the role of sourcing agents in global apparel supply chains

for the growth of global supply chains. Sourcing agents have been integral to the rapid
growth in imports of apparel to the United States.
From 1989 to 2004, apparel goods imported to United States tripled, from $21
billion to $65 billion, accounting for more than 60 percent of apparel sold in the USA as
of 2004 (Abernathy, Volpe, & Weil, 2006). Given this growth, it is imperative that both
academicians and industry leaders understand the mechanisms that have facilitated the
flow of goods within the supply chain. Dacin (2002) wrote that “there is still little known
about the mechanisms that drive the waxing and waning of the power of institutions
across time” (p. 53). The proposed research addresses the role of sourcing agents as
governing mechanisms facilitating the global production and movement of goods within
the apparel industry. As part of this paper, global apparel supply chains are considered
an institution, with sourcing agents structurally positioned as governing actors that
facilitate trade within the institution.
History of Global Apparel Supply Chains
During the U.S. Civil War, the South was severely hindered by a loss of cotton
trade with Great Britain (Kunz & Garner, 2007). Even before the U.S. Civil War, many
countries were trading textile goods such as silk produced in China and transported to
Italy for further trade (Kunz & Garner, 2007). Both cotton trade with Great Britain and
silk trade in China represent the effort by manufacturers and marketers to find the best
possible materials and products despite the locations of those materials. Still today,
retailers seek the greatest possible return on assets through various strategies including
finding the most efficient, profitable and socially acceptable locations to produce goods.
Thus, the world has evolved into a large bed of economic opportunity for retailers. For
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