The interlinked processes of structuring new industries in emerging countries and restructuring the old core pushes carmakers and suppliers to a reorganization of their engineering and productive activities: value and innovation emerge from the synergies between these two interlinked processes. If the decentralization of R&D and production activities can be seen as a new frontier where new dedicated products and technologies for emerging markets are taking form, the task of preserving and diffusing organizational learning as well as optimising such new organisations globally represents a challenge for all the players.
Papers that focus on the reorganisation of centralized R&D, the management and organisation of decentralized units, the upgrading of R&D subsidiaries and the analysis of international synergies between centralized and decentralized engineering processes and units will be particularly welcome.
Due to the introduction of new technologies in powertrains, the leap towards digital and autonomous cars, and the development of new services and applications, carmakers and suppliers are forced to enter unknown territories where they have to learn how to compete and cooperate with many other important players. In order to acquire/build these new competencies and capacities, the strategies developed by carmakers and suppliers vary significantly: from full in-house integration to complete acquisition and/or outsourcing. We welcome papers that characterize these strategies, and detail their implication in terms of products and organization.
These transformations also modify the frontier between carmakers and suppliers and the division of labour between the two: for instance, in many of the new innovation fields global suppliers, including new suppliers of strategic content, such as IT software and mapping technologies, appear to have taken the lead. Papers discussing the intersection of traditional and emerging aspects of core competencies and their position in the value chain as well as the strategic and political implications of these transformations are welcome.
