Sub-theme 16: From Global Sourcing of Business Services and Innovation to Reconfiguring the Global Organization
Call for Papers
The dramatic increase in the pace of globalization has given goods, services, and intellectual capital unprecedented mobility
accelerating the growth of global sourcing practices. In recent years, more and more Western firms have come to recognize
that their future top line growth in their home countries and adjacent regions will be largely determined by a growth rate
more typical of replacement economies. More aggressive growth rates will very much depend on capturing markets in fast growing
emerging economies in Asia (such as China and India), Africa and Latin America. Leading edge companies are actively exploring
the realignment of their global organization foot print in response to the shift in the origin of their top line growth. For
example P&G has moved the global management of its skin care business to Singapore. GE is in the process of relocating
its medical diagnostic business to China. Independent of this dynamic, many companies have been engaged in globally reorganizing
their business functions and processes, including administrative work, IT services, software and innovation projects, to take
advantage of lower costs and access to underutilized skills and talent around the world, in particular in developing countries.
In parallel, emerging economies have developed their own competencies in offering business services to attract foreign firms
and stimulate economic growth.
These co-evolving dynamics are ushering significant changes in firms, industries
and careers, which are yet little understood. First, the entry of new "guerilla' competitors from newly industrialized economies
are intensifying global competition, prompting firms to reorganize internal processes, develop new organizational capabilities
and structures, and engage in redrawing organizational boundaries. Many firms are continuously experimenting with new forms
of coordination and control, the use of advanced information and communication technology, and new human resource management
practices in response to or in anticipation of growing top line growth in fast growing economies of Asia, Latin America and
Africa. While isomorphic pressures are driving some convergence in business practices, the variation in firm practices are
growing especially with regard to firm internal capabilities to relocate and coordinate processes, collaborate with external
partners and recruit talent across borders, but also in dealing with the internal and external political pressures. We invite
papers that explore how the changing landscape of global competition is co-evolving with new organizational forms, practices,
capabilities, and structures.
Second, global sourcing practices have been co-evolving with the emergence of local
and global business services providers industries. A few years back, no observer of global sourcing trends predicted that
China and other emerging economies would adopt national strategies to grow their capacity to attract outsourcing and innovation
projects; or that Indian providers such as Wipro, TCS, Infosys and Genpact would evolve into multinational enterprises in
North Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America and compete directly with Western providers on their turf to serve the U.S.
and European clients. In parallel, new intermediaries and Internet-based platforms have emerged offering a variety of services
connecting talent and clients from around the world. Such trends demand a deeper understanding of how global sourcing is affecting
the global organization of value-adding business processes within and across industries, and how national economies and service
providers are positioning and organizing themselves to compete in the global sourcing space, including the promotion of industry
standards and institutional frameworks.
Third, the challenge of realigning global organization foot print combined
with the growing application of global sourcing practices and capabilities is affecting firm employment practices and career
paths of professionals both in advanced and emerging economies. Western national policy-makers have expressed strong concerns
about real or potential domestic job losses due to companies disassembling and reassembling their business processes and realigning
where and how work is done, often in reaction to perceived or real shortage of talent and skilled labor in many science and
engineering fields. At the same time, as companies realign their global organization foot print as well as become increasingly
sophisticated in utilizing global sourcing they also experience mounting criticism for exploiting labor and institutional
arbitrage effects, including opportunities to undermine international labor rights.
We invite studies that explore
and advance a multidisciplinary understanding of this phenomenon including sociology, economics, political science, developmental
economies, strategy, international business, industry evolution, management and others.