装公司还确定了五种具有强烈关怀道德成分的企业生存应对措施，以减轻损害：(1) 调整生产以促进公共福祉，(2) 增强物流网络的灵活性，(3)强调质量和创新，(4) 重塑利益相关者合作，(5) 实行负责任的领导。

原创性/价值

尽管围绕时尚行业内不道德行为的争议有据可查，即使在新冠肺炎 (COVID-19) 期间，我们的研究结果仍让管理者了解时尚公司更负责任地运营的潜力和能力。汲取的经验教训可以指导时尚公司在大流行后社会的运营。此外，它们还可以应对其他重大挑战，例如自然灾害、地缘政治冲突和气候变化。