Challenges of Power Dominance in the GMRR: The Perspective of Pakistan’s Small Garment Manufacturers

Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of the study is to identify the challenges that small garments manufacturers in Pakistan face in an IOR with large retailers regarding power dominance. The paper also seeks to examine how those garment manufacturers can use the Boundary Control Systems as a strategic response to power dominance. Methodology: The study is Qualitative, Exploratory in nature. It adapts critical realism as its research philosophy while developing the study with an Abductive Approach. The data for this paper was collected through related literature, articles, and a series of semi-structured interviews. The collected Empirical Data was analyzed using Creswell's Six Steps method. Findings: The paper explores the challenges faced by the small garments manufacturers in an IOR with large retailers in the Garments Industry of Pakistan, which include the struggle to have fair pricing, dominant behavior of the retailer, over-controlling inspections of the production, unavailability of resources to manage the production scale, overly strict sanctions or price cut by the retailers, and misunderstandings created by cultural and lingual diversity. These challenges almost always start from the Negotiation stage of the collaboration leaving the small garments manufacturer little to no room for mitigating them. The most effective strategy that the small garments manufacturers can adopt while dealing with power dominance. It is to apply Boundary Systems as early as the Negotiation Stage to prevent the retailer from imposing opportunistic behavior. Involving Boundary Spanners can be useful to have better control over the challenges. Originality and Contribution: The paper attempts to explore the fairly under-studied area of power dominance between small garments manufacturers and large retailers working in the developing garments manufacturing-supplying industry in Pakistan and how Boundary Systems can be used in this dynamic. A significant lack of awareness and studies were identified while researching for this study. Hence this paper can be considered a new and fresh way to look at the issue that has been previously undermined. And a contribution to the literature and future researchers to further the studies in this area.