Identifying and prioritizing the core capabilities of top apparel platforms in Iran

To answer the question of why organizations with the same resources in the same industry have different performances, it is possible to conduct research in the field of core capabilities. The current research, with an inductive approach, sought to identify and prioritize the core capabilities of superior clothing platforms.
This research is exploratory in terms of results, applied in terms of purpose, cross-sectional in terms of time, and mixed in terms of approach. In the qualitative part of the research, the core capabilities that have created sustainable success for the top apparel platforms under study were identified by conducting semi-structured interviews with experts, as well as by studying and reviewing the secondary interviews, relying on the thematic analysis method. Then, in the quantitative part of the research, these capabilities were prioritized based on the opinion of experts, by paired comparison. The research sample in the qualitative part was made up of 19 experts who were selected in a purposeful, accessible, and snowball method and based on theoretical saturation. In the quantitative part of the research, 30 experts have formed the sample. The Holsti's coefficient was used to measure the reliability of the qualitative part. In the quantitative part, the inconsistency rate was used to evaluate the validity.
The findings of the research show that the top platforms have six capabilities, which are: customer relationship management, supply chain management, information technology management, marketing and branding, flexibility, and business development.