We are facing longer-lasting shifts towards more multipolar global production and consumption patterns driven by technology and a decoupling of the US-led world and the China-led world. Ongoing supply chain disruptions, rising transport costs and—above all— trade policy tensions as well as geo-economic strategies and environmental policies may well lead to more re- or near-shoring or regional block formation in the medium term. 

Global supply crises, commodity and energy crises, worsening climate and rising poverty, security risks that will particularly affect those countries that are not responsible. Shifting away from global value chains to increased regionalization of production networks is one strategy among several. Global growth is decelerating, and global inflation is on the rise. The crisis in global supply chains shows that we are arguably facing some form of re-globalization, which, on one hand, is stifling inclusive growth and putting jobs at risk and the other hand, is providing opportunities for SMEs to participate in economic growth at a much larger scale.

Teaching methods include short lectures, case studies, workshops, presentations, and discussions of practitioner and scientific articles. If possible, we will ZOOM in or even invite guest speakers.

This course aims to provide an understanding of future organizational MNE structures, the mobility of activities across national and internationally dispersed subunits, and ultimately the mobility of people and practices will look like. We take a predominant organizational-level view on the topic rather than focusing on the micro/individual dimensions of work, although the two levels are inevitably intertwined.

After the course you will:

• understand the effects of Megatrends on work, workplace, and workforce systems.
• understand the effects of the 4th Industrial Revolution on the GVC evolution
• understand the implications of the GVC restructuring on corporate strategic change.

Participants are expected to attend all of the sessions.

The course is structured as a four-day-long “Block Seminar.” Our modus operandi will be dialog, and the teaching approach varied, with a mix of interactive lectures, group discussion, case analysis, experiential exercises, and videos and, if possible, guest speakers.
The course will be held virtually.

Student grades will be determined by:

• 40% Participation.                                 
• 35% A group presentation on January 31, 2025
• 25% Individual term paper (max. 1,500 words) due on February 20, 2025

Classroom participation and attendance are required throughout

Please log in with your WU account to use all functionalities of read!t. For off-campus access to our licensed electronic resources, remember to activate your VPN connection connection. In case you encounter any technical problems or have questions regarding read!t, please feel free to contact the library at readinglists@wu.ac.at.

No formal requirements, though a basic understanding of business and human resource management and good English language skills are recommended.

Andreas Schotter: andreas.schotter@wu.ac.at

Readings (not all readings are mandatory)

Core readings are in bold letters. Other readings are purely “optional”!

• Sachon, M. (2017) 5 Building Blocks for Cyber-Physical Value Chains 
  https://www.iveypublishing.ca/s/product/5-building-blocks-for-cyberphysical-valuechains/01t5c00000DNMjnAAH
• Lund, S., Manyika, J., Woetzel, J., Barriball, E., & Krishnan, M. (2020). Risk, resilience, and rebalancing in global value chains.
  http://dln.jaipuria.ac.in:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/10865/1/Risk-resilience-and-rebalancing-in-global-value-chains-full-report.pdf
• Soontornthum, T., Cui, L., Lu, V. N., & Su, J. (2020). Enabling SMEs’ learning from global value chains: Linking the logic of power and the logic of embeddedness of interfirm relations. Management International Review, 60, 543-571.
• Brynjolfsson, E. and McAfee, A. (2014). The Second Machine Age. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
• Spencer, D. (2016) Work in and beyond the Second Machine Age: the politics of production and digital technologies. Work, Employment and Society, 31(1), 142-152.
• Fleming, P. (2019). Robots and organization studies: Why robots might not want to steal your job. Organization Studies, 40(1), 23-38.
• Narula, R., Asmussen, C. G., Chi, T., & Kundu, S. K. (2019). Applying and advancing internalization theory: The multinational enterprise in the twenty-first century. Journal of International Business Studies, 50(8), 1231-1252.
• Lorenzen, M., Mudambi, R., & Schotter, A. (2020). International connectedness and local disconnectedness: MNE strategy, city-regions and disruption. Journal of International Business Studies, 51(8), 1199-1222.
• Srinivasan, N. & Eden, L. (2021). Going digital multinationals: Navigating economic and social imperatives in a post-pandemic world. Journal of International Business Policy, 1-16.
• Barney J. & Reeves, M. (2024) AI Won’t Give You a New Sustainable Advantage. Harvard Business Review, September-October. https://hbr.org/2024/09/ai-wont-giveyou- a-new-sustainable-advantage

Critical Readings from Practice:

• Deloitte: Reshoring or localization on your mind?
  https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/operations/reshoring-supply-chain.html

Case List:

• Volkswagen's Global Dilemmas: Deglobalization and the Rise of Electric Vehicles. 
  Schotter, A. (2024)
• Vodafone: Managing Advanced Technologies and Artificial Intelligence.
  Kerr, W. & Moloney, E. (2018)
• Bext360 and the ESG Paradox: Leveraging AI, Blockchain, and IoT for Supply-Chain-Level ESG Measurement.
  Youngdahl, W. & Hunsaker, T. (2023)
• Sincerity: Chinese Branded Motorcycles in Africa.
  Zhou, K. & Lau, J. (2023)