Inter-firm Dynamics in Notebook PC Value Chains and the Rise of Taiwanese Original Design Manufacturing Firms

Power in global value chains

“…Over time, the conception of power in GVCs has thus broadened from a focus on 'buyer power' to include how key suppliers in some industries have been able to establish more powerful positions by following paths and strategies that not only create value but also retain it (Kaplinsky, 2005;Kawakami, 2011;Sako and Zylberberg, 2017;Sturgeon, 2002Sturgeon, , 2009. This leads away from unipolarity, where power is concentrated in one functional position in the value chain, towards multipolarity, where power might appear in various functional positions (Fold, 2002;Ponte and Sturgeon, 2014).…”

Introduction to the Handbook on Global Value Chains

“…A first set of contributions has explored the discursive dimension that frames buyer-supplier relations and the related transmission mechanisms along value chains (Gibbon et al, 2008). A second set has sought to tame some of the inevitability of 'buyer power' in the earlier literature by showing how key suppliers in some industries have been able to establish increasingly powerful positions Tewari, 2006;Kawakami, 2011;Raj-Reichert, 2015), by highlighting paths and strategies that suppliers can follow not only to create value, but also to retain it (Kaplinsky, 2004(Kaplinsky, , 2005Ponte and Ewert, 2009;Sako and Zylberberg, 2017) and/ or by highlighting the increasing power of lead firms based in the Global South, often facilitated by state support (Horner, 2017;Horner and Nadvi, 2018).…”

“…A third set has sought to move beyond a focus on 'unipolar' value chains -be they buyer-driven, producer-driven (Gereffi, 1994b) or international trader-driven (Gibbon, 2001) -where 'lead firms' in one functional position of the chain play a dominant role in shaping it. They have explored the dynamics of governance in GVCs characterized as 'bipolar' or 'twin-driven', where two sets of actors in different functional positions both drive the chain, albeit in different ways (Fold, 2002;Islam, 2008) and showed the important roles 'platform leaders' can play (see Imai and Shiu, 2011;Kawakami, 2011). Ponte and Sturgeon (2014) expanded this direction further to suggest examining governance across a unipolar to multipolar spectrum, identifying the main drivers of these GVCs and the different degrees and mechanisms of driving.…”

Governance and upgrading in South–South value chains: evidence from the cashew industries in India and Ivory Coast

“…Likewise, several technology intensive sectors have been characterized by the rise of turn-key suppliers with considerable profitability and power vis-à-vis brand-carrying buyers (Sturgeon 2002). Particularly in the PC industry, powerful component suppliers became de facto standard setters controlling the terms of competition among brand companies (Kawakami 2011). Such findings emphasize the dynamic nature of governance structures, resulting from companies' strategic attempts to increase benefits from value chain participation.…”