In recent decades, the world economy has been stron gl y driven by worldwide foreign direct investment (FDI) of transnational corporati ons (TNCs). And business globalisation is leading to widespread re-structuring of...In recent decades, the world economy has been stron gl y driven by worldwide foreign direct investment (FDI) of transnational corporati ons (TNCs). And business globalisation is leading to widespread re-structuring of international manufacturing systems in TNCs. However, still very little sys tematic research in manufacturing engineering or production/operations managemen t (P/O M) has focused on these new types of globalised manufacturing systems, an d little communication is organised between different academic disciplines such as manufacturing, management/ business studies, economics, geography, internatio nal development studies and so on. Many critical issues are still poorly unders tood and are not covered by current research agendas, for example: · properties of international manufacturing network systems in terms of structu ral architecture, dynamic mechanisms, strategic capabilities, strategy processes , new technology, and alliance relationships · knowledge management and organisational learning mechanisms in international manufacturing context, especially in globally coordinated networks at both intra - and inter- organisational levels · global economic trends, regional collaboration, national culture/identity, an d their impacts on industrial sector development, and company’s manufacturin g system design/re-structuring In industry, lack of global vision and appropriate strategies during internation alisation have become major barrier to the effective management of international operations. In academia, limited multi-discipline exchanges have inhibited de velopments not only in each area but also knowledge contribution to industry whi ch could arise from discipline integration. This paper, based on recent years case observations and action research work on manufacturing internationalisation, especially globalisation, introduces an evol utionary process of manufacturing systems. It seeks to explore the external and internal driving forces of the transformation and the responses of manufacturin g systems in terms of static architectures, dynamic mechanisms, and strategic ca pabilities in the evolutionary process. The paper Reviews recent researches on manufacturing internationalisation in dif ferent disciplines to gain a comprehensive picture about international manufactu ring system from different perspectives. Based on the empirical observations of industrial issues and difficulties, a further research framework is proposed to tackle wider issues in international manufacturing covering manufacturing value creation process, internationalisation process, and strategic alliance formatio n process. The paper argues that, besides deep research on three dimensions of international manufacturing system, development of strategy process to synthesis e these three processes is more important in the future research work. It sugge sts that it is necessary to enhance the collaboration between countries and disc iplines, and stimulate explorations of new frameworks that can provide more insi ghts about new manufacturing systems and foresights their development.展开更多
Differences in knowledge regimes and growth dynamics amongst four ideal types of knowledge based firms are analyzed. Two aspects of technological knowledge, technological opportunity and appropriability are traditiona...Differences in knowledge regimes and growth dynamics amongst four ideal types of knowledge based firms are analyzed. Two aspects of technological knowledge, technological opportunity and appropriability are traditionally seen as vital to understand the incentives for research and development activities in firms. However, they do not fully define the technology regimes, when one asks how the knowledge based firm competes. Therefore, the dynamic nature of firm capabilities and knowledge development in terms of expansion and in terms of deepening are also discussed. These two additional aspects of knowledge implies that even if all firms in an industry can be considered to be knowledge intensive these firms do also differ. Using cases of entrepreneurial start-up firms in Sweden, we illustrate whether our conceptual ideas of knowledge development help us understand the diversity and contradictions of firm evolution. Our finding is that firm evolution and capability development is dependent upon both the potential for expanding knowledge, such as by innovations, and by deepening the understanding within established knowledge, such as by learning. This implies that the shaping of a science based industry must be seen in relation both to the value of current knowledge and capabilities together with the sometimes only limited and temporarily advantages of radical innovations.展开更多
文摘In recent decades, the world economy has been stron gl y driven by worldwide foreign direct investment (FDI) of transnational corporati ons (TNCs). And business globalisation is leading to widespread re-structuring of international manufacturing systems in TNCs. However, still very little sys tematic research in manufacturing engineering or production/operations managemen t (P/O M) has focused on these new types of globalised manufacturing systems, an d little communication is organised between different academic disciplines such as manufacturing, management/ business studies, economics, geography, internatio nal development studies and so on. Many critical issues are still poorly unders tood and are not covered by current research agendas, for example: · properties of international manufacturing network systems in terms of structu ral architecture, dynamic mechanisms, strategic capabilities, strategy processes , new technology, and alliance relationships · knowledge management and organisational learning mechanisms in international manufacturing context, especially in globally coordinated networks at both intra - and inter- organisational levels · global economic trends, regional collaboration, national culture/identity, an d their impacts on industrial sector development, and company’s manufacturin g system design/re-structuring In industry, lack of global vision and appropriate strategies during internation alisation have become major barrier to the effective management of international operations. In academia, limited multi-discipline exchanges have inhibited de velopments not only in each area but also knowledge contribution to industry whi ch could arise from discipline integration. This paper, based on recent years case observations and action research work on manufacturing internationalisation, especially globalisation, introduces an evol utionary process of manufacturing systems. It seeks to explore the external and internal driving forces of the transformation and the responses of manufacturin g systems in terms of static architectures, dynamic mechanisms, and strategic ca pabilities in the evolutionary process. The paper Reviews recent researches on manufacturing internationalisation in dif ferent disciplines to gain a comprehensive picture about international manufactu ring system from different perspectives. Based on the empirical observations of industrial issues and difficulties, a further research framework is proposed to tackle wider issues in international manufacturing covering manufacturing value creation process, internationalisation process, and strategic alliance formatio n process. The paper argues that, besides deep research on three dimensions of international manufacturing system, development of strategy process to synthesis e these three processes is more important in the future research work. It sugge sts that it is necessary to enhance the collaboration between countries and disc iplines, and stimulate explorations of new frameworks that can provide more insi ghts about new manufacturing systems and foresights their development.
文摘Differences in knowledge regimes and growth dynamics amongst four ideal types of knowledge based firms are analyzed. Two aspects of technological knowledge, technological opportunity and appropriability are traditionally seen as vital to understand the incentives for research and development activities in firms. However, they do not fully define the technology regimes, when one asks how the knowledge based firm competes. Therefore, the dynamic nature of firm capabilities and knowledge development in terms of expansion and in terms of deepening are also discussed. These two additional aspects of knowledge implies that even if all firms in an industry can be considered to be knowledge intensive these firms do also differ. Using cases of entrepreneurial start-up firms in Sweden, we illustrate whether our conceptual ideas of knowledge development help us understand the diversity and contradictions of firm evolution. Our finding is that firm evolution and capability development is dependent upon both the potential for expanding knowledge, such as by innovations, and by deepening the understanding within established knowledge, such as by learning. This implies that the shaping of a science based industry must be seen in relation both to the value of current knowledge and capabilities together with the sometimes only limited and temporarily advantages of radical innovations.
