the role of sourcing agents in global apparel supply chains

sent prior to data analysis, but no third follow-up was attempted due to time constraints.
The agents that responded represented a range of product expertise in apparel from
jewelry and accessories to women’s dresses. The sourcing agents also represented
various countries and regions including Pakistan, China, South Korea, and Taiwan, and
Central America.
Operations and Sourcing Managers for American Firms
The industry operations managers and sourcing managers participating in the
study were also selected from established industry contacts. Each participant holds at
least a production decision-making role for a domestically operated apparel firm.
Industry operations managers and sourcing managers are those individuals responsible
for determining how an apparel firm’s supply chain is organized. For instance, these
individuals make the decisions about which countries and factories will produce the
goods for the firm and also whether a sourcing agent will be used in the process of
producing the apparel off shore. These participants were trained and working in either
operations or sourcing that have adequate knowledge of the processes and procedures
used to communicate and facilitate business with the firm’s sourcing agents and overseas
production. A total of 10 industry professionals were sent requests to participate in the
study. Of the 10 requests, four completed the interview process. All 10 industry
professionals were contacted in January 2010 and given four weeks to respond to the
initial request for an interview. As with the sourcing agents, a second request was sent to
the potential operations managers, but only four were able to complete the interview in
time for the data analysis. One contact never responded at all to the request, but all
others indicated interest in participating in the study even if they could not complete the
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