The international division of labour, local resources and engineering workers: Eastern Europe in the global networks of the semiconductor Industry

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Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Volume 6, Issue 2

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The international division of labour, local resources and engineering workers: Eastern Europe in the global networks of the semiconductor Industry

research-article

Author(s): Peter Pawlicki

Publication date (Print): Autumn 2012

Journal: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

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Abstract

The decades-long internationalisation of the semiconductor industry has been characterised by dynamics that do not easily fit into logics of centrality and peripherality, pointing to the fact that complementary divisions of labour are not the end of the process but mark its beginning. This article revolves around two case studies of design centres in Eastern Europe, focusing on the work of engineers as well as the upgrading of processes at the design centre level. This locally-centred and historical perspective makes it possible to depict internationalisation and integration into the global design networks of the semiconductor industry as a complex dialectical interaction between the global and the local.

Content

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): workorgalaboglob

Title: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 1745641X

ISSN (Electronic): 17456428

Publication date (Print): Autumn 2012

Volume: 6

Issue: 2

Pages: 77-93

Article

Publisher ID: workorgalaboglob.6.2.0077

DOI: 10.13169/workorgalaboglob.6.2.0077

SO-VID: c13387e8-2598-4654-86a4-65b2ec32e69d

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

History

ScienceOpen disciplines: Sociology,Labor law,Political science,Labor & Demographic economics,Political economics

References

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Bair, J. (2005) ‘Global Capitalism and Commodity Chains: Looking Back, Going Forward’, Competition & Change , 9 (2): 153–180.
Bair, J. (2009) ‘Global Commodity Chains: Genealogy and Review’ in J. Bair (ed) Frontiers of Commodity Chains Research , Stanford University Press:Stanford: 1–34.
Barrientos, S., G. Gereffi & A. Rossi (2011) ‘Economic and Social Upgrading in Global Production Networks: A New Paradigm for a Changing World’, International Labour Review , 150 (3–4):319–340.
Barthelt, H., A. Malmberg & P. Maskell (2004) ‘Clusters and Knowledge: Local Buzz, Global Pipelines and the Process of Knowledge Creation’, Progress in Human Geography , 28 (1):31–56.
Berger, S., C. Kurz, T.J. Sturgeon, U. Voskamp & V. Wittke (2001) ‘Globalization, Production Networks, and National Models of Capitalism. On the Possibilities of New Productive Systems and Institutional Diversity in an Enlarging Europe’, SOFI-Mitteilungen , 29:59–72. Brown, C. & G.
Linden (2009), Chips and Change: How Crisis Reshapes the Semiconductor Industry , Cambridge & London: The MIT Press.
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Gereffi, G. (2005) The New Offshoring of Jobs and the Global Development , ILO Social Policy Lectures, Jamaica.
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Kämpf, T. (2008) ‘Die neue Unsicherheit. Folgen der Globalisierung für hochqualifizierte Arbeitnehmer’ , Frankfurt & New York: Campus.
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Kuemmerle, W. (1997) ‘Building Effective R&D capabilities Abroad’, Harvard Business Review , March-April:61–70.
Lüthje, B., S. Hürtgen, P. Pawlicki & M. Sproll (2012 forthcoming) From Silicon Valley to Shenzhen. Global Production and Work in the IT Industry , Boulder, Co.:Rowman and Littlefield.
Lüthje, B. & P. Pawlicki (2009) ‘Europas IT-Industrie vor dem Aus? Produktion, Innovation und internationale Arbeitsteilung’, H. König, J. Schmidt & M. Sicking (eds) Die Zukunft der Arbeit in Europa , Marburg: Schüren:49–74.
Mahadevan, J. (2007) Kategorisierung des kulturell Fremden in einer High-Tech Firma, oder von der Schwierigkeit, eine Kartoffel in Deutschland heiß zu servieren, wenn der Herd in Indien steht , PhD Dissertation at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Accessed on August 31, 2007 from: http://edoc.ub.uni-muenchen.de/archive/00006926/.
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Palpacuer, F. (2008) ‘Bringing the Social Context Back in: Governance and Wealth Distribution in Global Commodity Chains’, Economy and Society, 37 (3):393–419.
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Pawlicki, P. (2010) ‘New Industries and Locations in Semiconductors – the Role of Industry, State and Markets. The Case of the Taiwanese Fabless Chipdesigner Mediatek’, Paper presented at the Workshop Understanding the Emergence of New Industries. Between Path Dependency and Path Plasticity, Collegio Carlo Alberto, Turin, 7–8. October.
Sachwald, F. (2008) ‘Location Choices within Global Innovation Networks: The Case of Europe’, Journal for Technology Transfer , 33:364–378.
Selwyn, B. (2012) ‘Beyond Firm-centrism: Re-integrating Labour and Capitalism into Global Commodity Chains Analysis’, Journal of Economic Geography , 12:205–226.
Sturgeon, T.J. (1999) Turn-Key Production Networks. Industry Organization, Economic Development, and the Globalization of Electronics Contract Manufacturing , Ph.D. Dissertation: University of California Berkeley.
Sturgeon, T.J. (2009) ‘From Commodity Chains to Value Chains: Interdisciplinary Theory Building in an Age of Globalization’, J. Bair (ed.), Frontiers of Commodity Chain Research , Stanford CT.:Stanford University Press:110–136.
Sturgeon, T.J. & J.-R. Lee (2005) ‘Industry Co-Evolution: A Comparison of Taiwan and North American Electronics Contract Manufacturers’, S. Berger & R. K. Lester (eds) Global Taiwan: Building Competitive Strengths in a New International Economy , Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe:33–75.
Taylor, P. (2012), ‘Governance, Labour and the Global Call Centre Value Chain’, paper presented at the International Labor and Employment Relations Association Congress 2012.

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Angel, P. D. (1994) Restructuring for Innovation. The Remaking of the U.S. Semiconductor Industry , New York: Guilford Press.

[2] Bair, J. (2005) ‘Global Capitalism and Commodity Chains: Looking Back, Going Forward’, Competition & Change , 9 (2): 153–180.

[3] Bair, J. (2009) ‘Global Commodity Chains: Genealogy and Review’ in J. Bair (ed) Frontiers of Commodity Chains Research , Stanford University Press:Stanford: 1–34.

[4] Barrientos, S., G. Gereffi & A. Rossi (2011) ‘Economic and Social Upgrading in Global Production Networks: A New Paradigm for a Changing World’, International Labour Review , 150 (3–4):319–340.

[5] Barthelt, H., A. Malmberg & P. Maskell (2004) ‘Clusters and Knowledge: Local Buzz, Global Pipelines and the Process of Knowledge Creation’, Progress in Human Geography , 28 (1):31–56.

[6] Berger, S., C. Kurz, T.J. Sturgeon, U. Voskamp & V. Wittke (2001) ‘Globalization, Production Networks, and National Models of Capitalism. On the Possibilities of New Productive Systems and Institutional Diversity in an Enlarging Europe’, SOFI-Mitteilungen , 29:59–72. Brown, C. & G.

[7] Linden (2009), Chips and Change: How Crisis Reshapes the Semiconductor Industry , Cambridge & London: The MIT Press.

[8] Brown, C. & G. Linden (2010) Managing Knowledge Workers in Global Value Chains , Institute for Research on Labor and Employment Working Paper Series, Berkeley, CA: UC Berkeley.

[9] Coe, N.M., P. Dicken & M. Hess (2008) ‘Global Production Networks: Realizing the Potential’, Journal of Economic Geography , 8 (3):271–295.

[10] Coe, N. & Jordhus-Lier, D. (2010) ‘Constrained agency? Re-evaluating the Geographies of Labour’, Progress in Human Geography , 35 (2):211–233.

[11] Ernst, D. (2001) ‘Global Production Networks and Industrial Upgrading – A Knowledge-Centered Approach’, East-West Center Working Papers Economic Series , Honolulu, Hi.: East-West Center.

[12] Ernst, D. (2005) ‘Innovation Offshoring: Asia's Emerging Role in Global Innovation Networks’, East-West Center Special Reports , 10, Honolulu, Hi.: East-West Center.

[13] Ernst, D. & B. Lüthje (2003) ‘Global Production Networks, Innovation and Work: Why Chip and System Design in the IT-Industry are Moving to Asia’, East-West Center Economics Series , 64, Honolulu, Hi.: East-West Center.

[14] Fröbel, F., J. Heinrichs & O. Kreye (1980) The New International Division of Labour: Structural Unemployment in Industrialised Countries and Industrialisation in Developing Countries , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[15] Gereffi, G. (1994) ‘The Organization of Buyer-driven Global Commodity Chains: How US retailers shape Overseas Production Networks’, G. Gereffi & M. Korzeniewicz (eds) Commodity Chains and Global Capitalism , Praeger: Westport, CT:95–122.

[16] Gereffi, G. (2005) The New Offshoring of Jobs and the Global Development , ILO Social Policy Lectures, Jamaica.

[17] Gereffi, G., J. Humphrey & T.J. Sturgeon (2005) ‘The Governance of Value Chains’, Review of International Political Economy , 12 (1):78–104.

[18] Henderson, J., P. Dicken, M. Hess, N. Coe & H.W-C. Yeung (2002) ‘Global Production Networks and the Analysis of Economic Development’, Review of International Political Economy , 9 (3):436–464.

[19] Huws, U. & M. Ramioul (2006) ‘Globalisation and the Restructuring of Value Chains’ in U. Huws (ed) The Transformation of Work in a Global Knowledge Economy: Towards a Conceptual Framework , WORKS report, Leuven: HIVA-K.U. Leuven.

[20] Kämpf, T. (2008) ‘Die neue Unsicherheit. Folgen der Globalisierung für hochqualifizierte Arbeitnehmer’ , Frankfurt & New York: Campus.

[21] Knorriga, P. & L. Pegler (2006) ‘Globalisation, Firm Upgrading and Impacts on Labor’ Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie , 97 (5):470–479.

[22] Kuemmerle, W. (1997) ‘Building Effective R&D capabilities Abroad’, Harvard Business Review , March-April:61–70.

[23] Lüthje, B., S. Hürtgen, P. Pawlicki & M. Sproll (2012 forthcoming) From Silicon Valley to Shenzhen. Global Production and Work in the IT Industry , Boulder, Co.:Rowman and Littlefield.

[24] Lüthje, B. & P. Pawlicki (2009) ‘Europas IT-Industrie vor dem Aus? Produktion, Innovation und internationale Arbeitsteilung’, H. König, J. Schmidt & M. Sicking (eds) Die Zukunft der Arbeit in Europa , Marburg: Schüren:49–74.

[25] Mahadevan, J. (2007) Kategorisierung des kulturell Fremden in einer High-Tech Firma, oder von der Schwierigkeit, eine Kartoffel in Deutschland heiß zu servieren, wenn der Herd in Indien steht , PhD Dissertation at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Accessed on August 31, 2007 from: http://edoc.ub.uni-muenchen.de/archive/00006926/.

[26] Mayer-Ahuja, N. & P. Feuerstein (2007) IT-Labour Goes Offshore. Regulating and Managing Attrition in Bangalore , SOFI Working Paper 2.

[27] Palpacuer, F. (2008) ‘Bringing the Social Context Back in: Governance and Wealth Distribution in Global Commodity Chains’, Economy and Society, 37 (3):393–419.

[28] Pavitt, K. (1999) Technology, Management and Systems of Innovation, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

[29] Pawlicki, P. (2010) ‘New Industries and Locations in Semiconductors – the Role of Industry, State and Markets. The Case of the Taiwanese Fabless Chipdesigner Mediatek’, Paper presented at the Workshop Understanding the Emergence of New Industries. Between Path Dependency and Path Plasticity, Collegio Carlo Alberto, Turin, 7–8. October.

[30] Sachwald, F. (2008) ‘Location Choices within Global Innovation Networks: The Case of Europe’, Journal for Technology Transfer , 33:364–378.

[31] Selwyn, B. (2012) ‘Beyond Firm-centrism: Re-integrating Labour and Capitalism into Global Commodity Chains Analysis’, Journal of Economic Geography , 12:205–226.

[32] Sturgeon, T.J. (1999) Turn-Key Production Networks. Industry Organization, Economic Development, and the Globalization of Electronics Contract Manufacturing , Ph.D. Dissertation: University of California Berkeley.

[33] Sturgeon, T.J. (2009) ‘From Commodity Chains to Value Chains: Interdisciplinary Theory Building in an Age of Globalization’, J. Bair (ed.), Frontiers of Commodity Chain Research , Stanford CT.:Stanford University Press:110–136.

[34] Sturgeon, T.J. & J.-R. Lee (2005) ‘Industry Co-Evolution: A Comparison of Taiwan and North American Electronics Contract Manufacturers’, S. Berger & R. K. Lester (eds) Global Taiwan: Building Competitive Strengths in a New International Economy , Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe:33–75.

[35] Taylor, P. (2012), ‘Governance, Labour and the Global Call Centre Value Chain’, paper presented at the International Labor and Employment Relations Association Congress 2012.