The Mediating Role of Knowledge in Global Value Chains Performance: Some Preliminary Results

This study draws from network theory to examine the effects of governance structure on suppliers’ performance related to responding to customer orders in the apparel global value chain (GVC). The study takes explicit account of the mechanism which explain the influence of global buyers’ governance mechanism on suppliers’ performance. We argue that collaborative form of governance impacts suppliers’ performance through knowledge acquisition by suppliers from their buyers. The results show that knowledge acquisition by suppliers explains the association between governance and suppliers’ customer response performance. The findings of our mediation model suggest that knowledge acquisition serves as the mechanism which transforms the benefits of governance into superior supplier response performance. The implications of our findings are discussed.