IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/pocoec/v31y2019i5p646-670.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Digitalisation, automation and upgrading in global value chains - factory economy actors versus lead companies

Author

Listed:
  • Andrea Szalavetz

Abstract

This article investigates the differences in the application and impact of digital technologies between manufacturing subsidiaries and lead companies, the principal orchestrators of global automotive value chains. Utilising a dataset of 10 in-depth interviews with automotive industry actors, we analyse headquarters–subsidiary differences in the patterns of digitalisation-driven upgrading. A theoretical framework is offered that explains why the significant upgrading achievements of manufacturing subsidiaries deploying industry 4.0 technologies will not reduce the gap between lead companies and manufacturing subsidiaries in terms of value generation. We show that the concept of ‘industry 4.0’ is much narrower than that of ‘digitalisation’ and transition to smart factories is only part of the digital transformation story. Industry 4.0 technologies contribute to the upgrading of operations, and enable subsidiaries to take on production-related knowledge-intensive assignments (functional upgrading). Conversely, digitalisation serves lead companies’ strategic differentiation efforts, and facilitates achieving competitive advantage: the latter are crucial for value capture.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrea Szalavetz, 2019. "Digitalisation, automation and upgrading in global value chains - factory economy actors versus lead companies," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(5), pages 646-670, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:pocoec:v:31:y:2019:i:5:p:646-670
    DOI: 10.1080/14631377.2019.1578584
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/14631377.2019.1578584
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/14631377.2019.1578584?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Agnieszka A. Tubis & Katarzyna Grzybowska & Bartosz Król, 2023. "Supply Chain in the Digital Age: A Scientometric–Thematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-25, July.
    2. Zdenko Stacho & Katarina Stachova & Michal Lukac & Vaclav Kupec & Nadezda Petru, 2023. "Management Reflections on Innovations in Digitalization, with an Emphasis on Degree of Work Autonomy," E&M Economics and Management, Technical University of Liberec, Faculty of Economics, vol. 26(1), pages 78-93, March.
    3. López, Tatiana & Riedler, Tim & Köhnen, Heiner & Fütterer, Michael, 2022. "Digital value chain restructuring and labour process transformations in the fast-fashion sector: Evidence from the value chains of Zara & H&M," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 22(4), pages 684-700.
    4. Yu, Binbin, 2022. "The Impact of the Internet on Industrial Green Productivity: Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    5. Grodzicki, Maciej J. & Możdżeń, Michał, 2021. "Central and Eastern European economies in a Goldilocks age: A model of labor market institutional choice," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    6. Shiya Gao & Zeyu Wang & Shaoxiang Jiang & Wen Ding & Yuchen Wang & Xiufang Dong, 2022. "Optimization of Work Environment and Community Labor Health Based on Digital Model—Empirical Evidence from Developing Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-17, October.
    7. Dongli Chen & Qianxuan Huang, 2024. "The New Policy for Innovative Transformation in Regional Industrial Chains, the Conversion of New and Old Kinetic Energy, and Energy Poverty Alleviation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-37, May.
    8. Anatoliy Alabugin & Konstantin Osintsev & Sergei Aliukov, 2021. "Methodological Foundations for Modeling the Processes of Combining Organic Fuel Generation Systems and Photovoltaic Cells into a Single Energy Technology Complex," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-38, May.
    9. Yu Sun & Yuming He & Haiqing Yu & Hecheng Wang, 2022. "An evaluation framework of IT‐enabled service‐oriented manufacturing," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(3), pages 657-667, May.
    10. Samar S. Alharbi, 2024. "Gear Up for Development: The Automation Advantage for Sustainability in Manufacturing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-16, May.
    11. Karishma Banga, 2022. "Digital Technologies and Product Upgrading in Global Value Chains: Empirical Evidence from Indian Manufacturing Firms," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(1), pages 77-102, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:pocoec:v:31:y:2019:i:5:p:646-670. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CPCE20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.