Heft36 1 - SFB 580 - Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena

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