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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AUTOMOTIVE REFERENCES LITERATUR COMPANIES GO EAST -<br />
GERMANY AND AUSTRIA<br />
analytically distinguished: I call them the value<br />
problem, the problem of competition, and the<br />
cooperation problem. These coordination<br />
problems can only be resolved if market actors<br />
are able to form stable expectations with regard to<br />
the actions of other market actors and future<br />
events relevant for their decisions as well<br />
as whether they consider the expected outcomes<br />
to be sufficient in their material interest and<br />
normatively acceptable. In this sense, markets<br />
are understood as “fully social institutions,<br />
reflecting a complex alchemy of politics,<br />
culture, and ideology” (Krippner 2001: 782).<br />
While the notion of the “order of markets”<br />
refers to the macrolevel result of the solution<br />
of the three identified coordination problems,<br />
the expectations formed by actors constitute<br />
the building blocks of this order on the actor<br />
level.”<br />
(emphasis added)<br />
With this understanding of the constitution<br />
of markets, the severe problems and also<br />
contradictions in actor’s (here: company’s)<br />
behaviour and decisions can be explained.<br />
The following case studies will show where<br />
and under which conditions it is remarkably<br />
difficult or almost impossible to achieve the<br />
necessary level of coordination.<br />
4. CASE STUDIES: WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT<br />
THE CONTRACT MANUFACTURERS – ARE THEY<br />
SPECIAL?<br />
4.1 …some remarks on the empirical studies:<br />
The case studies are based on media reports,<br />
business reports and interviews with decision<br />
makers 5 of these companies and actors in the<br />
company’s environment as the major source.<br />
The aim is to explain corporate decisions<br />
and strategies as well as the dramatic changes<br />
affecting the market segment. The case studies<br />
focus on the following figures: changes of<br />
business sections, company size, company<br />
locations, foreign investments, co-operations<br />
among suppliers and contractors. The two<br />
companies from Austria and Germany were<br />
chosen as the main focus, because they are<br />
(were) by far the leading and largest companies<br />
for contract manufacturing worldwide.<br />
Summarizing the main characteristics for<br />
the segment of niche producers and contract<br />
manufacturers, they mainly produce for the<br />
premium sector, while the production is labour<br />
intensive, requires specialized and expert<br />
knowledge to create unique selling points. All<br />
contract manufacturers have a long tradition in<br />
their home countries and no or few production<br />
sites abroad.<br />
4.2 Transformation of manufacturer –<br />
supplier – relations<br />
Seite page 70<br />
Referring to the main aspects mentioned<br />
above, which show what happens in the sector,<br />
these characteristics can be applied to the<br />
relation between contract manufacturer and<br />
suppliers as well. Due to the interdependencies<br />
between OEM and contract manufacturers,