Locating Global Advantage

by Kenney, Martin; Florida, Richard L.

• ISBN13: 9780804747578
• ISBN10: 0804747571
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-12-01
• Publisher: Stanford Business Books

Summary

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.

Author Biography

Martin Kenney is Professor of Human and Community Development at the University of California, Davis. Richard Florida is Heinz Professor of Regional Economic Development at Carnegie Mellon University.

Table of Contents

Preface: In Vino Veritas?	xiii
PAUL DUGUID
Contributors	xxvii
1. Introduction	1	(22)
MARTIN KENNEY
PART ONE
2. Globalization in the Apparel and Textile Industries: What Is New and What Is Not?	23	(29)
FREDERICK H. ABERNATHY, JOHN T. DUNLOP, JANICE H. HAMMOND, AND DAVID WEIL
3. Globalization, Deverticalization, and Employment in the Motor Vehicle Industry	52	(30)
TIMOTHY STURGEON AND RICHARD FLORIDA
4. The Shifting Value Chain: The Television Industry in North America	82	(31)
MARTIN KENNEY
PART TWO
5. The Organizational and Geographic Configuration of the Personal Computer Value Chain	113	(29)
JAMES CURRY AND MARTIN KENNEY
6. Leveraging Locations: Hard Disk Drive Producers in International Competition	142	(33)
DAVID G. MCKENDRICK
7. Industry Creation and the New Geography of Innovation: The Case of Flat Panel Displays	175	(28)
THOMAS P. MURTHA, STEFANIE ANN LENWAY, AND JEFFREY A. HART
8. Globalization of Semiconductors: Do Real Men Have Fabs, or Virtual Fabs?	203	(29)
ROBERT C. LEACHMAN AND CHIEN H. LEACHMAN
9. The Net World Order's Influence on Global Leadership in the Semiconductor Industry	232	(29)
GREG LINDEN, CLAIR BROWN, AND MELISSA M. APPLEYARD
PART THREE
10. Conclusion: From Regions and Firms to Multinational Highways: Knowledge and Its Diffusion as a Factor in the Globalization of Industries	261	(22)
BRUCE KOGUT
References	283	(18)
Index	301