S1407 Globalization and Competitiveness: Global Value Chains

Module I – Globalization and International Management

Week 1
The globalization debate and changing patterns of industrial production
References
Lesson 1- Is Globalization an irreversible path?
- Friedman, T. (2005). The World Is Flat. Picador, New York. Selected pages: 3-21.
- Ghemawat, P. (2007). Why the World isn't flat. Foreign Policy, March 1, 2007.

Lesson 2–What should we think about offshore outsourcing?
- Zirpoli, P. and Becker M.C. (2011). What happen when you outsource too much? MIT Sloan Management Review, 52 (2): 58-64.
- Friedman. T. (2012). Average Is Over. The New York Times, January 24, 2012.

Week 2
Introduction to the International Management discipline
Lesson 1- Managing across borders
- Bartlett, C.A. and Ghoshal, S. (1987). Managing across Borders: New Strategic Requirements. MIT Sloan Management Review 28 (4): 7-17.
- Bartlett, C.A. and Ghoshal, S. (1987). Managing across Borders: New Organizational Responses. MIT Sloan Management Review 29 (1): 43-53.

Lesson 2–What can we gain from a value chain analysis?
- Contractor, F.J., Kumar, V., Kundu, S.K. and Pedersen, T. (2010). Reconceptualizing the Firm in a World of Offshoring and Outsourcing: The Organizational and Geographical Relocation of High-Value Company Functions. Journal of Management Studies, 47 (8): 1417-1433.
- Kaplinsky, R. and Morris, M, (2001). A Handbook for Value Chain Research. Institute of Development Studies, Brighton. Selected pages: 4-10; 22-23.

Module II – Global value chains (GVCs)

Week 3
Rethinking the international division of labour: the global value chains (GVCs) perspective
References
Lesson 1–From Producer-driven to Buyer driven commodity chains
- Gereffi, G. (1994). The organization of buyer-driven global commodity chains. How US retailers shape overseas production network. In G. Gereffi & M. Korzeniewicz (Ed.), Commodity Chains and Global Capitalism. Westport, CT. Praeger, 95–122.

Lesson 2- The governance of global value chains (GVCs)
- Bair, J. (2009). Global Commodity Chains: Genealogy and Review. In Frontiers of commodity chain research, ed. by J. Bair. Stanford University Press.
- Gereffi, G., Humphrey, J. and Sturgeon, T. (2005). The governance of global value chains. Review of International Political Economy 12(1): 78-104.

Week 4
Empirical application of the GVCs framework
Lesson 1–Managing global value chains: Zara case study
- Bair, J. (2009). Global Commodity Chains: Genealogy and Review. In Frontiers of commodity chain research, ed. by J. Bair. Stanford University Press.

Lesson 2–How do lead firms compete in the globalizing furniture industry? An international comparative study
- Readings will be provided by the lecturer

Module III – Industrial districts in the global economy

Week 5
Networks and Industrial districts as forms of industrial organization
Lesson 1–Between Hierarchies and Markets: the Network model
- Thompson, G. F. (2003). Between hierarchies and markets. The Logic and Limits of Network Form of Organization. Oxford University Press. Selected chapters: 1.1, 1.2; 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 (no 2.3.1, 2.3.2;) 2.4; 2.6; 5.1, 5.2.

Assignment of individual paper

Lesson 2–Rise and evolution of the Italian industrial districts: still a model of success?
- Beattini, G. (1991). Italian Industrial Districts: Problems and Perspectives. International Studies of Management & Organization, 26 (1): 83-90.

Week 6
Industrial clusters and global value chains
Lesson 1–What's the nexus between industrial districts and global value chains?
- Humphrey, J. and Schmitz, H. (2002). How Does Insertion in Global Value Chains Affect Upgrading in Industrial Clusters? Regional Studies, 36 (9): 1017–1027.
- Bair, J. and Gereffi, G. (2001). Local Clusters in Global Chains: The Causes and Consequences of Export Dynamism in Torreon's Blue Jeans Industry. World Development, 29 (11): 1885-1903.

Delivery of individual paper

Lesson 2– Guest lecture: Districts on The Move.

Week 7
Rethinking manufacturing in global value chains

Lesson 1– Guest lecture: Spreading the luxury in emerging markets

Lesson 2– Guest lecture: Value chain globalization in project manufacturing industries: evidences from the high-speed trains manufacturing.

THEME IV – EMERGING FIELDS IN GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS ANALYSIS
Week 8
The forces that are flattening the world: a focus on ICTs

Lesson 1– How are ICTs changing the governance of global value chains?
- Gereffi, G. (2001). Beyond the Producer-driven/Buyer-driven Dichotomy. The Evolution of Global Value Chains in the Internet Era. IDS Bulletin, 32(3): 30-40.

Lesson 2– Guest lecture: What's the role of ICTs in Frankiln & Marshall's global development?

Week 9
Entrepreneurship and upgrading
Lesson 1– International Entrepreneurship: an introduction
- McDougall, P.P. & Oviatt, B.M. (2000). International entrepreneurship: the intersection of two research paths. Academy of Management Journal 43(5): 902-906
- Zahra, S. & George, G. (2002). International entrepreneurship: the current status of the field and future research agenda. In M. Hitt, D. Ireland, D. Sextona and M. Camp (Ed.) Strategic Entrepreneurship: Creating an Integrated Mindset. Blackwell, Oxford, 255-288.

Lesson 2– Guest lecture: Entrepreneurship and Upgrading.

Week 10
Green economy: between marketing and social responsibility

Lesson 1–Guest lecture: The role of lead firms in fostering environmental innovation.

Lesson 2 -Guest lecture: Green supply chain.

Week 11
Design thinking
Lesson 1–Open source design
- Antonelli, P. (2011). State of Design 03: Thinkering. Domus 948, June 2011.
- Brown, T. (2008). Design Thinking. Harvard Business Review, June 84-92.

Lesson 2–Guest lecture: Design thinking.

Week 12
Team project presentation

In-class presentation

In-class presentation

10% Class Participation

20% Individual paper

20% Team Project

50% Final Exam

-Bair, J. (2009). Frontiers of commodity chain research. Stanford University Press.
-Bartlett, C.A. and Ghoshal, S. (2002). Managing across Borders: The Trasnational Solution. 2nd edition. Harvard Business School Press
-Dicken, P. (2003). Global Shift: Reshaping the Global Economic Map in the 21st Century, 4th
edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
-Gereffi, G. and Korzeniewicz, M. (1994). Commodity Chains and Global Capitalism. Westport, CT: Praeger.