Textile and Apparel Industries

Cross-functional Skills: Defining Its Meaning

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Abstract

The fashion industry is going through rapidly changing consumer behaviors, increasing digitalization, and complex globalization and industry executives are calling attention to the critical importance of skills such as adaptability and team collaboration in this fast-changing marketplace. These diverse skill sets are commonly referred to as cross-functional skills but there is limited evidence that the definition of cross-functional skills in the fashion industry exists, preventing the assessment of fashion students' aptitude in the required cross-functional skills and evaluating students' preparedness for the workplace.  Therefore, the aim of this study was to review how this term is being used in the general literature so as to propose a new conceptual definition of cross-functional skills specfic to fashion professionals and the industry's changing skill needs. 

Keywords: cooperation, integration, coordination, collaboration, skills, cross-functional, cross-functionalskills

How to Cite:

Leiby, N. & Ha-Brookshire, J. E., (2020) “Cross-functional Skills: Defining Its Meaning”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 77(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.12059