Jose Pla Barber – författare

Globalisation is forcing companies to reshape their boundaries and causing business leaders to rethink corporate strategies within the firm. It is creating the basis for new ways of doing international business. The effects of this global interdependence are also being felt at the more aggregate levels of industries, financial markets and countries economies. The evolution of these trends has rendered obsolete some of the basic understandings of IB theory and practice, including traditional notions regarding the nature of the boundaries of the firm and even the definition of the multinational enterprise itself. This volume of Progress in International Business Research includes a selection of 13 papers from the 35th European International Business Academy Annual Conference, which was held in Valencia (Spain) from the 13th to the 15th of December 2009. This volume organizes in three parts a number of contributions to shed further light on these issues. Part I focuses on the boundaries of the firm and points at issues such as offshoring, cooperation and internationalization. Part II examines the phenomenon of networks within the context of MNCs. Finally, Part III deals with the role of knowledge and innovation in international high-tech environments.

Globalisation is forcing companies to reshape their boundaries and causing business leaders to rethink corporate strategies within the firm. It is creating the basis for new ways of doing international business. The effects of this global interdependence are also being felt at the more aggregate levels of industries, financial markets and countries economies. The evolution of these trends has rendered obsolete some of the basic understandings of IB theory and practice, including traditional notions regarding the nature of the boundaries of the firm and even the definition of the multinational enterprise itself. This volume of Progress in International Business Research includes a selection of 13 papers from the 35th European International Business Academy Annual Conference, which was held in Valencia (Spain) from the 13th to the 15th of December 2009. This volume organizes in three parts a number of contributions to shed further light on these issues. Part I focuses on the boundaries of the firm and points at issues such as offshoring, cooperation and internationalization. Part II examines the phenomenon of networks within the context of MNCs. Finally, Part III deals with the role of knowledge and innovation in international high-tech environments.

This book offers valuable insights into the reconfiguration of Global Value Chains (GVCs) in manufacturing industries and the diverse managerial responses at the firm level. Focusing on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from developed economies, the authors explore key intersections between firm strategies, competitiveness, and value-chain analysis, presenting new directions for both managerial practice and research.In response to the rapidly evolving global landscape, the book argues that manufacturing industries must reconfigure into shorter, more regionalized GVCs to improve resilience, balance cost efficiency with sustainability, and better withstand external shocks. The authors analyze three major trends: reshoring (bringing production back home), SMEs' upgrading within GVCs with a focus on social and environmental improvements, and the rise of governance structures rooted in trust and relational capital.By offering in-depth studies of the featured SMEs, the book provides guidelines for redesigning strategies and public policies that enhance SMEs' performance in the modern global context.