Giulio Buciuni

In the past decade, international entrepreneurship has centered largely on the internationalization of small- to medium-sized enterprises through dispersed production networks. Although network relationships are crucial in entrepreneurial internationalization, the dynamics underlying the establishment and coordination of interfirm linkages remain uncertain and unclear. Using a global value chain framework, this article uses a case study to explore how two small enterprises engage in the establishment of a cross-border alliance. Findings suggest that the global value chain approach provides a better understanding of the governance of global relationships. The study also denotes the room for further improvement in this area.

In recent years, the rise of offshore outsourcing has significantly changed the industrial organization of developed economies. Particularly in mature, low-tech industries, the global relocation of operations has represented a necessary strategy for many firms. However, beyond a certain threshold, offshoring may deprive
firms and their domestic ecosystems of critical knowledge for innovation development. Departing from the acknowledgment of changing patterns of industrial organization and the related effects on Western industries, we wonder whether production can still foster the economic development of established manufacturers. The development of an international multiple-case study in the furniture industry suggests that control over operations enhances product innovation and supports firms’ competitiveness.

Mature industries in developed countries have been experiencing profound changes in the last few decades. Production of inputs and commodity goods has been increasingly outsourced to emerging countries’ low-wage suppliers, thus nurturing an unprecedented process of ‘global shifts’. Departing from the acknowledgment of this fast-changing scenario, we raised the question of whether manufacturing can still foster upgrading in Western economies. While the analysis of industrial statistics confirmed that the production of standardized products has been largely relocated overseas, the development of a number of case studies in the furniture industry outlined that the manufacture of sophisticated, customized goods keeps its roots locally. By using the global value chains (GVCs) approach, we found that in-house or in-cluster control over sourcing and operations represent a strategic activity in the upgrading trajectory that furniture firms are actually pursuing. Accordingly, we claim that manufacturing can still play a vital role in mature industries and pave the path for a next pattern of sustainable development in knowledge economies.

Over the last two decades the international activity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have captured the attention of scholars researching in international business, entrepreneurship and strategic management. More recently, the international entrepreneurship discipline has paid specific attention to the internationalization of SMEs through the participation to dispersed production networks. Although network relationships are recognized to be fundamental in entrepreneurial activities’ global opening, not much has been explained on the dynamics underpinning the setting up and coordination of inter-firm linkages.
Using the global value chains (GVCs) theoretical framework, this paper presents and discusses a case study describing the endeavor of two SMEs to establish a cross-border alliance. As part of this process, the implementation of a right type of governance represents a crucial step in the establishment of the international partnership, as well as in the genesis of an emerging global value chain.

The pervasive spread of global competition is increasingly forcing established firms to rethink their boundaries and organizational configuration in an international perspective. While integrated production systems are being disaggregated in many distinct steps, lead firms strive to geographically and organizationally re-allocate value chain activities. In recent years, the analysis of the organizational structure of the global economy has been specifically addressed by scholars researching in global value chains (GVCs). Departing from, and contributing to this growing body of literature, this paper aims at exploring how lead-firms in the furniture industry are reshaping their organizational configuration in value chains. Acknowledging the need for a firm-specific analysis, this study strives to integrate the extant GVCs framework (Gereffi, Humphrey and Sturgeon, 2005) with some concepts drawn from the resource-based view (RBV) theory and international strategy. Findings provide evidence of how the GVCs approach can enhance the understanding of the evolution of firms’ configuration in the global market, in terms of both boundaries and scope selection. In particular, the relation between upgrading, GVCs governance and organizational configuration is discussed.

The elaboration of the global value chains (GVCs) model (Gereffi, Humpherey, Sturgeon 2005) provided a meaningful theoretical framework to better comprehend the organization of international industrial processes and the dynamic affecting the way global inter-firm relationships are coordinated. Although this approach has inspired studies in different disciplines, not much has been said on how small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can participate in the coordination of global value chains.
Using the GVC approach, this paper focuses on the dynamics of defining the governance of an international collaboration involving two SMEs located in different geographical areas (Italy and USA) but competing in the same industrial sector (industrial truck equiment). Our contribution provides evidence of firms’ attempt to extend their current activities through the establishment of an international collaboration. As part of this process, the definition of a suitable type of governance will represent a crucial step to the feasibility of such an alliance, as well as to the genesis of an emerging global value chain.

This article explores the international upgrading processes taking place within two furniture industrial clusters: the Distretto dell’Alto Livenza in Friuli Venezia Giulia and the cluster of High Point in North Carolina. The choice to direct the research activity on these industrial regions comes from the evidence that both the clusters have recently faced the outsourcing of numerous manufacturing activities. Starting from this remark, the study’s objectives are oriented to detect the motivations that have led the outsourcing processes and the related consequences on the industrial regions and to analyze how High Point and the Alto Livenza are changing their international boundaries from both the production and the distribution perspective.