Entrance-exit dynamics of suppliers and the repercussions for reshaping the structure of GVCs/GPNs

ABSTRACT

The analysis of entrance and exit dynamics of suppliers into and from GVCs/GPNs has remained on a sideline, despite emerging evidence of the substantial dynamics of suppliers exiting value chains, induced for example by a paradigm of streamlining the supply base. Thus, this article aims to contribute to research on global production via the identification of the key firm-level causal drivers guiding the entrance-exit dynamics of companies within GVCs/GPNs leading to substantial but variegated evolutionary dynamics reshaping the structure of particular chains or networks, resulting in profound impacts upon the companies, localities and regions concerned.

KEYWORDS:

• Global value chains
• global production networks
• entrance and exit of suppliers
• streamlining the supply base

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Editor for a very efficient handling of our submission, to both referees for their encouraging feedback and to our interviewees for valuable insights. Usual disclaimer applies.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Accordingly, in this paper, the GVCs/GPNs abbreviation will be used to denote the form of inter-firm relations studied within this stream of research.

2 Thus, this article represents a counterpart to a study by Blažek (2016), where a typology of repositioning strategies of suppliers within the GVCs/GPNs has been outlined. This paper builds also upon a recent chapter by Parrilli and Blažek (2018), where the impacts of streamlining the supply base considered as one of the key factors driving the exit of suppliers from production networks have been sketched.

3 http://www.airbusgroup.com/int/en/group-vision/for-suppliers.html (accessed 10 February 2017).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Charles University [grant number Progres Q44 Geografie].