E-Book Overview
What are the forces that are driving firms and industries to globalize their operations? This volume explores how specific industries have organized their global operations through case studies of seven manufacturing industries: garments and textiles, automobiles and auto parts, televisions, hard disk drives, flat panel displays, semiconductors, and personal computers. Based on long-term research sponsored by the Sloan Foundation, the chapters provide readers with a nuanced understanding of the complex matrix of factor costs, access to inimitable capabilities, and time-based pressures that influence where firms decide to locate particular segments of the value chain.The book examines globalization within the context of five factors affecting locational decisions: advances in transportation and communication; the clustering of knowledge assets; the drive to reduce cycle times; the commodification of existing products; and the relative advantages of proximity to customers. The case studies are framed by Paul Deguid’s Preface on the significance of power in value chains and Bruce Kogut’s conclusion on the importance of knowledge in locational decisions. Together, the chapters reveal a remarkable diversity of responses across industries to these forces, and suggest that any understanding of globalization must appreciate this diversity. This volume is ideal for both MBA and undergraduate students studying the location of economic activities by multinational firms.
E-Book Content
Locating Global Advantage Industry Dynamics in the International Economy Innovation and Technology in the World Economy a series edited by Martin Kenney, University of California, Davis / Berkeley Round Table on the International Economy Bruce Kogut, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania Urs von Burg, The Triumph of Ethernet: Technological Communities and the Battle for the LAN Standard Gary Fields, Territories of Profit: Communications, Capitalist Development, and the Innovative Enterprises of G. F. Swift and Dell Computer Martin Kenney and Richard Florida, eds., Locating Global Advantage: Industry Dynamics in the International Economy Locating Global Advantage Industry Dynamics in the International Economy Edited by Martin Kenney with Richard Florida Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 2004 Stanford University Press Stanford, California ©2004 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kenney, Martin Locating global advantage : industry dynamics in the international economy / edited by Martin Kenney with Richard Florida. p. cm. — (Innovation and technology in the world economy) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 0-8047-4757-1 (alk. paper) — isbn 0-8047-4758-x (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. International economic integration. 2. International business enterprises. 3. Globalization. 4. Electronic industries—Location. I. Kenney, Martin. II. Florida, Richard L. III. Series hf1418.5 .l33 338.8'8—dc21 2004 This book is printed on acid-free, archival-quality paper. Original printing 2004 Last figure below indicates year of this printing: 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 Typeset at Stanford University Press in 10/12.5 Minion 2003018429 Acknowledgments The papers in this book are the result of four workshops funded by the Sloan Foundation. We also thank three graduate students, Jennifer Bair, Theresa Lynch, and Greg Linden, who helped organize parallel graduate student workshops. Our workshops were enriched by the participation of Avron Barr, Lee Branstetter, Tim Bresnahan, Steve Cohen, Rob Feenstra, Gary Gereffi, Gordon Hanson, Bruce Kogut, William Miller, Shirley Tessler, and John Zysman. The authors of all eight ind