Global Operation Networks

In the current context of global economic liberalisation and technological advancements, industrial companies are less likely to generate value in the traditional vertically integrated chain. Instead, they are doing so by means of elaborate cross-border and cross-organisational networks. As a rule, these networks are configured on a global basis and consist of diverse and interdependent affiliates (linked both through ownership and non-equity relationships), which are engaged in an exchange of goods, services and information. The Scandinavian context is no exception to this trend. Nevertheless, international comparative studies providing comprehensive insights from it are still rare.

With the objective of bridging this gap, Global Operations Networks (GONE) project (sponsored by the Danish Research Council) brought together numerous academic and industrial partners from Denmark, Sweden and Finland. This book is a result of their collective and collaborative effort. It has several objectives: 1) to collect some of the project results into one summative volume; 2) to disseminate the results to academics and practitioners; and 3) to provide supplementary inputs to teaching materials on the subject of global operations and operations strategy.

This summative volume utilises the rich and diverse empirical foundation generated during the project activities in Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Chapters of the book are based on quantitative data and multiple case studies which the project partners have been closely working with, and which are best suited to illuminate a particular aspect of organising and managing global operations in networks.

The book addresses the following broadly defined themes:
· Contexts of global operations networks,
· Configurations of global operations networks,
· Capabilities and processes in global operations networks, and
· Trajectories and reconfiguration of global operations networks.

The themes are intended to incorporate elements which in combination provide a comprehensive multidisciplinary view on operations networks. Behind these themes lay clusters of questions and topics that guide the contributions to the book covering theoretical and practical insights into the global operations networks of firms originating in the Scandinavian context.

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