Heft36 1 - SFB 580 - Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
Heft36 1 - SFB 580 - Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
Heft36 1 - SFB 580 - Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
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KATHRIN REFERENCES LITERATUR LOER<br />
modify these approaches in the face of serious<br />
transformations of economic surroundings<br />
and market transformations. Perhaps this<br />
diagnosis could be transferred to other sectors<br />
or market structures. The empirical contents<br />
of this paper will support the assumption of<br />
serious market transformations and their<br />
complexity. To a certain degree, behaviour<br />
and decisions of economic actors are expected<br />
to be rational or the result of figure-based<br />
analyses summing up the situation. The paper<br />
will show that – at the latest – the complexity<br />
of the business environment does not make<br />
it possible to act and decide (completely)<br />
rationally; economic rationality could instead<br />
be used as an auxiliary tool to legitimate the<br />
decisions of an economic actor.<br />
Given a framework of transformation<br />
processes, changes and characteristics of the<br />
automotive sector, this paper will explain how<br />
and why automotive companies invest abroad,<br />
more precisely in Central and Eastern Europe. As<br />
mentioned above, not the whole automotive<br />
industry will be covered but rather a small<br />
sample that might be a representative example<br />
of the complex framework of mechanisms that<br />
restricts, promotes or undermines the actor’s<br />
behaviour. On the basis of the two case studies<br />
of European “contract manufacturers”, this<br />
paper shows under what prerequisites foreign<br />
direct investments in Central Eastern Europe<br />
can overstrain (medium-sized) companies as<br />
well as when disregarding the trend to move<br />
east leads to greater competitiveness. With<br />
a focus on different types of foreign direct<br />
investments of these automotive companies<br />
in CEE transformation processes of the<br />
market, manufacturer-supplier-relations as<br />
well as consequences for industrial relations<br />
will be explored. Before the two case studies<br />
are presented, the theoretical and empirical<br />
framework will be explained in more detail.<br />
2. THE EUROPEAN AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY –<br />
A STARTING POINT.<br />
In order to first reduce complexity, a simple<br />
picture is drawn: The automobile industry<br />
evolved during the last century from small<br />
factories producing the first, mainly handcrafted,<br />
cars into huge corporate groups with<br />
a very high employment volume (compared to<br />
other parts of the industrial sector) (Altshuler<br />
et al. 1986). Although each region of the<br />
triad has its own specialities regarding the<br />
production models, generally speaking similar<br />
developments can be identified in Europe,<br />
North America (mainly the United States)<br />
and Japan (later: Southeast Asia) after the<br />
Second World War. Common is especially<br />
one characteristic feature: The automobile<br />
is a very complex as well as labour and<br />
knowledge intensive good. The Original<br />
Equipment Manufacturers 2 (OEM) represent<br />
the key players in the sector but do not build<br />
automobiles on their own, which is why a<br />
more or less differentiated supplier industry is<br />
needed for automobile production (Hoetker,<br />
Swaminathan & Mitchell 2007, Helper, Kiehl<br />
2004, Kaufman, Wood & Theyel 2000). In the<br />
Japanese automobile industry, supplier<br />
companies are mostly affiliates of the<br />
OEM (e.g. Toyota), which is a small Seite page 63<br />
deviance to the organization of the<br />
automotive value chain in Europe or<br />
North America. Traditionally, the European<br />
automotive suppliers are independent<br />
companies varying from small and medium