ABSTRACT
Lead times in production have shrunk because of the need for global fast response to the change in trends. Global fast response can only be achieved through relying on the production platforms of multinational corporations (MNCs). As a whole, MNCs dominate the apparel industry in all its facets (Gereffi, 1999). The reasons for this internationalization of the apparel production function have to do with trade policies* as well as the previously discussed trends in global brand proliferation. As a result of successful global brand proliferation, today all global branded retailers are MNCs. These retailers are able to extend their economic power by exerting control over prices through pressuring the independent labels they carry to compete on price by using their growing volume of private-label production as leverage (Miroux and Sauvant, 2005, p. 5). Branded retailers also achieve control over their suppliers by leveraging the services of new suppliers while maintaining a relationship with existing suppliers that have the capabilities to respond to fast change. This platform is referred to as category management (Sheridan et al., 2006).
