Stability and change in the supply chains of multinational plants: the managerial voice

Mike Crone and H. Doug Watts

Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 2002, vol. 93, issue 3, 287-301

Abstract: High levels of stability over the five‐year period 1991–96 are observed in the supply chains of plants in Yorkshire and Humberside in the UK owned by multinational enterprises (MNEs). Stability is explained by a lack of alternative suppliers, satisfaction with existing suppliers, perceived benefits derived from continuity, sunk costs in existing suppliers and managerial complacency. Where supply chain patterns have changed, changes are associated with changes in production, changes in supply chain strategy, or exogenous factors, such as heightened competition and changes in the geography of potential suppliers. High levels of stability in the geography of the supply chain provide a challenge to arguments that there is now a rapid process of globalisation within MNEs. Nevertheless, where change is taking place, MNEs are moving towards increased globalisation in their sourcing strategies rather than towards a deeper embeddedness in their host regions.

Date: 2002
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