Dynamic resource integration optimisation of global distributed manufacturing: an embeddedness–interaction perspective

Abstract

In the era of fragmented global value chain enabled by digital networks, distributed manufacturing with effective global resource integration and optimisation has become important for multinational enterprises (MNEs) to organise. However, conventional theories and methods disregard the dynamic nature of integration optimisation triggered by knowledge accumulation and spillover during resource embeddedness in the local market and interaction amongst resources. This study establishes a novel embeddedness–interaction perspective, which refers to focusing on intra-network knowledge transfer and inter-network knowledge spillover frequently observed in the resource integration of global distributed manufacturing in MNEs. This study elaborates the mechanism of resource integration optimisation of distributed manufacturing with the presence of an embeddedness–interaction nexus. On this basis, a novel, dynamic resource integration optimisation model and a corresponding algorithm for global distributed manufacturing are constructed. In particular, we designate the minimisation of the weighted Euclidean distance between scores and expected value as the most essential objective of resource integration optimisation modelling and algorithm to highlight the effect of the embeddedness–interaction nexus on dynamic resource integration optimisation. We illustrate the value of the embeddedness–interaction perspective and verify the feasibility and validity of the model and algorithm by applying this optimisation method to a two-country, two-stage, six-resource case.

Keywords:

• multinational enterprises (MNEs)
• distributed manufacturing
• dynamic resource optimisation
• knowledge transfer and spillover
• embeddedness–interaction

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [project number 71472183] and Beijing Higher Education Young Elite Teacher Project [project number YETP0174].