Global value chain configuration: A review and research agenda

Abstract

This paper reviews the literature on global value chain configuration, providing an overview of this topic. Specifically, we review the literature focusing on the concept of the global value chain and its activities, the decisions involved in its configuration, such as location, the governance modes chosen and the different ways of coordinating them. We also examine the outcomes of a global value chain configuration in terms of performance and upgrading. Our aim is to review the state of the art of these issues, identify research gaps and suggest new lines for future research that would advance our understanding of how firms are implementing new ways of organizing and managing activities on a global scale.

Has the crisis affected Spanish investment strategy abroad? A spatial panel data approach

“…This fragmentation of the value chain, when different functions are located in different countries, is coined in the management literature as "global value chain"(Hernández & Pedersen, 2017).…”

A Reverse Perspective on Global Value Chains: Implications from the Internationalization of Rising Emerging Market Firms

“…The concept of GVC emerged when the business activities of firms that are interconnected through a global production network were linked via a constellation of organizational arrangements (Hernández et al, 2017;Mudambi & Puck, 2016). Compared to the classical trading of goods, the attention started from trading activities with special relationships among the firms in commodity chains (Gereffi & Korzeniewicz, 1994), supply chains (Al-Mudimigh, Zairi & Ahmed, 2004;Connelly et al, 2013;Priem & Swink, 2012), and value networks (du Reuver & Bouwman, 2012).…”

“…The configuration of GVC is an examination of different types of business activities to facilitate and maximize the firm's efficiency and effectiveness (Hernández et al, 2017). These activities refer to both the primary and supporting activities from the full spectrum of business functions, upstream and downstream activities that rely on the proximity to raw materials or to the customization and manufacturing of the product (Hernández et al, 2017), or core and non-core activities with a distinct and crucial difference regarding whether such competitive advantages should be seized on hand or could be easily outsourced. Given the factors above, arguments have been made that the value chain can be viewed as the work of firms "fine-slicing" activities (Kano, 2018;Mudambi et al, 2016) that generates finer modules with several implications.…”

“…Such specialization implies a process of modularization into disaggregated sub-activities (Contractor et al, 2010), a process which gives firms opportunities to learn how to improve their performance by organizing activities in new ways (Jacobides & Winter, 2005), and a movement of productive activities embedded with higher value, technology know-how and increased profits by participating GVC (Barrientos, Gereffi & Roosi, 2011). From the aspect of efficiency, this method gave the firms more choices regarding where to locate operations (Hernández et al, 2017;Mudambi et al, 2016), outsourcing and offshoring decisions, and how to coordinate cross-border alliances or equity-based relationships throughout the value chain (Gereffi, Humphrey & Kaplinsky, 2005).…”

Los Efectos prospectivos del Tratado de Libre Comercio entre Colombia y Corea del Sur en el Sector Automotor

“…According to Hernández & Pedersen (2017), the concept of a global value chain (GVC) has been studied and defined according to several concepts and trends, including the degree of involvement of the companies, the function, the potential competitive advantages, and the regional and global networks. GVCs is a concept that describes the process of assembling and manufacturing in different countries, in which each step adds value to the final product, taking advantage of the specific countries production characteristics involved in the process (World Bank, 2017).…”