Global value chain (GVC) is a known concept for the emerging economies in the South as many scholars such as Nadvi and Halder (2005), Schmitz and Knorringa (1999), Kaplinsky and Readman (2001), Humphrey and Memedovic (2003), Schmitz and Elgar (2004) and Nadvi (1999) examined the importance of external linkages for industrial clusters, learning from global buyers, integration of SMEs in GVC,  promoting networks as a means of entering new markets, local enterprises in the global economy and linkage of competitiveness with collective efficiency.

Nadvi and Halder (2005) also tried to address the gap of limited research on how local clusters enter global chains taking the example of surgical instruments clusters in Germany and Pakistan.

In the study under-consideration, we will work on sporting goods cluster Sialkot Pakistan, especially soccer balls producers/exporters to understand how the SMEs in the Sporting Goods Cluster are integrated in the global value chain.  We will explore the significance of global buyers of this cluster and the prospects of local enterprises and their relationships with their global value chains. We will also look at the capacity of SMEs to insert them effectively into their global value chain and in what forms of joint actions they are engaged in GVC to sustain and grow locally and internationally. As Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is one of the main challenges related to the Soccer Balls Cluster in Sialkot, we will also investigate CSR-related issues faced by this cluster in addition to the other challenges such as inter-firm cooperation, local joint actions, innovation, technology (in terms of introduction of mechanized balls), competitiveness and social compliance. After knowing the entry into the GVC and the challenges faced by the SMEs in this cluster, it is also important to know how they are going to respond to these challenges as a cluster and networks through collective efficiency. In the context of Sialkot sporting goods cluster, we will also try to find out whether SMEs can upgrade though participation in global value chains and increase their rents particularly technology rents, relational rents and product and marketing rents as explained by Kaplinsky (1998).