14 research outputs found
Value migration: digitalization of shipping as a mechanism of industry dethronement
In this conceptual paper, we review latest developments related to unmanned vessels and sketch potential scenarios that implicate with the existing maritime industry structure. On the one hand, we isolate a range of challenges that make the imminent realization of unmanned vessels seem like a rather utopian pursuit. On the other hand, we explain the reasons that may catalyse their emergence. Inspired by these opposing tensions, we highlight that the digital transformation of the shipping industry has the potential to enhance value within the industryâs ecosystem. However, we also contend that unmanned vessels -if realized- pose a very particular threat to the identity of the shipping industry as we know it. In particular, we build upon the concept of value migration and we highlight the drastic existential changes that may likely stem from a shift to non-seafarer-centric shipping. We conclude with questions that matter for industry dethronement purposes i.e., the possibility that existing industry structures may be substantially reconfigured following a removal of the seafarer as the nucleus of value creation in shipping
Trans-specialization understanding in international technology alliances: The influence of cultural distance
In the information age, the firm's performance hinges on combining partners' specialist knowledge to achieve value co-creation. Combining knowledge from different specialties could be a costly process in the international technology alliances (ITAs) context. We argue that the combination of different specializations requires the development of "trans-specialization understanding" (TSU) instead of the internalization of partners' specialist knowledge. This article examines the extent to which inter-firm governance in ITAs shapes TSU, and whether the development of TSU is endangered by cultural distance. We hypothesize that relational governance, product modularity, and cultural distance influence TSU development, which in turn influences firm performance. We collected data from 110 non-equity ITAs between software and hardware firms participating in the mobile device sector. We analyzed the data using partial least squares path modeling. Our findings suggest that TSU largely depends on product modularity and relational governance in alliances. However, while cultural distance negatively moderates the path from relational governance to TSU, it has no effect on the relationship between product modularity and TSU. Based on this, we conclude that product modularity can substitute for relational governance when strong relational norms are not well-developed in international alliances. Thus cultural distance does not invariably amount to a liability in ITAs
Outsourcing and its implications for market success : negative curvilinearity, firm resources, and competition
Over the past few decades, outsourcing has become a widely discussed and researched means for firms to change their performance. In this article, we attempt to link outsourcing to the market success of firms, specifically their market share. We argue that although firms may be able to increase their market share through outsourcing, this is only true up to a point, beyond which market share actually decreases as a consequence of further outsourcing. There is, in other words, a negatively curvilinear (inverted U) relationship between outsourcing and market share. We also hypothesize that the outsourcingâmarket share relationship is moderated negatively by both the strength of firm resources and the extent of competition in a firmâs market. We empirically confirm these arguments through a panel data analysis containing over 19,000 observations on manufacturing firms, and offer some case examples to illustrate the mechanisms driving these results. We discuss implications for marketing research and practice
Risk allocation, supplier development and product innovation in automotive supply chains: a study of Nissan Europe
As new technologies and globalization change the vertical contracting structure of the auto industry, risk allocation in OEM-supplier relationships remain critical to ensure innovation and competitiveness. Developing previous, agency theory based research on the levels and the determinants of risk sharing, this study of Nissan Europeâs supply chain shows that the OEM absorbs more risk (a) the greater the supplierâs environmental uncertainty, (b) the more risk averse the supplier, and (c) the less severe the supplierâs moral hazard. The study also shows that Nissan, though still absorbing risk from their suppliers to a nonnegligible degree, has moved to a more market-based approach to supplier selection and development as a consequence of technological change, the industry globalization and the merger with Renault