Corporate strategies and clothing supply chains reshaping towards the United States: Levi Strauss & Co firm’s situation


Estrategias corporativas y reconfiguración de las cadenas de proveeduría del vestido hacia Estados Unidos: el caso de la firma Levi Strauss & Co.


https://doi.org/10.21670/ref.2009.20.a04

Authors

  • Guadalupe García de León P. Universidad de Sonora.

Keywords:

Levi Strauss & Co., global apparel networks, NAFTA, international trade, competitive strategies

Abstract

This article presents a summary of the corporate strategies of the Levi Strauss & Co. firm, a company that has had an important role in each one of the phases of Mexico’s process of integration into the global apparel production: the integration under the shared–production programs, the first stage of NAFTA, and the current stage of decline of Mexican exports and re–positioning of China. The central argument is that, by analyzing the competitive strategies of the leading firms of global apparel networks—as in the case of Levi’s—, we can get closer to the restructuring logic of these networks and understand the changing terms of the international insertion of the countries and firms involved, as in the case of Mexico.

Resumen

Este artículo presenta un recuento de las estrategias corporativas de la firma Levi Strauss & Co., empresa que ha tenido un papel protagónico en cada una de las fases del proceso de integración de México a la producción global de prendas de vestir: la integración bajo los programas de producción compartida; la primera etapa del TLCAN; y la etapa actual de caída de las exportaciones mexicanas y reposicionamiento de China. El argumento central es que analizando las estrategias competitivas de las firmas líderes de las redes globales del vestuario –como es el caso de Levi’s–, nos podemos acercar a la lógica de reestructuración de estas redes y entender los términos cambiantes de inserción internacional de los países y firmas involucradas, como es el caso de México.

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Published

2009-07-01

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Author Biography

Guadalupe García de León P.

Doctora en Relaciones Internacionales Transpacíficas. Departamento de Economía de la Universidad de Sonora.