A proprietary component manufacturer’s global supply chain design: The impacts of tax and organizational structure

This paper studies the supply chain structure design for a proprietary component manufacturer (PCM) in a global environment. The PCM, producing component with patent protection and/or superior quality, chooses to enter into an overseas market to enhance revenue. There are three supply chain structures available to the PCM: (1) monopoly where the PCM establishes a downstream manufacturing subsidiary to produce and sell the end product, (2) component supplier where the PCM supplies component to a local original equipment manufacturer (OEM), and (3) dual distributor where the PCM supplies component to the OEM but also produces a competing end product. Our analysis suggests that two important features in a global environment, i.e., the global tax disparity and the organizational structure, have significant impacts on the PCM’s supply chain structure design and profits. If the downstream has a tax advantage, it is optimal for the PCM to directly enter into the downstream market with the structure of monopoly. As the downstream tax rate increases, the other two structures, i.e., component supplier and dual distributor, become more attractive. We show that centralization makes the dual distributor and monopoly structures more desirable. However, the OEM may be driven out of the market and the dual distributor structure is infeasible when the downstream tax rate is high enough. Contrary to our traditional wisdom, decentralization may benefit the PCM under certain circumstances.