Levi Strauss & Co. (LS; www.levistrauss.com) makes and sells blue jeans, Dockers, and Slates brand name apparel in more than 100 countries. With the onset of regional integration in Europe and Latin America, LS management decided to revise the firm’s production and marketing strategies to make them more appropriate for regional, as opposed to national, operations.

Based on the regional integration changes underway in these areas, and on your understanding of the business implications of regional integration, what should LS do? In answering, think in terms of LS’s major value chain activities, especially production and marketing.

What are the pros and cons to LS of producing and marketing its apparel on a regional basis as opposed to a national or global basis? Justify your answer. P-54