Global production network

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Global Production Networks (GPN) is a concept in developmental literature which refers to "the nexus of interconnected functions, operations and transactions through which a specific product or service is produced, distributed and consumed." [1]

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Global Production Networks

A global production network is one whose interconnected nodes and links extend spatially across national boundaries and, in so doing, integrates parts of disparate national and subnational territories". [1] GPN frameworks combines the insights from the global value chain analysis, actor–network theory and literature on Varieties of Capitalism. GPN provides a relational framework that aims to encompass all the relevant actors in the production systems. GPN framework provides analytical platform that relates sub-national regional development [2] with clustering dynamics. [3]

Historical development of concept

In 1990s the concept of value chain gained its credit among economists and business scholars. (Its prominent developer Michael Porter). The concept combined sequenced and interconnected activities in the process of value creation. Value chain concept focused on business activities, but not on the corporate power and institutional context. In 1994 Garry Gereffi, together with Miguel Korzeniewicz introduced the concept of Global Commodity Chains (GCC):

sets of interorganizational networks clustered around one commodity or product, linking households, enterprises, and states to one another within the world-economy. These networks are situationally specific, socially constructed, and locally integrated, underscoring the social embeddedness of economic organization

Gereffi [4]

The concept was developed further by a number of authors that emphasized importance of chain governance in different commodities (e.g. automobiles, textile, electronics etc.)

At the beginning of 2000s a group of authors Jeffrey Henderson, Peter Dicken, Martin Hess, Neil Coe and Henry Wai-Chung Yeung, introduced GPN framework, that builds on the development of previous approaches to international production processes. At the same time it expands beyond the linearity of GCC approach to incorporate all kinds of network configuration. Adopting clear network perspective allows to embrace the complexity of multidimensional layers of production moving beyond the "linear progression of the product or service" [5]

Insights from the analysis of production networks

Analysis of the global production networks relies on the use of the input-output tables that links firms through the transactions involved in the product creation. Commodity chain literature considers firms as the nodes in a number of chains that transform inputs into outputs through a series of interconnected stages of production, later linked to distribution and consumption activities. Andersen and Christensen define five major types of connective nodes in supply networks: Local integrator, Export base, Import base, International spanner and Global integrator [6] Hobday et al. argue that the core capability of the firms stem from their ability to manage network of components and subsystem suppliers. [7]

To capture both vertical and horizontal links across the sequence of production process, Lazzarini introduced the concept of Netchain: "a set of networks comprised of horizontal ties between firms within a particular industry or group, which are sequentially arranged based on vertical ties between firms in different layers ... Netchain analysis explicitly differentiates between horizontal (transactions in the same layer) and vertical ties (transactions between layers), mapping how agents in each layer are related to each other and to agents in other layers". [8] Critical studies have explored production networks in the domain of ethics of production, for instance focusing on local effects or labor relations. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supply chain management</span> Management of the flow of goods and services

In commerce, supply chain management (SCM) deals with a system of procurement, operations management, logistics and marketing channels, through which raw materials can be developed into finished products and delivered to their end customers. A more narrow definition of supply chain management is the "design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities with the objective of creating net value, building a competitive infrastructure, leveraging worldwide logistics, synchronising supply with demand and measuring performance globally". This can include the movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, finished goods, and end to end order fulfilment from the point of origin to the point of consumption. Interconnected, interrelated or interlinked networks, channels and node businesses combine in the provision of products and services required by end customers in a supply chain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Logistics</span> Management of the flow of resources

Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the point of consumption according to the needs of customers. Logistics management is a component that holds the supply chain together. The resources managed in logistics may include tangible goods such as materials, equipment, and supplies, as well as food and other consumable items.

A value chain is a progression of activities that a business or firm performs in order to deliver goods and services of value to an end customer. The concept comes from the field of business management and was first described by Michael Porter in his 1985 best-seller, Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance.

The idea of [Porter's Value Chain] is based on the process view of organizations, the idea of seeing a manufacturing organization as a system, made up of subsystems each with inputs, transformation processes and outputs. Inputs, transformation processes, and outputs involve the acquisition and consumption of resources – money, labour, materials, equipment, buildings, land, administration and management. How value chain activities are carried out determines costs and affects profits.

Economic interdependence is the mutual dependence of the participants in an economic system who trade in order to obtain the products they cannot produce efficiently for themselves. Such trading relationships require that the behavior of a participant affects its trading partners and it would be costly to rupture their relationship. The subject was addressed by A. A. Cournot who wrote: "...but in reality the economic system is a whole in which all of the parts are connected and react on one another. An increase in the income of the producers of commodity A will affect the demands for commodities B, C, etc. and the incomes of their producers, and by its reaction will affect the demand for commodity A." Economic Interdependence is evidently a consequence of the division of labour.

Vertical disintegration refers to a specific organizational form of industrial production. As opposed to vertical integration, in which production occurs within a singular organization, vertical disintegration means that various diseconomies of scale or scope have broken a production process into separate companies, each performing a limited subset of activities required to create a finished product.

In economics, a market is a composition of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations or infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services to buyers in exchange for money. It can be said that a market is the process by which the prices of goods and services are established. Markets facilitate trade and enable the distribution and allocation of resources in a society. Markets allow any tradeable item to be evaluated and priced. A market emerges more or less spontaneously or may be constructed deliberately by human interaction in order to enable the exchange of rights of services and goods. Markets generally supplant gift economies and are often held in place through rules and customs, such as a booth fee, competitive pricing, and source of goods for sale.

A commodity chain is a process used by firms to gather resources, transform them into goods or commodities, and finally, distribute them to consumers. It is a series of links connecting the many places of production and distribution and resulting in a commodity that is then exchanged on the world market. In short, it is the connected path from which a good travels from producers to consumers. Commodity chains can be unique depending on the product types or the types of markets. Different stages of a commodity chain can also involve different economic sectors or be handled by the same business.

A business cluster is a geographic concentration of interconnected businesses, suppliers, and associated institutions in a particular field. Clusters are considered to increase the productivity with which companies can compete, nationally and globally. Accounting is a part of the business cluster. In urban studies, the term agglomeration is used. Clusters are also important aspects of strategic management.

Within international business, the diamond model, also known as Porter's Diamond or the Porter Diamond Theory of National Advantage, describes a nation's competitive advantage in the international market. In this model, four attributes are taken into consideration: factor conditions, demand conditions, related and supporting industries, and firm strategy, structure, and rivalry. According to Michael Porter, the model's creator, "These determinants create the national environment in which companies are born and learn how to compete."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Computer cluster</span> Set of computers configured in a distributed computing system

A computer cluster is a set of computers that work together so that they can be viewed as a single system. Unlike grid computers, computer clusters have each node set to perform the same task, controlled and scheduled by software. The newest manifestation of cluster computing is cloud computing.

Enterprise control is the ability to combine control, intelligence and process management to enable business optimization that is inclusive of business and production operations. It combines the strength of both business processes and production operations processes. It is the deliberate act of synchronizing business strategy with operational execution in real-time to enable closed loop business control across an enterprise.

International trade theory is a sub-field of economics which analyzes the patterns of international trade, its origins, and its welfare implications. International trade policy has been highly controversial since the 18th century. International trade theory and economics itself have developed as means to evaluate the effects of trade policies.

Networks are crucial parts of any action taken in a marketplace. Peter Drucker even described the future economy as one of a society of networks. Companies embedded in such networks stand to gain a lot. There are a number of different network models, which have distinct relevance to customers, and marketing initiatives. A network in marketing can be formed either strategically or completely randomly. Marketing channels and business networks have been referred to, by Achrol & Kotler as:

“Interdependent systems of organizations and relations that are involved in carrying out all of the production and marketing activities involved in creating and delivering value in the form of products and services to intermediate and final customers.”

Netchain analysis is a theoretical concept integrating supply chain management and network analysis which was introduced by Lazzarini, Chaddad and Cook in 2001. While supply chain analysis focuses on vertical and network analysis on horizontal interdependencies across companies, netchain analysis incorporates both type of interdependencies into one concept. Netchain analysis emphasizes value creation and coordination mechanism sources corresponding to different kind of interdependencies. In practice, netchain analysis is often used in a more general way referring to the perspective that takes into account chain and network characteristics as well. However, it differs in the focus and in the tools used from network science.

A global value chain (GVC) refers to the full range of activities that economic actors engage in to bring a product to market. The global value chain does not only involve production processes, but preproduction and postproduction processes.

Co-opetition or coopetition – simultaneous competition and cooperation – is an important philosophy or strategy that goes beyond the conventional rules of competition and cooperation to achieve advantages of both. Global co-opetition, an application of co-opetition in a global context, is first systematically addressed in Luo’s (2004) book “Coopetition in international business”. According to this book, global co-opetition refers to the simultaneous competition and cooperation between multinational enterprises (MNEs) and their geographically dispersed business stakeholders such as global rivals, global suppliers, global distributors, global alliance partners, and foreign governments as well as among foreign subsidiaries within an MNE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Coast Economic Corridor</span> Indias first coastal economic corridor

The East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC) is India’s first coastal economic corridor, covering 2500 km of India's coastline, to be developed with the help of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The ADB is to invest $500 million in infrastructural development of the project. Since late 2013, ADB has been supporting studies on transport corridors in India. Phase 1 of the ECEC is Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) which had been approved by the ADB board in October 2016. The ECEC running along the entire east coast of India from Kolkata to Kanyakumari, is a multimodal, regional maritime corridor that can play a vital role in unifying the large domestic market, as well as integrating the Indian economy with the dynamic global value chains of Southeast and East Asia. It would play a crucial role in the Government of India’s (GoI) Make in India campaign and also supports the port-led industrialization strategy under the Sagar Mala initiative and the Act East Policy by linking domestic companies with the vibrant global production networks of East and Southeast Asia.

The industrial internet of things (IIoT) refers to interconnected sensors, instruments, and other devices networked together with computers' industrial applications, including manufacturing and energy management. This connectivity allows for data collection, exchange, and analysis, potentially facilitating improvements in productivity and efficiency as well as other economic benefits. The IIoT is an evolution of a distributed control system (DCS) that allows for a higher degree of automation by using cloud computing to refine and optimize the process controls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Gereffi</span> American academic and author

Gary Allan Gereffi is an American economic sociologist, policy activist, author, and academic. Gereffi is emeritus Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of the Global Value Chains Center at Duke University. He is one of the originators of the Global Value Chains (GVC) framework and he is known for his work on governance structures and upgrading strategies in GVCs, global commodity chain (GCCs), dependency theory, cross-regional development strategies in Latin America and East Asia, and the role of multinational corporations (MNCs) in development.

<i>Global Value Chains and Development</i> 2018 book by Gary Gereffi

Global Value Chains and Development: Redefining the Contours of 21st Century Capitalism is a 2018 book by American economic sociologist and academic Gary Gereffi published by Cambridge University Press and part of their Development Trajectories in Global Value Chains series. The book discusses the Global Value Chains (GVC) framework, pioneered by Gereffi in the mid-1990s and early 2000s. It focuses on how buyer-driven supply chains, led by retailers and global brands, shifted production in many international industries to low-cost developing economies. The GVC framework revolves around "governance" and "upgrading". The chapters include key articles on global commodity chains and case studies on Mexico's and China's impact on the U.S. manufacturing sector. The concept of "social upgrading" and "synergistic governance" emerged to address social concerns. The rise of emerging economies led to greater regionalization of GVCs in the 2000s. After the 2008-09 economic crisis, GVCs adapted to a post-Washington-Consensus world marked by economic nationalism and populism. The GVC approach has influenced policymakers in international organizations and national economies, as well as academics.

References

  1. 1 2 Coe, N. M.; Dicken, P.; Hess, M. (2008), "Global production networks: Realizing the potential", Journal of Economic Geography, 8 (3): 271–295, doi: 10.1093/jeg/lbn002
  2. Coe NM, Hess M, Yeung H. W-C, Dicken P, Henderson J (2004) Globalizing regional development: a global production networks perspective. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 29:468–484.
  3. Harald Bathelt and Peng-Fei Li, “Global Cluster Networks—Foreign Direct Investment Flows from Canada to China,” Journal of Economic Geography 14, no. 1 (2014): 45–71.
  4. Gereffi, G. (1994) ‘The organisation of buyer-driven global commodity chains: how US retailers shape overseas production networks’, in G. Gereffi and M. Korzeniewicz (eds), Commodity Chains and Global Development. Westport: Praeger, pp. 95–122: 2
  5. Neil M. Coe, Peter Dicken, and Martin Hess, “Global Production Networks: Realizing the Potential,” Journal of Economic Geography 8, no. 3 (May 1, 2008): 271–95, doi:10.1093/jeg/lbn002.
  6. Poul Houman Andersen and Poul Rind Christensen, “Bridges over Troubled Water: Suppliers as Connective Nodes in Global Supply Networks,” Journal of Business Research 58, no. 9 (September 2005): 1261–73, doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2003.04.002.
  7. Hobday, M., Davies, A., Prencipe, A. (2005) Systems integration: a core capability of the modern corporation. Industrial and Corporate Change, 14: 1109–1143.
  8. Lazzarini, S., Chaddad, F. R., Cook, M. L. (2000) Integrating supply chain and network analysis: the study of netchains. Journal on Chain and Network Science, 1: 7–22.
  9. Miszczynski, M. (2016-02-18). "Global Production in a Romanian Village: Middle-Income Economy, Industrial Dislocation and the Reserve Army of Labor". Critical Sociology. 43 (7–8): 1079–1092. doi:10.1177/0896920515623076. S2CID   146971797.