The new game of innovation in the world automotive industry: how the structuring of new industries and the restructuring of old ones are changing the rules?

New powertrains and new forms of mobilities have been manly debated in the last GERPISA conferences with regard to the technological trajectories and the role of the newcomers in the industry on the one hand, and the blurring of the boundaries between public transport and private transport on the other hand. In respect to these approaches, this year we plan to shed light on the new business models designed by incumbents and newcomers. Papers on the respective role of market, which might be covered by each technology, are welcome: electric large and micro vehicles, full and plug-in hybrid vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, LPG and CNG vehicles. A major hurdle regards the electric vehicles massive diffusion and it is significant to understand how companies should design and implement new business models, implying the design of new contractual relationships with all the players and stakeholders. If new mobility patterns entail regime change, papers are welcome on empirical cases and analysis of the services implemented in different countries or cities in relation to strategies of carmakers, of batteries makers etc. but also of other firms involved: car rental or carsharing companies, parking companies, public/collective transport companies (urban train/metro, buses), as intermodal shift is at stake in most cities to avoid traffic jam but also CO2 emission. The business model related to all these new mobility services is still not clear and of course more analysis on it are necessary.
We also need to describe how and why both trends are linked to the current dynamics in the global automotive industry, how politics are correlated to the recent economic crisis and existing patterns in Japan, Europe, the US, and emerging markets. To which degree do new powertrains – and their use through new “sustainable” mobility services – transform the sector’s structure and institutions, new markets and business practices? How do OEMs react to this challenge? Which patterns of collaboration and innovation emerge? Based on which concepts can we grasp the scope of technological, societal and political transition we are facing? How to evaluate the rise of national and regional support schemes, how do they operate, what explains success or failure? What is the role and impact of public (environmental or transport) politics in shaping the integration of new and old technology?
Eventually, new topics might be addressed. The national legal framework, that is regulations and laws which may favour or on the opposite break the introduction of new mobility services in cities: depending on the legal framework, services which can be provided will of course differ leading to different strategies and business models. Second, it might be useful to suggest papers taking a demand approach of the market of new powertrains vehicles and new mobility services, including customers/citizens’ needs and mobility patterns but also their acceptance to change their behaviour, the incentives that cities and/or companies implement to promote new mobility services. Third, the issue of charging infrastructure that might be linked to public and private investments (public policies, but also carmakers investments or even commercial facilities investment to attract EVs owners, to get an eco-image). It might also be related to energy questions depending on charging resources which are focussed on. Fourth, one key challenge is that an increased number of EVs could put excessive demands on the electric energy balancing or the electric distribution network. The potential interactions between an EV fleet and the electric power grid (Vehicle to Home V2H, or vehicle to Grid, V2G) require technical solutions which involve industries and different market and regulatory environments.
This year’s conference is going to look deeper into these issues in a global comparative perspective, and we invite papers that reflect and describe these new developments in the existing automobile system.

National supply chains have undergone a process of regionalization/internationalization of transactions in recent years, such that the question of their fragmentations is on the top of the research agenda. In a context of growing competition and greater cost pressures due to the regionalisation of the auto industry, carmakers face the dilemma between on the one side reliance on historical suppliers, and on the other side co-development of newcomers’ capabilities. The purchasing strategies of carmakers, as well for the buying of modules, components, parts and raw materials, as for the scale (global/local) of their value chains, greatly determine the development of national value chains. It is then crucial to understand how in America, Asia, and Europe, the value chains evolve over time through the leadership and the policies set by the carmakers. Is there a tendency of regional integration of transactions and national disintegration of production? How do product policies and organisational policies of carmakers interact, and how do these interactions affect the national value chains in mature and emerging countries? The question of regional integration of transactions also deserves to be linked with the strategies of suppliers. There is no need to say that mega-suppliers, such as their carmakers’ clients, are largely internationalized in terms of production, innovation and profitability. However, we know little about the innovation and purchasing strategies of these mega-suppliers, and their impacts on national value chains. Their competitive patterns, especially the way they position themselves on a scale of technology/profitability products, might say a lot about the evolution of global value chains. At the other end of the value chain, the SMEs are still important actors of their clients outsourcing policies, as well in terms of number as production coverage. Facing the regionalization/internationalization strategies launched by their traditional clients in mature industries, SMEs have to develop specific product and manufacturing policies to adapt themselves to the many requirements (technical, costs, fiscal, etc.) in their evolving environments. How do they deal with the dilemma between diversification of clients and products, and exclusive relations with a limited product portfolio? How do newcomers and traditional SMEs penetrate and expand on emerging production market? Eventually, the regionalization of transactions does not only affect the relationships between clients and suppliers on a country-level, but it also raises the question of the political measures to maintain/develop national supply chains and/or regional supply chains. This institutional aspect is central when we consider the national innovation systems thought and deployed to strengthen the supply chain. In national innovation system, suppliers can capture a wide range of resources that can be used by several companies. They can also guide the development of the national supply chains. The question is then to know how do countries react to the movements of carmakers and suppliers.
We welcome papers dealing with these various aspects of supply chain’ fragmentation in any country of the world, and in particular with those which can include comparative approach about the internationalization/regionalization of national automotive supply chains which impacts the structuring and restructuring of the industry at local, regional, national or supranational levels.

The restructuring of mature industries and the structuring of new industries in emerging countries are having direct and important consequences on employment relationships across the globe. But rather than witnessing clear encompassing common trends in each country/region, it seems that local labour markets and firms’ distinctive human resources strategies keep shaping different patterns in the evolution of employment relationships.
As in previous years, we welcome papers that analyse both the common trends at national/regional levels and the specific patterns of transformation of employment relationships at local/firm specific levels.
A special focus will be made this year on the transformation of employment relationship in innovation activities. It must be said that little attention has been paid so far to the employment relationship in R&D centres and engineering organisations. Yet, there are clear signs that important changes are taking place at this level concerning the content and organization of work and the employment conditions and contracts. For instance, with the recent decentralization of engineering activities, the inter-sites competition that has been shaping for decades the employment relationships in factories starts to be applied to R&D centres. The trend toward more open forms of innovation activities also entail important transformations in the work and employment practices due to the reduction of internal resources and the increasing reliance on external resources to get the job done (cooperation with other firms and universities, joint public financed projects, involvement in clusters and technological platforms, etc.). Such changes not only have important consequences for work practices and conditions which are now coming up in the agenda of social dialogue, but they also entail the development of new skills and raise therefore important challenges for human resources managers and organizations.
We welcome therefore papers that will take up any of these issues both in traditional core R&D centres and in the new decentralized R&D subsidiaries.
Innovation activities though do not only concern employment relationships in engineering centres, but also in factories. The topic of smart factories, factories of future and factories 4.0 is indeed becoming more and more central to the development of the automotive industry both in mature and emerging countries. It raises many important questions concerning the transformation of work, the upgrading of skills and the impact of new technologies on work practices and employment.
Papers can directly focus on these questions, but can also look from this perspective at the current organization of work and employment in automotive factories: for instance, what are the limits/problems of the current lean factories? Does the relentless search for competitiveness raise efficiency? How the introduction of new technologies in products (new powertrains and vehicles) and processes (new production lines and robots) is dealt at the shopfloor level?