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Globalization of Production in the Textile and Clothing Industries: The Case of Italian Foreign Direct Investment and Outward Processing in Eastern Europe
... Åkesson, Jonsson, & Edanius-Hällås, 2007;Gibbon, 2001;Mitchell, 2015;Raman, & Ahmad, 2013;Schniederjans & Zuckweiler, 2004). E m p i r i c a l r e s e a r c h i s p r i m a r i l y concentrated on the USA (e.g., Elmuti & Kathawala, 2000;Kremic, Tukel, & Rom, 2006;Schniederjans & Zuckweiler, 2004;Su, Dyer, & Gargeya, 2009), on some European countries (e.g., Åkesson et al., 2007;Belso-Martinez, 2008;Bolisani & Scarso, 1996;Efstathiades, Rousis, Boustras, & Bratskas, 2009;Gianelle & Tattara, 2007;Graziani, 1998;Mol, Tulder, & Beije, 2005;Nassimbeni, 2006), and on other developed countries (e.g., Abramovsky, Griffith, & Sako, 2004;Beaumont & Sohal, 2004;Johanson & Vahlne, 1977;Kyöstilä & Cardwell, 2005;MoosaviRad, Kara, & Ibbotson, 2014;Mitchell, 2015;Raman, & Ahmad, 2013). Nevertheless, there are some studies in developing countries (e.g., Barbosa, & Minciotti, 2007;Oliveira, Boehe, & Borini, 2009) as well as with a global focus (Hoecht & Trott, 2006;Schaaf, 2004). ...
... The literature on outsourcing of apparel activities (e.g. Bolisani & Scarso, 1996;Gibbon, 2001;Graziani, 1998;Kam, Chen, & Wilding, 2011;Kumar & Arbi, 2008;Qudrat-Ullah, 2010;Strange, 2006;Tam, Moon, Ng, & Hui, 2006;Teng & Jaramillo, 2005;Yu & Lindsay, 2011) aims to address these questions: why, the motives for outsourcing; where, in which geographical region and/or market; and how, which outsourcing strategies to undertake. Another question mentioned less often but that can be made is what to outsource and refers to which activities should be kept in-house and which should be outsourced. ...
... Regarding location strategies, these depend on the nation-specific resources, such as labor and trade ability issues, including delivery times, tariff barriers, logistics and cultural issues (Bolisani & Scarso, 1996). Location strategies are mentioned by Åkesson et al. (2007), Gibbon (2001) and Graziani (1998) in their empirical studies. They highlight the tendency towards international outsourcing (mainly to Asia) but they also mention the "near-to-home" strategy, which justifies why apparel companies from north and central Europe seek to outsource to eastern European manufacturing companies, in order to give a quick response to markets. ...
Objective – The purpose of this paper is to build a framework for an
international outsourcing process in the apparel industry that can serve
to support managerial decisions and actions regarding outsourcing
choices and implementation.
Design/methodology/approach – We developed of a straightforward
and flexible framework describing the main stages of the international
outsourcing process and its main activities with application in the
context of the apparel industry. A case study approach was adopted
with primary data collected through in-depth interviews and secondary
data aggregated from company reports and documents.
Theoretical foundation – Some research gaps in the outsourcing
literature and most specifically on the matter of international
outsourcing were identified by Hatonen and Eriksson (2009) and
Kakabadse and Kakabadse (2000), among others. Specifically, these
authors claim that there is not enough research on developing and
offering decision models, tools or guidelines to support managerial
decisions with the appropriate empirical evidence. This study aims to
address this gap.
Findings – We found that the international outsourcing process can
be described using the proposed framework. Apparel companies can
use this framework to support and supervise international outsourcing
processes.
Practical implications – This study provides a simple model that can
help companies in the apparel industry to enhance their outsourcing
activities and operations, and also contributes to a broader academic
understanding of the matter.
... Gli investimenti diretti mostrano, però, solo una parte del fenomeno. Una crescente e convincente letteratura, sulla base di una pluralità di dati (Graziani 1998;Baldone et al., 2001;2002a;2002b;Bugamelli et al., 2000;Chiarvesio et al., 2003;Corò, Grandinetti 1999;Corò, Rullani 1998;Corò, Volpe 2003a;Schiattarella 1999b; sia per l'intero sistema paese, sia su specifici settori, sia su specifici distretti o aree geografiche (Conti et al., 2006;Mariotti, 2003;Viesti, Prota 2007;Iapadre, Mastronardi 2007), documenta l'accrescersi del fenomeno e le sue caratteristiche. ...
... I dati di tpp testimoniano in maniera inequivocabile la frammentazione del processo produttivo sul piano internazionale; la frammentazione internazionale ha un peso significativo sulla produzione totale. Soprattutto nei settori tradizionali, vi è evidenza che la delocalizzazione sia molto rilevante (Graziani, 1998;Baldone et al., 2002b). In confronto con gli altri paesi europei, la delocalizzazione delle imprese italiane è più concentrata settorialmente 8 . ...
... Da sottolineare è l'estrema rapidità con cui il fenomeno si diffonde. Fino a metà degli anni Ottanta la delocalizzazione internazionale nei settori tradizionali è quasi completamente assente in Italia, a differenza di quanto avveniva, ad esempio, in Germania (Graziani, 1998). I dati di tpp per i settori tessile-abbigliamento e calzature mostrano chiaramente questa fase di espansione fino al 1996; segue, poi, una leggera contrazione dei flussi, che, però, è imputabile ad una contrazione di questa tipologia di commercio più come fenomeno statistico che economico 9 . ...
... This conclusion is confirmed by a combination of empirical evidence. (Graziani, 1998). ...
... This is not only because SMEs have a structural lower propensity to invest abroad, but also because the characteristics of the district, on which the competitive edge founds, are difficult to replicate in a different social, cultural and economic environment. Most recent empirical analysis and literature have shown alternative cost-reduction strategies like outward processing trade and employment of immigrants in specific segments and sectors (Baldone, Sdogati and Tajoli, 2002;Graziani, 1998;Ambrosini, 2003;Giovani, Lorenzini and Versari, 2003). ...
As far as immigration is concerned Italy has become an important host country within the European Union. Even though in terms of stock of foreign population on total population it is still behind many European immigration countries, including new immigration countries like Greece, as far as new arrivals are concerned it represents one of the main attraction poles in the European Union, especially if undocumented immigration is considered. Migration flows of the past twenty-five years differ from those that occurred in the post-war period not only because new destination and origin countries emerged - namely Southern European countries on the one hand and Eastern European, African and Asian countries on the other hand - but also for the features of the pull dimension explaining the migratory phenomenon. The transition from the Fordist to the post-Fordist paradigm and the changing international context have shifted the focus of pull factors from labour shortage more towards flexibility. Mutating labour standards and peculiar organization of production show this evolution most clearly. New immigration waves directed to Italy are explained to a great extent by this transition, which is founded on a number of preexisting features of the country. The review of migration theories shows that alternative theoretical explanatory frameworks are complementary rather than exclusive ways to read the phenomenon. Historical contexts and the level of analysis are determining criteria for selecting a combination of theories. Besides migration theory, the definition of flexibility has emerged as a central concept to explain migration flows to Italy. The analysis of available official data on immigration on the one hand, and on the Italian labour market and entrepreneurial structure on the other hand, provides some empirical evidence on the link between immigration and the need for flexibility.
... Additionally, starting with the 1980s, the Outward Processing Trade 161 (OPT) has also contributed to the creation of a pan-European and Mediterranean zone of production in the textile and clothing sector (Smith et al 2005). The OPT agreement stipulated that no duties be levied on clothing or footwear entering a Western European country from Eastern Europe when they were manufactured using raw materials from the same Western European country (Baldone et al 2000; Graziani 1998). Moreover, Eastern European countries were granted an additional quota. ...
... Moreover, Eastern European countries were granted an additional quota. Reimported OPT goods were duty-free but reimports within normal MFA quotas were subject to tariffs (Graziani 1998). Duties were levied only on the added value produced abroad and not the full value of the product (Smith 2003). ...
After the change of its political and economic system in 1989, Romania opened
its market to foreign investment. However, for most of the 1990s annual foreign direct
investment (FDI) flows remained rather modest. They started to increase significantly
only after 2003.
This study has several objectives. Firstly, it examines the major characteristics of
FDI in Romania (size, mode of entry and industry preference). Secondly, it analyzes the
evolution of FDI flows since 1990 in the context of economic and political transition.
Thirdly, it analyzes the spatial distribution of FDI within Romania. Fourthly, it examines
the geographical origins of foreign investors and the different patterns of investment they
generate in Romania. Fifthly, it investigates the main determinants of FDI. And, sixthly,
it examines the impact of FDI on the local and national economies.
In order to answer these questions, the study uses a combination of research
methods that include archival research, questionnaires and interviews. The study has
found that foreign investments in Romania are polarized into very small and large
enterprises, a common characteristic for all transition countries. Almost 40 percent of all
foreign-owned companies are in the wholesale and retail industries, but investments in
the manufacturing sector represent about 50 percent of the FDI stock.
The study also found that FDI is very unevenly distributed within Romania. More
than half of all foreign-owned companies and over 50 percent of the FDI stock is
concentrated in Bucharest, the capital of Romania. Other regions preferred by foreign
investors are the Northwest, the West and the Center while the Southwest and Northeast
xiv
have attracted the least foreign investment. Two important conclusions could be derived
from these findings. Firstly, physical and cultural distance remain important in
influencing the geographical dynamics of FDI. Secondly, those regions that were already
more developed have attracted more FDI and/or more foreign investors. This has
contributed significantly to the widening development gap between regions.
Characteristics and distribution pattern of FDI are also influenced by the investors’
nationalities, reflecting characteristics from the economic, political, cultural and social
environment of their home countries.
In order to understand the main determinants and impact of FDI in Romania, a
questionnaire was sent to foreign investors in two industries: the automotive industry and
the textile, clothing and footwear (TCF) industry. The questionnaire was followed up by
in-depth interviews. The results of this analysis show that, in these two industries, low
operating costs and the presence of highly educated and skilled labor are the most
important factors in attracting FDI. Proximity to the European Union is also considered
important by foreign investors in both industries. On the other hand, the size, strength and
potential of the Romanian market shows only limited importance for foreign investors
confirming the efficiency-seeking rather than market-seeking character of foreign
investments in these two sectors. The impact of foreign automotive and TCF companies
on local economies is in general limited to providing employment. These foreign-owned
companies have developed limited forward and backward linkages with Romanian
companies.
The findings of this research show many similarities to results from other studies
in Central and Eastern Europe but also some major differences. The dynamics of FDI in
xv
Romania and other Central and Eastern European countries illustrate the importance of
history (path dependence). Characteristics and patterns of FDI in Central and Eastern
Europe during the transition years were determined by the different legacies of state
socialism together with specific relations between state, economy and society. Another
important conclusion of this study is that, in the absence of significant political and
economic reforms, FDI is not a solution for jump-starting economic development in a
transition country. Rather than foreign investments determining economic transformation,
political and economic transformation motivates foreign companies to invest in that
country.
In the future, the study would benefit considerably from broadening the scope of
the research to include other economic sectors. Also, on January 1, 2007, Romania joined
the European Union as its 27th member state. Another study may be necessary in the near
future to capture changes in the characteristics and patterns of FDI in Romania following
accession to the European Union.
... The risk exists that such firms become "too large" and impose inflexible, hierarchical obligations on subcontractors that drain the latter's ability to innovate. (Graziani 1998(Graziani , 2001. Insofar as the geographical reach of the supply chain has widened, it has also necessitated new governance forms. ...
... The risk exists that such firms become "too large" and impose inflexible, hierarchical obligations on subcontractors that drain the latter's ability to innovate. (Graziani 1998(Graziani , 2001. Insofar as the geographical reach of the supply chain has widened, it has also necessitated new governance forms. ...
... For the past 20 years, producers in the former communist states of East-Central Europe have established an important position in a regionalized system of outsourcing and production, largely (though not exclusively) for European Union markets (Begg et al. 2003;Fröbel et al. 1980;Pellegrin 2001;Pickles et al. 2006;Smith 2003;Smith et al. 2005). Much of these trade and production arrangements were based on the establishment of export assembly production in the 1980s, involving what the European Commission called 'outward processing trade' (OPT) (Graziani 1998). Localized production complexes established under state socialist central planning have become reconfigured across 'post-socialist' Europe and garment production has rebounded within a context of wider deindustrialization and economic decline (Pickles 2002;Pickles et al. 2006;Smith 2003). ...
... In the clothing sector, this involved the relocation of parts of the production process (particularly sewing and assembly production) from western Europe to ECE, southern Europe (especially Greece), North Africa, Turkey and beyond. These pan-regional production relationships were enabled in part through particular trade regimes such as the European Community's (as it was then) outward processing trade (OPT) arrangements with 'third countries' (Begg et al. 2003;Graziani 1998;Pellegrin 2001). ...
The global garment industry is currently being reshaped in dramatic ways through processes of trade liberalization, delocalization and interfirm and interregional competition. There has been much speculation about the increasing importance of factor (especially labour) costs in fuelling further rounds of de-localization of garment production towards low-cost production locations, such as China and India. However, the extent to which these processes mean the end to garment production in higher factor-cost locations, including those neighbouring the major clothing markets of the USA and the EU, is open to question. In this article we interrogate the interregional shifts in garment sourcing taking place in Europe and its surrounding regions. While factor costs (including labour) are important determinants of the geography of sourcing, a range of other costs (logistical and policy costs) are important in structuring the geographies of global and regional production. Firms in the Slovak Republic are responding to increasing competitive pressures and we assess how trans-border sourcing, subcontracting and FDI are being integrated into strategies to sustain European production networks. We highlight the emergence of cross-border production relocation to Ukraine as one specific strategy. We examine the product specificity of these changes and the ways in which they are embedded within already existing production networks, forms of cross-border contracting and central European trade regimes. In other words, we explore some of the forces that shape the somewhat tentative continuation of garment production for export to EU markets in central Europe despite the ‘spectre of China’.
... El ritmo de crecimiento de las importaciones comunitarias procedentes de los PECO vecinos deberá seguir expandiéndose, principalmente debido a las relaciones de subcontratación que se están articulando entre empresas de los dos grupos de países en los últimos años. 23 En cuanto a la 23 Véanse Graziani, 1998;Guerrieri, 1998 estructura sectorial, cabe mencionar que los productos manufacturados representan un 70% del total de las importaciones de la UE desde los PECO. ...
... Por otra parte, en lo que se refiere al abastecimiento de alimentos del mercado comunitario, a pesar del nivel bastante elevado de las preferencias comerciales concedidas a los PECO, los 24 Cifras de la UNCTAD extraídas de IRELA (1998b). 25 Véase también Graziani (1998) y CEPAL (1998 segmentos de exportación comunes a los PECO y a América Latina son muy limitados. Así, al parecer, considerando el escaso grado de competencia que regiría las relaciones comerciales de estos dos grupos de suministradores de la UE, sería poco factible pensar en altos riesgos de desviación de comercio en desmedro de América Latina. ...
Análisis de cómo la acelaración del proceso de integración económica, tanto en Europa como en Latinoamérica, ha transformado las relaciones comerciales entre ambas regiones.
... Take, for instance, the European and North American clothing sectors. Since the midto late 1980s there has been a significant restructuring of production through the outsourcing of parts of the production process to (among other places) relatively lowcost low-wage areas in Central Europe (Scheffer, 1994;Graziani, 1998;Begg and Pickles, 2000) and Central America (Kessler, 1999). 10 Geographical relocation of production has occurred as a strategy to enhance surplus profits and relative surplus value (see Harvey, 1982: 390-93). ...
... Furthermore, EU countries imported 18% of their total non-EU clothing imports from ECE countries, which placed ECE second only after Asia (WTO, 1999). As Lemoine (1997: 4) has argued, 'OPT was the engine of Central and East European manufacturing exports in the early nineties' (see also Graziani, 1998). Such arrangements allowed western producers and retailers to benefit in two main ways. ...
The aim of this paper is to explore a theoretical framework that can assist in under-standing the extent to which the increased integration of macro-regional economies (such as the European and North American) and the global economy is leading to divergence and/or convergence in the pattern of economic activity and the distribution of value-added and wealth. In particular, the paper focuses on the extent to which changing divisions of labour, the production, appropriation and allocation of value, and economic organization underpin these processes of convergence/divergence. We focus on developing an understanding of the changing divisions of labour across space in increasingly integrated macro-regional economies such as Europe and North America, and the (unequal) flows of value between places that underpin mosaics of territorial inequality. We argue that the production and flows of value associated with different forms of economic activities and commodity production and exchange in different localities provides a framework for understanding changing geographical divisions of labour. We also argue that a critical engagement with the range of work associated with analysing ‘commodity chains’ and ‘commodity networks’ provides a way into thinking about the (dis)organization of economic activity and value creation, appropriation and distribution. In particular, we argue that the focus on the commodity, while initially helpful, is misplaced because commodities embody and carry with them relations of value. Consequently, our attention should be focused on the organization of the production, appropriation and realization of value flows and the various forces that structure these processes, such as state governance, labour organization, corporate practices and so on, that are fundamental to understanding the (re)configuration of economic activity in macro-regional economies.
... The trade data show also the growing importance of Italy (Baldone, Sdogati,Tajoli 2001, 2002Graziani, 1998Graziani, , 2001) that has replaced Germany as first trade partner of Romania. This latter country has strengthened its own Rumanian presence in other higher capital intensive industries, such as chemistry, electro-mechanic, optical and means of transport 7 . ...
... The trade data show also the growing importance of Italy (Baldone, Sdogati,Tajoli 2001, 2002Graziani, 1998Graziani, , 2001) that has replaced Germany as first trade partner of Romania. This latter country has strengthened its own Rumanian presence in other higher capital intensive industries, such as chemistry, electro-mechanic, optical and means of transport 7 . ...
As European firms have faced strong competition from businesses in other industrial economies, in order to reduce production costs and keep prices competitive they have begun outsourcing their production to low wage countries. Although final firms have taken clear advantage from outsourcing abroad and their profit, after delocalization, have systematically increased, the question regarding the possible impoverishment of the outsourcing territory is nonetheless pertinent. The aim of the paper is to analyze the governance of the value chain operating in the traditional sectors of textile, clothing and shoe, pointing particularly to delocalization through sub-contracting. The case studied deals with Veneto firm relations with Romania. As the result of the analyses, the authors are in the opinion that a rapid outsourcing process has profoundly affected the structure of production in both territories in the last decade.
... Telecommunication parts is the second largest item in Central and East Europe Countries imports of parts (Kaminski and Ng, 2000). Apparel and footwear exports are closely mirrored by textile and leather imports in the same exporting countries (Graziani 1995(Graziani , 1998(Graziani , 2001. Among the several industries that take part in the global value chain we focus on the textile and clothing industry, one of the main productive sectors in the Italian economy 6 . ...
... Graziani (1998;2001) studied the cost of labour structure in several European countries and reached the conclusion that the cost saving due to the delocalization process are to be estimated at 50% for Germany and at 40% for Italy. The unit labour cost in the apparel and shoes sectors in Rumania is about 1/7 of the labour cost in Italy, but due to the inferior productivity the cost difference can be estimated to reduce to 50-60% still a large gap. ...
The present paper develops a moral hazard model applied to a multinational firm (MNF)'s decision between foreign direct investment (FDI) and international subcontracting. We compare the results of the moral hazard model, characterized by the fact that the MNF is not able to control operations performed by the subcontractor firm, with the traditional model, which considers symmetric information. We conclude that the uncertainty associated with the subcontractor firm's behaviour, in spite of increasing the preference of the MNF to engage in FDI, does not change the optimal decision, which continues to be to subcontract. The exception occurs in the case that the subsidiary stands as more efficient than the subcontractor firm.
... L'externalisation basée sur la sous-traitance internationale et l'OPT est la plus importante à l'échelle mondiale dans des secteurs tels que le textile-habillement où elle supplante les IDE (Graziani, 1998), dans l'industrie du cuir-chaussure, les machines électriques, les composants électroniques, l'électroménager high-tech, le fer, l'acier et la métallurgie non-ferreuse. Néanmoins, l'industrie où la sous-traitance domine le plus est celle des articles de sport, à l'instar de la firme Nike devenue la firme la plus fragmentée, une sorte de société internationale «virtuelle», qui a découplé la gestion de la production sur une échelle mondiale (Price, 2001), elle ne possède et ne gère plus aucune unité de production aux États-Unis. ...
... The processing trade (in Romanian lohn) is an international contract through which the producer commits to produce a good following the technical specifications of the contractor, and charges a fee as remuneration for its activity. Italian firms have been taking advantage of this duty system since the early 1990s(Graziani, 1998; World Bank, 2004). ...
chapter about internationalization of Italian small firms footwear, garment etc
... Già verso la fine degli anni Novanta-inizi anni Duemila, varie indagini e ricerche mostravano che alcune peculiarità del modello tradizionale distrettuale si stessero fortemente attenuando (fra gli altri Graziani, 1998;Corò e Rullani, 1998;Corò e Grandinetti, 1999;Favaretto, 2000;Mariotti, Micucci e Montanaro, 2004), anche a seguito dell'adozione di strategie di delocalizzazione di fasi produttive o di altre forme di internazionalizzazione. Gran parte della delocalizzazione ha avuto come unico obiettivo quello di ridurre in modo significativo i costi di produzione (manodopera a basso costo pagata in valute deboli) con effetti negativi sull'occupazione locale. ...
Il presente rapporto di ricerca è frutto di una indagine che ha come oggetto il mercato del lavoro femminile nelle Marche, in particolare le donne occupate. Un questionario on line è stato inviato alle occupate marchigiane iscritte ai sindacati e ha visto una partecipazione molto estesa di occupate marchigiane con 786 rispondenti. In questa ricerca vengono analizzate le condizioni delle donne occupate, i percorsi lavorativi, le criticità, ma anche gli aspetti più importanti della condizione femminile quali la vita familiare, il lavoro domestico, la cura dei figli e l’assistenza agli anziani. La componente femminile risulta fortemente penalizzata nel mercato del lavoro rispetto a quella maschile. Il mercato del lavoro femminile è caratterizzato da salari più bassi, segregazione occupazionale, oltre che da più incerte prospettive di carriera. Inoltre, per le donne occupate conciliare lavoro e impegni famigliari è estremamente complicato, a causa della carenza e ai costi dei servizi per l’infanzia e gli anziani.
... L'importo complessivo di lavoro di cui i distretti hanno bisogno per produrre sul posto le scarpe, i vestiti, i mobili, gli elettrodomestici si è ridotto, a causa della contrazione della domanda, dell'accresciuta concorrenza e della delocalizzazione. Già verso la fine degli anni Novanta-inizi anni Duemila, varie indagini e ricerche mostravano che alcune peculiarità del modello tradizionale distrettuale si stessero fortemente attenuando (fra gli altri Graziani, 1998;Corò e Rullani, 1998;Corò e Grandinetti, 1999;Favaretto, 2000;Mariotti, Micucci e Montanaro, 2004), anche a seguito dell'adozione di strategie di delocalizzazione di fasi produttive o di altre forme di internazionalizzazione. Gran parte della delocalizzazione ha avuto come unico obiettivo quello di ridurre in modo significativo i costi di produzione (manodopera a basso costo pagata in valute deboli) con effetti negativi sull'occupazione locale. ...
L’interesse per i distretti industriali nella letteratura economica è attribuibile al sorprendente sviluppo nel periodo post-bellico di un nuovo modello produttivo cosiddetto della “Terza Italia” nella parte centro-nord-orientale del Paese. Questo modello caratterizza anche le Marche, una regione la cui attività imprenditoriale locale si basa principalmente sulle piccole imprese e su complesse relazioni tra queste e le comunità locali. La crisi economica ha evidenziato diverse carenze strutturali del modello, di conseguenza le concettualizzazioni prevalenti di distretti industriali e della Terza Italia vanno ripensate. Alcune lacune nella letteratura sui distretti industriali hanno precluso una valutazione più obiettiva dei punti di forza e di debolezza del modello della Terza Italia. L’approccio distrettuale può tuttavia risultare ancora utile nell’interpretare e superare le nuove fratture che si configurano nella tenuta del tessuto sociale ed economico.
... Second, between countries within western Europe, a new international division of labour developed from the 1970s as labour intensive activity was relocated to southern Europe from the North (particularly, Portugal, Greece and Spain) (Fröbel et al 1981, Lipietz 1987. Third, and more recently within the wider European and Euro-Med region, outward processing customs arrangements (known as outward processing trade (OPT)) enabled the development of assembly production networks in central Europe from the late 1970s and early 1980s on (Fröbel et al 1981, Graziani 1998, Pellegrin 2001, Begg et al 2003. 13 By the mid-1990s, OPT trade accounted for 82% of total clothing exports from ECE to the EU. ...
... In the past, cost advantages had been obtained through outsourcing of manufacturing tasks to micro-enterprises clustered in IDs and later in domestic peripheries in the south (Dunford 2006). From the 1980s, one crucial strategy adopted by larger Italian manufacturers in response to the shocks of globalisation has been the restructuring of the supply chain first by replacing domestic contractors with overseas contractors through outward processing trade, and later through foreign direct investments, mainly in central and eastern European countries (Graziani 1998). ...
The death of seven Chinese migrants in a fire in Prato, Italy sparked debate on the productive regime of the Chinese migrants in Italian industrial districts (IDs). This paper addresses the issue of Chinese entrepreneurship in IDs by highlighting the structural factors at work and their interaction with Chinese migrants’ agency. It shows that the Chinese migrants’ working regime is the result of the legal regimes of Italy, the degrees at which regulations are enforced by authorities or left as a threat but not enforced, demands for labour originating from China, changing structures of production, demand and distribution of textiles and clothing, globally. To do so, the analysis in this paper brings together topics usually separated out as migration studies, labour studies, urban studies and the global value chain debate. The paper documents the radical reconfiguration of space taking place through the complementary use of intra-firm stasis and inter-firm mobility in the Chinese workshops and argues that it contributes to shape a unique productive regime. Thus, a new dimension is added to the different forms of migrant employment. It further highlights the link between the downscaling of the industrial district of Prato and the contestation of Chinese migrants’ entrepreneurship.
... To the contrary, earlier relationships with local and foreign suppliers, designers, wholesale and retail outlets may atrophy, leading to deterioration rather than upgrading. (Graziani 1998) Constrained by capital mobility, and at the same time by the limited and weakened developmental capabilities of national businesses, states' role varies between damage control measures in case of massive capital flight, and of a peculiar type of a competition state whose developmental capacity is exhausted by the permanent effort to keep "nomadic" BDC-integrators on board. At the extreme, the latter option may result in a neoliberal developmental trap: the consolidation of low wages, anti-labor regulation of industrial relations, and poor work conditions, and ultimately overall degradation of national human capital. ...
... There are some other researches who agree that subcontracting is the most important type of industrial redeployment in some industries, such as textile-clothing (Andreff, 2009;Graziani, 1998). Within the new environmental context the subcontracting strategy could leave subcontractors to the vagaries of the environment (Kooli et al., 2010, pp. ...
... OPT arrangements enabled western European companies to overcome import quotas applicable under the MFA and helped underpin their competitiveness in global markets. Having powerfully influenced the clothing trade between northern and southern Europe in the 1970s and 1980s, such OPT arrangements subsequently significantly affected clothing trade patterns between the EU and countries in CEE (Graziani, 1998). CEE clothing exports to western Europe increased by 20 per cent annually between 1990 and 1998, and by 1998 represented 5% of world clothing exports. ...
The continuing expansion and deepening integration of the European Union is redefining the map of threats and opportunities for both companies and regions in Europe. In this paper I analyze the changing geography of the production system in three industries – automobiles, clothing and steel – as a product of the strategies and tactics of companies, states (at EU, national and regional levels) and trades unions, as they seek to shape geographies of production to favour their interests within this changing European political–economic space. It is argued that the end product of this process will be the creation of new and sharper forms of regional uneven development and qualitative differentiation between regions, as well as a renewed widening rather than further narrowing of regional differences in economic performance and well–being.
... There is also a group of export-oriented plants in Poland that are locked into subcontracting relations with TNCs. The clothing industry is a special case here, with numerous indigenous companies engaged in performing low-value-added sewing services for West European producers and retailers, which provide the fabric and design (Graziani, 1998;Smith et al., 2002). 8 The majority of foreign-owned factories manufacture standard products for the Polish market, similar to those produced in other countries. ...
This article examines the immense changes in Polish industry since 1990 and the impact of foreign direct investment. It is shown that, contrary to some general views about Central and East European transition, the postsocialist transformation processes have contributed to the enhanced competitiveness of Polish industry and to narrowing the gap between Poland and the European Union. The analysis includes basic indicators of economic performance, changes in branch structure, international relations (especially exports) and the labour market. Discussion of the role of transnational corporations is based on detailed empirical research which covered 2,020 foreign-owned factories. The regional differentiation of foreign investment is outlined, the disparities between developed and underdeveloped regions as well as metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in particular. Special emphasis is put on principal factors affecting the location of new foreign factories. This is analysed within the broader context of phenomena underlying economic growth or decline in Polish regions and towns during the postsocialist era.
... In contrast, Italy was a relative latecomer, due to relatively low domestic wages, the outsourcing potential that was available domestically, the focus on up-market products as well as the late date of initial capitalization of the Italian industry (Textiles Intelligence 1997; Baden 2002; Sellar 2007). In Italy's later outsoucing efforts Romania had an important role, due in part to language ties (Graziani 1998). Italian banks also played an important role in facilitating these outsourcing processes to Romania (Sellar 2007). ...
... Since the 1980s has been at the core of EU OPT trade. Considering OPT imports in all industrial sectors, the whole region, including former Yugoslavia, was already the most important in the world in 1988 for the EU (Graziani, 1998). Shifts in subcontracting work in a number of sectors to the countries of the region from North Africa and Western Asia is noted (shifts to rural Bulgaria for garments work from Turkey; shifts to Romania for footwear work from Morocco). ...
... Furthermore, EU countries imported 18 % of their total non-EU clothing imports from CEE countries, which placed CEE second only after Asia (WTO, 1999). As Lemoine (1997: 4) has argued, 'OPT was the engine of Central and East European manufacturing exports in the early nineties' (see also Graziani, 1998). Such arrangements benefited western producers and retailers in two main ways. ...
Processes of European political-economic integration and the creation of a homogenised European politicaleconomic space are proximate causes of significant changes in the economic geographies of an enlarged Europe (for example, see European Commission, 2001). The collapse of state socialism in the East and the expansion and deepening economic integration of the European Union (EU), notably via the Single
... La posibilidad de recurrir a tal régimen aduanero (llamado también «tráfico de perfeccionamiento») ha incentivado a las empresas italianas a utilizar esta práctica desde principios de los años 90. Véanse Graziani (1998) proceso productivo de poder abastecerse directamente en la zona, lo que explica que algunas empresas productoras de componentes para las firmas del calzado, entre ellas las analizadas en este trabajo, que ya operaban en el distrito de Montebelluna, hayan sido inducidas a seguir a sus clientes a Rumanía para aproximar la oferta a la demanda. ...
This study deals with the reallocation of firms localized in three important Veneto districts in Romania producing footwear, furniture and industrial refrigeration and air conditioning. The Veneto region has a strong specialization in those sectors at the national level.The footwear and furniture firms present a vertically fragmented structure according to a phase specialization. Firms have moved abroad the practice of sourcing that they were used to practice in the domestic economy; footwear firms have commissioned to foreign subcontractors part of the productive process, or the whole of it or have established own productive plants abroad through FDI. Furniture firms have made recourse mainly to FDI with the aim of control the source of raw materials (wood) while refrigeration and air conditioning firms have moved abroad with the aim of controlling the growing consumer markets of the East, mainly the Russian market and commission to local manufacturer only the production of some components. These firms are intensive in capital and technology; the main components are bought on the international market and are assembled in Romania. The product is distributed directly in Romania and in the neighboring countries and cost reduction is not the main issue.To conclude we discuss some theoretical issues connected with the control of the value chain relations in the three cases examined and question the standard classification put forward by Gereffi, Humphrey and Sturgeon in 2005.
... In Italy the little analysis available seems to point out the traditional sectors and sectors characterised by important economies of scale as being less present in overseas markets and holding minor investments compared with the high-tech sectors. This result contrasts with anecdotal evidence according to which the delocalization of textile, clothing and footwear sectors is highly relevant (CEPS, 2005;Gomirato, 2004;Grandinetti, 2006;Graziani, 1998; but occurs in the mild forms mentioned before. For example, within traditional sectors there has been a steady and substantial increase of the number of firms that have established trade agreements with overseas partners (Bugamelli, Cipollone and Infante, 2000). ...
Over the last twenty years globalisation has brought about a sharp increase in the real and financial integration of the worldwide economy. In this closely knit context, the outsourcing of some of the productive and trade activities abroad has become one of the focal points of the policies followed by businesses in order to handle competition at worldwide level. In the 80s Italian clothing and footwear firms faced the increased competition in the international markets by outsourcing to domestic subcontractors and in the 90s transferred much of the previous outsourcing abroad, in countries with low labour costs, mainly in Eastern Europe, North Africa and East Asia. This paper is aimed to assess the impact of the offshoring strategy on firms. performance. It is based on a survey delivered to a group of 70 final producers, operating in the Veneto, that during the 90s began to manage production on a global scale. Direct investments, subcontracting and partnerships that materialize in product manufacturing abroad are considered as forms of international outsourcing. On this basis, by combining direct observations with balance sheets data, and data on employment stock at the firm's level, the impact of the offshoring decision is evaluated. The study shows the importance of production management along the global value chain in giving new competitivity to the Veneto traditional sector.
... Second, between countries within western Europe, a new international division of labour developed from the 1970s as labour intensive activity was relocated to southern Europe from North (particularly, Portugal, Greece and Spain) (Fröbel et al 1981, Lipietz 1987). Third, and more recently within the wider European and Euro-Med region, outward processing customs arrangements (known as outward processing trade (OPT)) enabled the development of assembly production networks in central Europe from the late 1970s and early 1980s on (Fröbel et al 1981, Graziani 1998, Pellegrin 2001, Begg et al 2003 ...
PICKLES J. and SMITH A. Delocalization and persistence in the European clothing industry: the reconfiguration of trade and production networks, Regional Studies. This paper examines processes of delocalization and the phenomenon of the 'spectre of China' in the European clothing industry following the removal of quota-constrained trade in 2005. It examines the changing geographies of trade and production in the European clothing industry, with a specific focus on the patterns of delocalization and production resilience in East-Central Europe. Through an analysis of trade flows to core European Union markets, it is shown how the articulation of sourcing strategies, trade policies, and locational decisions are producing distinctions in a more liberalized global trading environment between shifts towards the globalization of production networks alongside an intensification of the regionalization of clothing production in lower-cost-producing regions of East-Central Europe (and North Africa) that are proximate to major markets. The paper also examines some of the reasons for these different geographies of sourcing.
... This phenomenon is reflected, on the one hand, in the high levels of Romanian clothing and footwear exports going to certain Western countries, and, on the other hand, in high quantities of imports of textiles and leather from these same countries (Table 4, shown in bold). The trade data also show the growing importance of Italy as a trading partner for Romania in those industries (BALDONE et al., 2001(BALDONE et al., , 2002GRAZIANI, 1998GRAZIANI, , 2001SCHIATTARELLA, 1999), having replaced Germany as its most important partner. Germany, however, has strengthened its own presence in Romania in higher capital-intensive industries, such as chemicals, electromechanics, optical instruments, and transport. ...
Crestanello P. and Tattara G. Industrial clusters and the governance of the global value chain: the Romania–Veneto network in footwear and clothing, Regional Studies. The aim of this paper is to analyse the governance of value chains operating in the traditional sectors of clothing and footwear, focusing particularly on production delocalization from the Italian region of Veneto to the nearby country of Romania. After describing and quantifying the internationalization process between Veneto and Romania, the paper discusses how networks in the two countries evolved through time. This paper draws on several case studies, posits three models of value chain governance, and discusses the implications of these models for territories with very different levels of development and different industrial structures, and it considers their implications for regional development and sustainability.
Crestanello P. et Tattara G. Les grappes industrielles et la gouvernance mondiale de la chaîne des valeurs: le réseau Roumanie-Vénétie dans la chaussure et la confection, Regional Studies. Cet article cherche à analyser la gouvernance des chaînes de valeur qui existent dans les secteurs traditionnels, tels la chaussure et la confection, portant notamment sur la délocalisation de la production de la région italienne de la Vénétie au pays à proximité, à savoir en Roumanie. Une fois présenté et quantifié le processus d'internationalisation entre la Vénétie et la Roumanie, l'article discute comment dans les deux pays des réseaux ont évolué au fil des années. Cet article puise dans plusieurs études de cas, avance trois modèles de la gouvernance des chaînes de valeur et discute de l'impact de ces modèles sur les territoires dont les niveaux de développement et les structures industrielles sont très différents. On considère aussi les retombées pour ce qui est de l'aménagement du territoire et du développement durable.
Internationalisation Roumanie Italie Organisation de la production
Crestanello P. und Tattara G. Branchencluster und die Führung der globalen Wertschöpfungskette: das Netzwerk Rumänien-Venezien für Schuhe und Kleidung, Regional Studies. In diesem Beitrag wird die Führung von Wertschöpfungsketten im traditionellen Kleidungs- und Schuhsektor analysiert, wobei besonders auf die Delokalisierung der Produktion von der italienischen Region Venezien ins nahe Rumänien eingegangen wird. Nach einer Beschreibung und Quantifizierung des Prozesses der Internationalisierung zwischen Venezien und Rumänien erörtern wir, wie sich die Netzwerke in den beiden Ländern im Laufe der Zeit weiterentwickelt haben. Hierfür werten wir mehrere Fallstudien aus, entwickeln drei Modelle für die Führung von Wertschöpfungsketten, erörtern die Folgen dieser Modelle für Gebiete mit einem äußerst unterschiedlichen Entwicklungsstand und unterschiedlichen Industriestrukturen und untersuchen die Auswirkungen auf die regionale Entwicklung und Nachhaltigkeit.
Internationalisierung Rumänien Italien Organisation der Produktion
Crestanello P. y Tattara G. Aglomeraciones industriales y la gobernanza de la cadena global de valores: la red de Rumania-Véneto en industria de confección y calzado, Regional Studies. El objetivo de este artículo es analizar la gobernanza de las cadenas de valores que funcionan en los sectores tradicionales de artículos de vestir y calzado prestando especial atención a la deslocalización de la producción desde la región italiana de Véneto al país cercano de Rumania. Tras describir y cuantificar el proceso de internacionalización entre Véneto y Rumania, aquí analizamos cómo se han desarrollado las redes en los dos países con el paso del tiempo. En este ensayo nos basamos en varios estudios prácticos, proponemos tres modelos de la gobernanza de la cadena de valores y argumentamos los efectos de estos modelos para los territorios con niveles muy diferentes de desarrollo y distintas estructuras industriales. Asimismo consideramos sus implicaciones para el desarrollo y la sostenibilidad regionales.
Internacionalización Rumania Italia Organización de producción
... Together with other authors, we predicted long ago the sweeping social consequences of the neoliberal transformation strategy for Eastern European labor. " Specifically, the structural changes in-duced by the chosen transformation path further contribute to the deterioration of the collective action capacities of its losers and opponents—mainly labor, labor unions, leftist parties, and the 'marginalized millions' in general " (Greskovits, 1997: 206;1998;Kubicek, 1999). Furthermore, it is precisely the changing nature of capitalism and its strategies during the last decades that have led many students of Western Europe to question the viability of the European social model. ...
This paper contributes to the debate on the social impact of globalization. It focuses on the mediating role of the sectoral
pattern of transnational production relocation to the postcommunist economies of Eastern Europe. We argue that the collapse
of the socialist heavy industries and the eastward relocation of traditional light industries initially forced the social
conditions of the East European countries to converge at the bottom and deepened the gap between the West and the East. Later,
the east-ward migration of high-skilled labor and capital-intensive industries and jobs led to decreasing social disparity
between the West and some of the former socialist countries. However, convergence appears uncertain, costly, and uneven, and
coincides with increasing social disparity within the group of East European new members and candidates of the European Union.
... xi The processing trade (in Romanian lohn) is an international contract through which the producer commits to produce a good following the technical specifications of the contractor, and charges a fee as remuneration for its activity. Italian firms have been taking advantage of this duty system since the early 1990s (Graziani, 1998;Hanz Weiß, 2004;World Bank, 2004). xii This is a common sentiment expressed by several Italian entrepreneurs during the interviews. ...
Vertical disintegration in most industries and the globalization of markets has led to significant changes in the pattern of international division of labour among manufacturing firms. At the same time increased competition from low cost producers, exchange rate constraints, the opening up of CEE countries have had huge consequences for the Italian industrial system. This paper deals with the Veneto footwear, furniture and refrigeraion industries and examines the effects of foreign direct investments and subcontracting in Romania. The reorganization of the division of labour, in the most dynamic suppliers induced a change in the “nature of subcontracting”, upgrading along the ladder of the value chain as more and more operations are offshored.
... Riguardo ai processi di internazionalizzazione dei sistemi produttivi italiani, molto è stato scritto per quanto riguarda le filiere industriali del settore tessile, dell'abbigliamento e di quello delle pelli e delle calzature (Graziani, 1998), mentre rare sono le pubblicazioni riguardanti la filiera del settore della lavorazione del legno e produzione di mobili. Nei vari documenti e pubblicazioni delle Camere di Commercio provinciali e regionali, dell'Istituto per il Commercio Estero (ICE) o dell'Istat dedicati all'internazionalizzazione, la considerazione per i dati relativi all'industria del legnomobile risulta ridotta, nonostante la particolare posizione ricoperta dal nostro paese a livello mondiale in questo settore, in particolare per quanto riguarda l'esportazione di mobili in legno 2 . ...
The internationalization of commercial and productive activities of industrial companies is a phenomenon which characterized, in the last decades, the economic development of many countries. Also Italian companies have been actively involved in such processes, especially regarding the "made in Italy" traditional sectors, with wood processing and furniture production among these.
Direct foreign investments (especially to the Eastern European country) and the delocalisation of some productive stages of the sectors mentioned above imply a number of impacts both on Italian and the foreign territory. These impacts concern the way and intensity in harvesting of local forests, the spatial and productive organization of the local industrial systems (also called industrial districts), the quantitative and qualitative adjustment in employment and the change in trading channels of wood products. Significant impacts have also been measured in the development and economic competitiveness of the sectors referred above.
In this paper we present the theoretical paradygms and the instruments for the economic evaluation of internationalization processes. A list of indicators is proposed to assess the impacts, both at macro (impacts on the territory) and at micro scale (impacts of single enterprises through the appraisal of the implemented social responsibility level).
... As regards to outsourcing through international subcontracting, it has been the most important type of industrial redeployment in some industries such as textile-clothing, much more so than FDI (Graziani, 1998). The UN official definition of subcontracting is: "a subcontracting relationship exists whenever a business (subcontractor) acts for the account of another (main contractor) undertaking in the process of working and making a specific product to plans and technical specifications supplied by the main contractor, who has final economic responsibility" (UNECE, 1995). ...
The article is dealing in the first place with the definition of (offshore) outsourcing in relation with foreign direct investment and international subcontracting process, as well as with some connected issues such as fragmentation of the production process, international production relocation, de-industrialisation in developed countries and industrialisation in newly industrialising, now coined emerging countries. In the second place, it aims at finding how global strategy differentiates from traditional MNC strategies and how much outsourcing fits with such global strategy. The last section of the article briefly screens the economic impact of outsourcing on the world trade structure - with the two enlightening snapshots of global trade in sports goods and European Union 15's outward processing trade with Central Eastern European countries (CEECs)-, as well as on home developed and host emerging countries. The article conclusion is that outsourcing has grown faster than world trade in the past two decades and has skyrocketed during the very last years because it is a cornerstone of a new global strategy adopted by multinational companies since the late 1980s.
... Drugi rasprostranjeni oblik rada je rad kod kuaee po uèinku za suvremene industrije u globalnim podugovornim lancima. Ta je regija svjetskim tvrtkama zanimljiva zbog blizine sa zapadnom Europom, a u posljednjih je 20-ak godina postala središtem trgovine doraðenim proizvodima (Graziani, 1998). U tranzicijske se zemlje premješta podugovaranje koje se nekada ostvarivalo u sjevernoj Africi i zapadnoj Aziji (u bugarskim se selima proizvode odjevni predmeti koji su se nekada izraðivali u Turskoj, a u Rumunjskoj se proizvodi obuaea što se prije izraðivala u Maroku). ...
Članak govori o zapošljavanju žena u neslužbenom gospodarstvu u zemljama u tranziciji (ZUT). Od početka tranzicije pojačani su trendovi fleksibilnoga i neslužbenog zapošljavanja, te rastućeg osiromašenja kućanstava. U središtu razmatranja je zapošljavanje žena, a ne pojedini gospodarski sektori ili tvrtke. Siromaštvo i nezaposlenost u ZUT-u su sve izraženiji pa u neformalnim oblicima zapošljavanja sudjeluju ljudi različitih profila, uključujući i visoko-obrazovane osobe. U radu se analizira neformalno zapošljavanje siromašnih osoba, a ne ilegalne aktivnosti poput krijumčarenja oružja, droge i ljudi. Ujedno se daje okvir za analizu načina preživljavanja siromašnih ljudi uključenih u neformalno zapošljavanje u ZUT-u. Razlog tako širokog okvira jest odnos siromaštva i neslužbenog zapošljavanja jer se te pojave u ZUT-u i u mnogim zemljama svijeta preklapaju. Osobe koje rade u neslužbenom gospodarstvu obično su siromašnije od onih koji rade u službenome, a to je pogotovo naglašeno među ženama.
... Except for few cases (Graziani, 1994b;1998), which have focused on the early 1990s or on specific sectors, the Italy-CEE pattern of trade represents 4 still an under-researched area. The fact is that the literature has focused on the more general integration process of CEE with the EU as a whole (see, for instance, Hamilton and Winters). ...
This paper is an investigation on the main changes observed in the Italian trade with a group of Eastern European economies over the period 1988-1997, during which Italy has become the second EU trade partner for Eastern Europe after Germany. Eastern European countries show patterns of specialisation very similar to the Italian ones, in as much as they are based on "traditional" sectors, with an high intensity of labour and physical capital. Moreover, the evolution of comparative advantages suggest that a tendency exist: towards an increasing specialisation of the CEECs in labour intensive productions. There are signals of a possible conflict with the typical Italian pattern of export. An econometric test of the relationship between Italy-CEE comparative advantages and industry factor intesities using a simple of 3-digit NACE industries confirms the presence of a structural shift in favour of labour-intensitive productions, besides the persistence of the old specialisation of transition economies in capital.intensive industries. When intra-industry trade is considered, it appears that vertical product differentiation explains a relevant share of two-way trade. All the results seem to concur to the conclusion that no serious displacement should come to the Italian export from Eastern Europe competition. However, an econometric test of the employment effects associated with trade of different quality with the CEECs confirms the importance of monitoring the future evolution of vertical and horizontal intra-industry trade.
... The role of distance and firm size in establishing such networks are a central theme in the regional economics literature. In particular it has been found that regional networks are based on tightly knit webs of contacts among primarily small and medium sized enterprises located close to each other and that there is a link between the structure and density of networks and regional development and innovation (see: BALESTRI, 1994, BAYER, 1994, BOSCHMA, 1999and GRAZIANI 1998, KAUFMANN and TÖDTLING, 2000and GROTZ and BROWN, 1997. ...
We analyse cross-border cooperation of Austrian firms with CEEC partners. Firm size, previous experience with cooperation and depth of integration with the most important partner are more important determinants of cooperation than distance to the closest potential partner. Firms with experience of cooperation are more likely to enter business relationships and less likely not to cooperate. Small firms are unlikely to cooperate in incentive contracts, while firms which are part of production networks typically cooperate in business and ownership relationships. Distance to the closest potential partner increases the probability of not cooperating and reduces the probability of ownership relationships.
... This required a number of changes in the organization of production and resulted in the shift of the labor-intensive production phases toward countries characterized by relatively low labor costs, while maintaining in the producers' home countries the fundamental phases of design, intermediate inputs provision, and distribution of the final goods. Abundant evidence on this phenomenon can be found in the data on outward processing trade between Western and Central Eastern Europe, as reported by Naujoks and Schmidt (1994), Baldone et al. (1997), and Graziani (1998). ...
Patterns and Determinants of International Fragmentation of Production: Evidence from Outward Processing Trade between the EU and Central Eastern European Countries. — In this paper we investigate a specific form of international fragmentation of production, that is, the form giving rise to international trade for reasons of processing. Data on textile and apparel trade between EU countries and Central European countries show that the magnitude of trade for reasons of processing greatly overshadows that of final trade. The industry appears to be affected by a process of international fragmentation whose understanding requires a new definition of the concept of comparative advantage. Our analysis suggests that this fragmentation is activated by labor cost differentials as well as by reasons of geographic and cultural proximity.
È con queste parole che uno dei più affascinanti eroi classici, Ulisse, rimarca al sommo Poeta ciò che, per lui, è l’unico scopo della vita: conoscere… conoscere per non abbrutirsi, per non restare bloccati ad uno stato primitivo fatto di solo istinto e privo di ratio. Sebbene, infatti, sia stata, proprio, questa «insaziabile sete di conoscenza» a indurre Dante ad inserire Ulisse nel girone infernale dei consiglieri di frode1, la sua figura rappresenta, ancora oggi, il simbolo, più riconosciuto e riconoscibile, della ricerca del sapere, di colui che instancabilmente individua sempre nuovi percorsi e nuovi traguardi, in un inarrestabile e metaforico viaggio verso ciò che è ancora sconosciuto.
E se è vero che «tutti gli uomini per natura tendono al sapere [toû eidénai]», è a questo viaggio che vuole ispirarsi questo contributo. Un viaggio lungo e non privo di pericoli, emblema di un percorso di crescita e di una predisposizione mentale verso la scoperta del nuovo. Nell’ottica delineata, il volume accompagna il lettore in un viaggio immaginario alla scoperta della conoscenza, del suo significato più profondo e del suo «non senso», per enfatizzarne ruoli e distintività nei processi di crescita individuale e nel successo aziendale.
Negli ultimi decenni, infatti, la conoscenza è andata, progressivamente, affermandosi come uno degli assets più importanti per l’acquisizione di un vantaggio competitivo, duraturo e difendibile, e il Knowledge Management come una delle discipline a supporto della formulazione e dell’implementazione di strategie di successo.
Non vi è dubbio che il tema della conoscenza sia oggetto di molteplici riflessioni, elaborate in seno a differenti aree disciplinari, che spaziano dalla filosofia alla psicologia e alle scienze cognitive, dalla sociologia all’informatica e alle scienze economiche. Il carattere multidisciplinare e l’affermazione di molteplici approcci all’analisi dei processi di creazione e gestione della conoscenza, hanno indotto, pertanto, uno sforzo di sistematizzazione, in grado di dirimere questo caos creativo mediante la definizione un escursus (un viaggio appunto) che dall’analisi dei paradigmi interpretativi di Knowledge e Knowledge Management giunge all’esame delle più recenti elaborazioni concettuali sui Knowledge Ecosystems.
Alla luce delle considerazioni riportate, nella prima parte del lavoro si è provveduto ad una sistematizzazione dei profili teorici elaborati in tema di Knowledge Management per evidenziarne limiti, differenze e sovrapposizioni concettuali.
Nonostante il tema della conoscenza, e della sua criticità per il successo aziendale, sia oggetto di crescente dibattito ed enfasi in epoca contemporanea, il suo studio, nelle discipline economico-aziendali, ha assunto rilievo già agli inizi degli anni ’90, in concomitanza con il consolidamento delle nozioni di dynamic capabilities, organizational learning e di intellectual capital. Da semplice strumento funzionale all’implementazione di piani e processi organizzativi, la conoscenza è divenuta una risorsa da gestire in sé, capace di produrre valore per il solo fatto di essere capitalizzata. La delineata enfasi è stata, nello specifico, interpretata come la naturale evoluzione della visione di impresa come insieme eterogeneo di risorse che, dai contributi pionieristici elaborati in seno alla Resource Based View of the firm, ha trovato la sua massima espressione nella Capability-Based e nella Knowledge-based View of the firm.
In linea con quest’ultimo approccio, l’impresa è sempre più chiamata a promuovere e implementare complessi meccanismi di creazione e di gestione di conoscenza, atti a sostenerne la capacità innovativa e il successo delle iniziative intraprese. In tal senso, il Knowledge Management (KM), nella sua più ampia accezione di processo volto alla «cattura», alla diffusione e all’uso efficiente del sapere è, sempre più frequentemente, interpretato alla stregua di una vera e propria strategia, da coltivare per il raggiungimento di più elevati livelli di efficienza e profittabilità aziendali. Indispensabile, al riguardo, appare, dunque, la piena comprensione di tutti quei fattori in grado di ostacolare, o alternativamente, facilitare il processo di creazione, condivisione e diffusione del know how, al fine di predisporre le condizioni e il background più idoneo alla nascita di circoli virtuosi, nei quali la condivisione di linguaggi, credi e valori funga da catalizzatore di soggettività individuali, orientate al raggiungimento di un obiettivo comune e condiviso di crescita delle conoscenze.
Naturale sviluppo del percorso tracciato è stato, dunque, l’esame, nella seconda parte del lavoro, del modo in cui architetture reticolari, territoriali e non, relazioni intra ed inter-sistemiche e modelli di governance agiscono come veri e propri «facilitatori» di molteplici processi di apprendimento e trasferimento di conoscenze, supportando, in questo modo, la capacità innovativa di tutti gli attori coinvolti, come pure del sistema complessivamente inteso. L’impresa non può essere interpretata alla stregua di un agente innovatore isolato, ma come parte di un contesto che ne influenza e ne condiziona l’agire. La sua capacità di instaurare e sviluppare sistemi relazionali con attori chiave del territorio – università, centri di ricerca scientifica e tecnologica e istituzioni – supporta, altresì, la nascita e lo sviluppo di ecosistemi in continua evoluzione, nell’ambito dei quali principi di shared environment, interdependence, co-evolution e leadership ne rappresentano elementi chiave di sopravvivenza e di successo.
La trasposizione del concetto di ecosystem dagli studi di biologia ed ecologia a quelli di management ha consentito, in particolare, di indagare il modo in cui individui e organizzazioni interagiscono, per la ricerca di soluzioni a problemi emergenti, ed evolvono nell’ambito di sistemi complessi, agendo alla stregua di organismi viventi. Nel denso newtwork di relazioni che caratterizza un knowledge ecosystem, università e centri di ricerca operano nella veste di keystone players per la generazione e diffusione del sapere localmente prodotto.
Le riflessioni maturate a seguito delle analisi desk, dello studio della letteratura e dell’esame di molteplici case studies inducono ad individuare nel principio di «collaborazione-coevoluzione» delle complesse relazioni sistemiche e nella presenza di un modello di governance flessibile, in grado di garantire unitarietà e integrità a realtà complesse, gli elementi di successo di siffatto ecosistema.
Così, se valicare le Colonne d’Ercole dell’umana ragione è il fine ultimo di un knowledge ecosystem, raggiungerlo implica l’abbandono della folle idea di Ulisse e dei suoi nocchieri odisseici di «passare l’oceano con gli stessi mezzi con cui navigavano tra le rive «misurabili» del mare nostrum» per abbracciare logiche innovative, ispirate ad approcci interattivi e ad un armonico equilibrio tra interessi individuali ed azioni collettivamente programmate, giacché…
«…nella lunga storia del genere umano (e anche del genere animale) hanno prevalso coloro che hanno imparato a collaborare e ad improvvisare con più efficacia».
With new global processes affecting the fashion industry at a global level, everything has changed in the Italian fashion industry, especially since the 1980s. Antonella Ceccagno investigates and addresses three major global shifts in the fashion industry: the rise of low labor cost competitors, the restructuring of the distribution chain, and the emergence of a global fast fashion.
State socialism is widely seen as a system that had been remarkably successful in creating and maintaining uniform economic and political structures and institutions in a large number of initially very different societies. From this perspective it is puzzling that, once the system fell apart, its pieces, which shared its unifying legacy as a point of departure and were exposed to the same exogenous shocks of the collapse, entered, in a patterned rather than random way, radically different trajectories of capitalist development. Thus, instead of a single post-socialist economy, diverse forms of capitalism have been emerging.
As transformações recentes pelas quais tem passado a indústria têxtil mundial resultaram em modificações na configuração e forma de relacionamento entre os componentes da cadeia produtiva têxtil mundial. Essas transformações são derivadas da inserção de novos atores no comércio mundial de têxteis, principalmente as empresas provenientes de países periféricos, que passaram a competir na comercialização mundial com produtos mais baratos, provocando a reação dos produtores dos países europeus e dos Estados Unidos, que passaram a integrar os diversos componentes da cadeia produtiva em vários países, resultando em uma cadeia produtiva global. Assim, o objetivo deste artigo é analisar as transformações ocorridas na cadeia têxtil mundial a partir de uma abordagem teórica à cadeia produtiva global, ou global commodity chain, por meio de uma revisão bibliográfica e análise de dados sobre a cadeia têxtil mundial.
Purpose
To examine how the textile and clothing industries, both of which retain a significant employment presence in the EU, have responded differently to heightened overseas competition and changes in buyer‐supplier relations.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses macro‐descriptive statistics to determine key EU industry trends and provide an analysis of how institutional backgrounds can shape industry trends.
Findings
Clothing proves more robust in retaining an employment presence than the more capital‐intensive textile sector. This is surprising since labour‐intensive industries are expected to suffer more from intensified global competition than capital intensive ones. Job losses continue in both sectors but firms are innovating in restructuring practices to remain competitive and responsive to buyer pressures. Technological innovation and the pursuit of niche markets plus increased outsourcing are key responses.
Research limitations/implications
Few studies offer an overview of industry trends and whilst this study offers a comparative, mainly cross‐sectional analysis, it nonetheless provides a context for more detailed country‐specific analyses.
Originality/value
The paper provides useful data of relevance to public policy specialists, managers in this and related industries, plus academics studying industrial restructuring and responses to heightened competitive pressures throughout the value chain in a labour‐intensive industry.
The recent literature on productive internationalisation (international fragmentation, global value chains, channel perspective, are some of the terms used to describe this more general phenomenon) has focused on strategies based on non equity inter firms relations, involving both single firms and local production systems. While equity-based forms of internationalisation have been amply analysed, there is a lack of information on the extension and characteristics of non equity-based forms. The intra-industry trade stemming from non equity relations has been studied with reference to different types of empirical evidence: some early efforts were based on the analysis of temporary import export flows; later contributions analysed bilateral trade flows, in the light of the sequence of the production phases, aggregated at the minimum geographical scale available. In this paper we propose a new methodology that extends the latter approach by considering micro data instead of aggregated information. Knowing both the production phases realised by the single firm and the type of goods the firm imports and exports from/to specific countries, our methodology allows to identify both the various forms of production internationalisation and their different motivations. In addition, our approach has the advantage of making aggregation at various levels of analysis possible, given that we produce estimates at firm level. We illustrate our methodology using data on the textile and clothing industries in the region of Tuscany (Italy). We are able to shed new insights on the various forms of internationalisation, including the identification of unexpected forms that were not taken into consideration in the literature. Being able to identify the articulated forms of internationalisation is very important in order both to assess their effects on the concerned industries and territories and to derive policy implications. As far as Tuscany's textile and clothing industries are concerned, our measurement allows to assert that trade flows depending on FDI are merely half the import export flows activated by strategies of productive internationalization. The other half belongs to those non equity strategies of productive internationalisation to which Italian industrial districts seem to have a specific attitude.
This article aims at reevaluating the state role in economic development, referring to East Asian experience. Late industrialisation in the region is a product of interactions between international production networks (IPNs) and state policies, and the process has created diversified development paths in the region. From this perspective, first, this article will begin with confirming briefly differences of development in East Asia, and show the need for IPNs perspective to explain them. Second, focusing on the two kinds of IPNs from Japan and the US, it will explore how they have brought about such diversification. And third, the article will associate it with the state policy or capacity.
This paper considers a unionised monopolistic firm producing a final good with isoelastic demand by using two intermediate
commodities, one of which can be either imported from a low-wage country or bought from domestic subcontractors. The paper
shows that, notwithstanding wage moderation, the union is better off when the firm chooses offshoring rather than domestic
sourcing. The firm is the less likely to choose offshoring the more wage-oriented is the union and the higher is the union
bargaining power in the wage negotiation.
KeywordsIntermediate goods-Offshoring-Trade unions
JEL ClassificationF16-J51-L22
In this paper, a formal model for the relationship between innovation and growth in European Union regions is developed drawing upon the theoretical contribution of the systems of innovation approach. The model combines the analytical approach of the regional growth models with the insights of the systemic approach. The cross-sectional analysis, covering all the Enlarged Europe (EU-25) regions (for which data are available), shows that regional innovative activities (for which a specific measure is developed) play a significant role in determining differential regional growth patterns. Furthermore, the model sheds light on how geographical accessibility and human capital accumulation, by shaping the regional system of innovation, interact (in a statistically significant way) with local innovative activities, thus allowing them to be more (or less) effectively translated into economic growth. The paper shows that an increase in innovative effort is not necessarily likely to produce the same effect in all EU-25 regions. Indeed, the empirical analysis suggests that in order to allow innovative efforts in peripheral regions to be as productive as in core areas, they need to be complemented by huge investments in human capital. Copyright 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd..
The present paper develops a moral hazard model applied to a multinational firm (MNF)'s decision between foreign direct investment (FDI) and international subcontracting. We compare the results of the moral hazard model, characterized by the fact that the MNF is not able to control operations performed by the subcontractor firm, with the traditional model, which considers symmetric information. We conclude that the uncertainty associated with the subcontractor firm's behaviour, in spite of increasing the preference of the MNF to engage in FDI, does not change the optimal decision, which continues to be to subcontract. The exception occurs in the case that the subsidiary stands as more efficient than the subcontractor firm.
In affluent communities, it is difficult to think about clothing without considering issues of fashion. Yet, in analyses of the garment industries, fashion is rarely considered in detail, and is certainly not analysed as a structuring force over the configuration of garment production industries. Yet through fashion, garments as commodities are complexly embedded in social and cultural processes and in the specificities of place. Although the structures of the global garment production industries have been the subject of numerous studies from a variety of theoretical perspectives, none hitherto have addressed the influence of fashion on the structures and locations of garment production. This thesis begins with the idea that fashion is a complex and influential form of knowledge. It explores the effects of fashion ideas on the global garment system through a case study of the ideas and commodity flows that bring fashions and garments to the Australian market. It traces the interconnections between global knowledge flows and global commodity flows in a manner attuned to the relationships between knowledge, power, industrial organisation and the capture of surplus value from the production system. The analysis highlights how Australia's position in garment production is framed by its geographical position on the periphery of the fashion world.
The importance of pricing as a profit driver led todevelopment of strategies and methods to improve pricing.Although pricing in business-to-business (B2B) andretail markets has the same goals, but the challenges ofthem are different.Export pricing and its distinguishing features fromretail point: the consumer is a firm, business-to businesspurchases are made by decision making unit, purchasedecision have to satisfy different needs and objectives,business-to-business purchase has a formal dimensionand the risk of a company’s purchasing decision isgreater than of consumers in retail.Pricing in business-to-business market has to involvethe following features evaluation: currency considerations,market share dynamic, financial factors, the needthat the price has to be predetermined by the quality andprice balance.The currency choice has become a critical considerationin securing exporting contracts and maintaining or increasingmarket share and profitability. The potential profitsof a transaction can be lost by currency fluctuations.In globalization and the increased market accessibility,goods tend to be very close substitutes to the goodsproduced in other countries. Because of imperfect informationand adjustment costs, customers tend to purchasefrom the same firm repeatedly. Since customers do notimmediately switch to the firm with the lowest price, aprice change will have a gradual effect to the customerstock. Following it the pricing decision in B2B marketcan be evaluated as an investment problem. The firm investsin the customer stock (market share) by charging aprice which finally affects future profits.The prices in B2B market are not changed everyweek. The firms typically change their prices once ortwice per year. Thus it is essential to allow for prices inbusiness-to-business market to be predetermined.The concept of dynamic competitiveness focuses on technologyand it relates to productivity of the leading country.The unite value can be used as complementary indicator forassessing the qualitative sides of competitiveness.The factors underlying competitiveness can be felledinto two parts. One part is the cost side while the growth ofexport sector increases when a country‘s costs and pricesof exports are lower than its export competitors. On theother hand, the non-price competitiveness is usually expressedby qualitative factors in the export performance.The results of investigation of popular in furnitureproduction upholstery fabrics prices are presented. Accordingto the research data managers consider pricingto be one of the most important element in the decision making process with only product quality being given ahigher priority than pricing. The other elements areranked as follows: goods availability, delivery terms,goods assortment, payment terms, minimum quantity requirementsand the company name or brand.In export price setting decisions in B2B market haveto be taken into account purchase currency stability, thetotal effect of price on the market share, purchase paymentterms and price validity terms. Only the balance ofprice and quality enables goods to be competitive.
Good export performance in Western markets by Hungary, Poland, the CSFR, and Bulgaria in 1990 and 1991, coupled with the new climate of trade liberalization on both sides, is sometimes described as the bright spots in an otherwise dim economic picture due to the mounting difficulties of the transition process (UN ECE, 1991). At the same time, some see the possibility of an export-led economic recovery for these Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs). Predictions of huge, long-run increases in trade with the West add to the optimism (Collins and Rodrik, 1991; Wang and Winters, 1991; and Hamilton and Winters, 1992). However, the path to recovery is not as smooth as it appears, even on the trade front. Some of the obstacles can best be understood by making first a structural analysis of the basic features of the EC-CEEC trade flows.
The OETH study of the supply sources and of subcontracting of apparel manufacture abroad covers Germany, France, Italy, the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium for the period 1983 to 1992. Germany and the Netherlands recorded 56 and 73% manufacture abroad in 1992, in constrast with Italy (21%) and the UK (19%). International supply and manufacturing strategies have been adopted to various extents by ca. 60% of the small textile and clothing firms of the European Union.
[eng] We present a two-sided search model where agents differ by their human capital endowment and where workers of different skill are imperfect substitutes. Then the labor market endogenously divides into disjoint segments and wage inequality will depend on the degree of labor market segmentation. The most important results are : 1) overall wage inequality as well as within-group and between-group inequalities increase with relative human capital inequality ; 2) within-group wage inequality decreases while between-group and overall wage inequalities increase with the efficiency of the search process ; 3) within-group, between-group and overall wage inequalities increase with technological changes. [fre] Immigration et justice sociale. . Cet article est d�di� � la m�moire d'Yves Younes qui nous a quitt�s en mai 1996, et dont les derni�res r�flexions sur l'importance du ph�nom�ne migratoire dans les �tats-Unis des ann�es 1980-1790 m'ont beaucoup influenc�.. L'ouverture des fronti�res entre le Nord et le Sud peut-elle se retourner contre les plus d�favoris�s du monde, c'est-�-dire les non-qualifi�s du Sud ?. Avec deux facteurs de production, les migrations Sud-Nord b�n�ficient tou�jours aux moins qualifi�s du Sud, puisqu'ils y sont le facteur le plus abondant. Mais avec trois facteurs de production (trois niveaux de qualifications, ou deux niveaux et un facteur capital imparfaitement mobile), l'ouverture des fronti�res peut conduire � une baisse du salaire des moins qualifi�s du Sud si leur compl�mentarit� avec le travail tr�s qualifi� ou le capital du Nord est suffisamment faible compar�e � celle des sudistes plus qualifi�s.. Plusieurs �tudes r�centes sugg�rent effectivement que les �lasticit�s de compl�mentarit� chutent brutalement au-del� d'un certain �cart de qualification. Cependant, rien ne prouve que ces effets soient suffisamment forts pour que l'ouverture optimale des fronti�res du point de vue de la justice sociale
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