Framework for determining the degree of centralization in global production networks

2021 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 537-551
Author(s):  
Günther Schuh ◽  
Andreas Gützlaff ◽  
Julian Ays ◽  
Tino X. Schlosser
Keyword(s):  
Complex Systems ◽  
Network Management ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Active Network ◽  
Production Network ◽  
Production Networks ◽  
Global Production Networks

Over the last decades, global production networks have developed to high complex systems. To adapt quickly the dynamic environmental conditions, an active network management is required. The network management and the associated distribution of responsibilities in the production network is mostly grown historically. Further, the issue is only commonly considered in current approaches. Therefore, this paper presents a framework for determining the degree of centralization in global production networks under the aspect of increasing efficiency. Beyond the theoretical framework, a workshop procedure is presented in which the framework can be tested.

The Invisible Networks of Global Production: Re-Imagining the Global Value Chain in Legal Research

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-117
Author(s):  
Anna Beckers
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Global Value Chain ◽  
Commodity Chain ◽  
Production Network ◽  
Production Networks ◽  
Global Production Networks ◽  
Legal Research ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Global Production Network

AbstractReviewing the burgeoning legal scholarship on global value chains to delineate the legal image of the global value chain and then comparing this legal image with images on global production in neighbouring social sciences research, in particular the Global Commodity Chain/Global Value Chain and the Global Production Network approach, this article reveals that legal research strongly aligns with the value chain image, but takes less account of the production-centric network image. The article then outlines a research agenda for legal research that departs from a network perspective on global production. To that end, it proposes that re-imagining the law in a world of global production networks requires a focus in legal research on the legal construction of global production and its infrastructure and a stronger contextualization of governance obligations and liability rules in the light of the issue-specific legal rules that apply to said infrastructure.

scholarly journals A comprehensive KPI network for the performance measurement and management in global production networks

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Verhaelen ◽  
F. Mayer ◽  
S. Peukert ◽  
G. Lanza
Keyword(s):  
Performance Measurement ◽  
Corporate Strategy ◽  
Performance Indicator ◽  
Production Network ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Production Networks ◽  
Global Production Networks ◽  
Performance Review ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Corporate Level

AbstractThe trend of globalization has led to a structural change in the sales and procurement markets of manufacturing companies in recent decades. In order not to be left behind by this change, companies have internationalized their production structures. Global production networks with diverse supply and service interdependencies are the result. However, the management of global production networks is highly complex. Key performance indicator (KPI) networks already exist at the corporate level and site level to support the management of complex systems. However, such KPI networks are not yet available to support the management of entire production networks. In this article, a KPI network for global production networks is presented, which links the key figures of the site level and the corporate level. By integrating both levels into a comprehensive KPI network, cause and effect relationship between the production-related KPIs and the strategic KPIs of a corporate strategy become transparent. To this end, this KPI network is integrated into a Performance Measurement and Management (PMM) methodology. This methodology consists of three phases: performance planning, performance improvement, and performance review. For testing the practical suitability, the PMM methodology is applied to the production network of an automotive supplier using a simulation model to estimate the effects of proposed improvement actions of the methodology.

scholarly journals Globalization of the Automotive Industry: Is Indonesia Missing Out?

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moekti P. Soejachmoen
Keyword(s):  
Export Performance ◽  
Trade Openness ◽  
Absorption Capacity ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Production Network ◽  
Production Networks ◽  
Global Production Networks ◽  
Investment Policies ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Automotive Production

International trade in automotive and auto parts has grown rapidly during the last two decades but Southeast Asia's largest economy, Indonesia, is lagging behind in its export performance. This paper uses a comparative perspective in examining Indonesia's role in automotive production networks in the context of the contemporary debate on opportunities for reaping gains from economic globalization through engagement in global production sharing. This research aims to answer two questions; the first addresses the determinants of a country's participation in the global production network, the second asks why Indonesia is being left behind in global production networks. Our analysis is based on the Jones and Kierzkowski fragmentation theory. The unbalanced panel trade data for 98 countries for the period 1988–2007 are estimated using the least square dummy variable method. The results show that in Asian countries, foreign direct investment openness is the most important determinant followed by trade cost, trade openness, competitiveness, and labor quality. Indonesia is being left behind for a number of reasons, such as restrictive foreign investment policies, higher trade costs and remaining high protection in the automotive sector in terms of tariff and non-tariff measure, and a low education level that hampers the absorption capacity in technology.

scholarly journals Information Application of the Regional Development: Strategic Couplings in Global Production Networks in Jiangsu, China

Information ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 420
Author(s):  
Haiying Xu ◽  
Wei-Ling Hsu ◽  
Yee-Chaur Lee ◽  
Tian-Yow Chern ◽  
Shr-Wei Luo
Keyword(s):  
Regional Development ◽  
Regional Growth ◽  
Functional Coupling ◽  
Production Network ◽  
Production Networks ◽  
Global Production Networks ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Value Capture ◽  
Local Supply ◽  
Capture Trajectories

The recent literature concerning globalizing regional development has placed significant emphasis on the Global Production Network (GPN 2.0). GPN 2.0 in economic geography emphasizes that regional growth is caused by a shift in the strategic coupling mode from a low to high level. In addition, GPN 2.0 regards firm-level value capture trajectories as key analytical object, rather than the interactive relationships among scalar and divergent actors in GPN 1.0. To provide a better understanding of causal linkages between the GPNs and uneven regional development in the background of globalization and to test the applicability of GPN 2.0 analysis framework, the paper analyzed 62 Korean-invested automotive firms in Jiangsu Province, China. In order to explore the value capture trajectories of lead firms in the GPNs, the authors applied K-means clustering method to quantitatively analyze the local supply networks of lead firms from organizational and spatial dimensions. Then, comparisons were made between strategic coupling modes of GPNs and regional development in North and South Jiangsu. This study found obvious similarities within these two regions but obvious differences between them in terms of value capture trajectories. We observed that North Jiangsu is currently in the stage of “structural coupling”, whereas South Jiangsu is in the stage of “functional coupling.” Thus, this article argues that spatial settings such as regional assets and autonomy are key factors influencing uneven economic development. This research may provide a crucial reference for the regional development of Jiangsu, China.

Global Production Networks and (Distributional) Regional Development: The Cinnamon Industry in Karandeniya and Matale, Sri Lanka

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-237
Author(s):  
Eunyeong Song ◽  
Douglas R. Gress ◽  
Edo Andriesse
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Regional Development ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Production Network ◽  
Production Networks ◽  
Global Production Networks ◽  
Exporting Firms ◽  
Global Production Network ◽  
Developmental Dynamics

The purpose of this article is to examine the multi-spatial and developmental dynamics of the cinnamon industry in Sri Lanka, the largest exporter in the world by value added. This contribution compares Karandeniya, a major traditional cultivating hub, and Matale, a region new to cinnamon cultivation, deploying a Global Production Network (GPN) framework inclusive of regional development considerations. Analyses, based on input from 23 semi-structured, in-depth interviews, examine the potential for all stakeholders to acquire equity or ‘how’ captured value influences the region ‘and’ individual actors over the course of development. Fieldwork reveals four upstream actors in the cinnamon industry, namely—farmers, peelers, collectors and exporting firms. Results indicate that the cinnamon boom led to strategic decoupling with the exporting firms in Colombo and subsequent strategic recoupling with other actors. The primary contribution of the research rests in the interpretation of resulting structural changes in each region from a bifurcated view of regional development. Based on regional economic growth, Karandeniya appears to be more successful. However, considering the extent of value distribution within the region, Matale is on a more inclusive trajectory vis-à-vis cinnamon exports. Based on these results, three implications for GPN theory and related development policy are suggested.

scholarly journals The powers of a social auditor in a global production network: the case of Verité and the exposure of forced labour in the electronics industry

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 653-678
Author(s):  
Gale Raj-Reichert
Keyword(s):  
Electronics Industry ◽  
Production Network ◽  
Production Networks ◽  
Global Production Networks ◽  
Power Resources ◽  
Civil Society Organisations ◽  
Governance Practices ◽  
Forced Labour ◽  
Credible Information ◽  
Global Production Network

Abstract Research on labour governance actors in global production networks (GPNs) has been limited to civil society organisations, firms and governments. Understanding the influence of actors in GPNs has been dealt with singular and overt modes of relational power. This paper contributes to both debates by examining an intermediary actor—the social auditing organisation Verité—and its exercise of multiple modes of overt and covert powers to illustrate the complex terrain of change in GPNs. Verité, whose exposure of forced labour in Malaysian electronics subsequently changed labour governance practices in the electronics industry, mobilised power resources of credible information to exercise powers of expert authority and acts of dissimulation across various networked relationships in the GPN. This paper puts forth a multi-power framework of analysis to understand the micro-politics of GPNs.

scholarly journals Global production networks and natural resource extraction: adding a political ecology perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-193
Author(s):  
Felix M. Dorn ◽  
Christoph Huber
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Resource Extraction ◽  
Production Network ◽  
Production Networks ◽  
Global Production Networks ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Natural Resource Extraction ◽  
Social Autonomy

Abstract. The article examines how to adapt the global production network (GPN) approach to situations of natural resource extraction. Based on an integration of a political ecology perspective into GPN research, we exemplarily apply the GPN framework to the primary sector. Based on extensive qualitative fieldwork regarding Argentine lithium mining and Brazilian soy agribusiness we illustrate that particularly a political ecological environmental perspective allows for a more nuanced and critical analysis of ambiguous local development outcomes. While from a purely economic development perspective in both cases the economic activity (integrated into GPNs) is celebrated as an imperative economic growth driver, our framework helps identify the emergence of unilateral dependencies, a decline of social autonomy and an unequal distribution of environmental risks.

Competitiveness in a Slow Relational Production Network

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 143-155
Author(s):  
WenYing Claire Shih ◽  
Konstantinos Agrafiotis
Keyword(s):  
Single Case ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Production Network ◽  
Production Networks ◽  
Global Production Networks ◽  
Specialized Knowledge ◽  
Fast Fashion ◽  
Resource Based View ◽  
Core Competences

Global clothing production has given rise to fast fashion strategies adopted by the majority of fashion retailers. However, there is a production network located in London, one of the most expensive areas in the world. The Savile Row tailors using craft techniques slow by nature have never outsourced production to remain competitive. In line with the resource-based view, the relational view, and global production networks theories, the authors devise a conceptual framework as they seek to explore how competitiveness can be achieved within a slow production network. A single case study of London’s Savile Row tailoring operations is adopted. This self-reliant network has managed to acquire capabilities and specialized knowledge and transform them into core competences, thus generating competitiveness. The perennial values of this slow craft and its recent international revival secure the tailors’ longevity.

Global production networks, regional development trajectories and smallholder livelihoods in the Global South

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 973-993 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Vicol ◽  
Niels Fold ◽  
Bill Pritchard ◽  
Jeffrey Neilson
Keyword(s):  
Regional Development ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Global South ◽  
Production Network ◽  
Production Networks ◽  
Global Production Networks ◽  
Value Capture ◽  
East And Southeast Asia ◽  
Development Trajectories

Abstract Recent advances in global production network theory, known as GPN 2.0, provide a theoretically sophisticated framework for understanding the articulation of global production systems with regional development trajectories. However, this framework was largely derived from lessons out of empirical analyses of the strategic coupling and value capture trajectories of firms in certain manufacturing and service sector ‘hot spots’, primarily in East and Southeast Asia, and its wider applicability for other contexts remains uncertain. This paper aims to address this lacuna by examining the potential for GPN 2.0 to understand regional development trajectories in agricultural production landscapes in the Global South dominated by smallholder-based farms that generate outputs for national and international markets. The distinctive characteristics of smallholders throw up significant challenges for the explanatory applicability of GPN 2.0 for rural development, at least as it has been developed so far. A key challenge is that smallholders cannot be considered equivalent to ‘firms’ as conceived in GPN 2.0. To overcome this problem, this paper argues for bringing a livelihoods perspective to bear on GPN 2.0. We illustrate the usefulness of this approach through reference to a case study of potato contract farming in Maharastra, India.

scholarly journals The role of intermediaries in governance of global production networks: Restructuring work relations in Pakistan’s apparel industry

2017 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 560-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamal Munir ◽  
Muhammad Ayaz ◽  
David L Levy ◽  
Hugh Willmott
Keyword(s):  
Price Competition ◽  
Adjustment Process ◽  
Production Network ◽  
Production Networks ◽  
Global Production Networks ◽  
Work Relations ◽  
Professional Management ◽  
Restructuring Process ◽  
Apparel Companies

This article locates the reorganization of work relations in the apparel sector in Pakistan, after the end of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) quota regime, within the context of a global production network (GPN). We examine the role of a network of corporate, state, multilateral and civil society actors who serve as intermediaries in GPN governance. These intermediaries transmit and translate competitive pressures and invoke varied, sometimes contradictory, imaginaries in their efforts to realign and stabilize the GPN. We analyse the post-MFA restructuring of Pakistan’s apparel sector, which dramatically increased price competition and precipitated a contested adjustment process among Pakistani and global actors with divergent priorities and resources. These intermediaries converged on a ‘solution’ that combined and enacted imaginaries of modernization, competitiveness, professional management and female empowerment, while also emphasizing low costs and female docility. We highlight the intersection of economic, political and cultural dynamics of GPNs, and reveal the gendered dimensions of GPN restructuring. We theorize the role of these actors as a transnational managerial elite in GPN governance, who led a restructuring process that preserved the hegemonic stability of the GPN and protected the interests of western branded apparel companies and consumers, but did not necessarily serve the interests of workers.

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