Travels of a T-Shirt

In The Travels of a T-shirt in The Global Economy we saw several globalization factors repeating themselves as the business advantage in the various parts of the T-shirt value chain moved from country to country. What were those factors and do you believe they will continue to influence business strategy in virtually all industries in the future?

Globalization, defined by Meriam-Webster as “the development of an increasingly integrated global economy marked especially by free trade, free flow of capital, and the tapping of cheaper foreign labor markets”, is certainly not a new phenomenon. This process of integrating many previously local markets into a unified global market is potentially as old as the human race and shows no signs of ending any time soon. Dr. Pietra Rivoli, following the lifecycle of a printed cotton T-shirt, introduces the reader to the American cotton grower, the Chinese textile factory worker, and the West African secondhand-clothing retailer. The journey of this T-shirt forces the reader to ask the following questions: Why are there so many travels? Why does the cotton come from Texas? and Why is the T-shirt manufactured in China?

In the cotton production and apparel manufacturing industry, four fundamental factors have driven and will likely continue to drive globalization. First, technological improvements in transport, communications, and data processing have facilitated the movement of goods, services, capital, and people across long distances quickly and at a relatively low cost. Mechanical improvement and innovation is a contributing factor as well. Second, political policies and regulatory bodies have significantly influenced the globalization of this industry by placing barriers on the movement of both raw cotton and cotton apparel. Third, economic factors have spurned globalization as capitalists pursue production locations where costs are lowest and earnings greatest. Finally, new emerging markets and an increase in global...