Fostering Collaborations: A Knowledge-Acquisition Strategy for Contract Manufacturers in OEM Relationships

Acquiring knowledge through collaborations with OEM buyers is critical for offshore contract manufacturers given its relative resource-deficiency. However, existing research on knowledge transfer within OEM alliances mainly addresses knowledge abuse hazards from the buyers’ stance. We have limited understanding about how the contract manufacturers could alleviate the buyers’ concerns so as to foster a wide array of joint projects. Adopting lenses of transaction cost economics and relational view, this study hypothesizes that buyer-specific tangible/ intangible/ site assets and relational capital will contribute to collaborations in international OEM relationships. The arguments by and large find empirical support in data collected from 110 dyadic relationships between OEM buyers and Taiwan contract manufacturers in information industries. Overall, this study sheds light on the mechanisms to enhance collaborations and entails a knowledge acquisition strategy for resource-poor contract manufacturers mostly from emerging markets.  

Critic and Maut Methods for the Contract Manufacturer Selection Problem

Nowadays companies should respond and satisfy the customer needs effectively and quickly to establish a position in the competitive market. One of the ways of achieving these goals is the outsourcing their some manufacturing operations to contract manufacturers. Outsourcing manufacturing operation to contract manufacturers decreases the operational cost, increases the profit and provides the flexibility of production capability. So the selecting a contract manufacturer for a company is an important problem that must be dealt very carefully. This selection is influenced by quantitative and qualitative criteria and it is handled as Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) problem. In this paper, CRITIC (CRiteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation) and MAUT (Multi Attribute Utility Theory) methods are applied to the contract manufacturer selection problem. The weights of the contract manufacturer selection criteria are derived from CRITIC method whereas the complete ranking of the contract manufacturer alternatives are obtained by using MAUT. Finally the results are discussed.

Strategy from the perspective of contract manufacturers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the strategy of contract manufacturers (CMs). The research question is the following: how can the strategy of CMs be explained? The purpose is to better understand this activity though using different theoretical approaches and analyzing two customer relationships of a Hungarian CM, Videoton Holding. Design/methodology/approach The primary theoretical background is the relational view of strategy, and the concept of the business model is used for the analysis. The authors confront the literature about this topic in strategic management using the industrial marketing and purchasing approach to strategy; namely, strategizing. Through the case study of Videoton the authors explore how the company became a highly developed CM from its origins as an original equipment manufacturer company. Findings Through comparing theory the authors have created a research framework which is adapted to the empirical findings. In the CM’s strategy it is crucial to understand how partners are able to synchronize key propositions, key resources and key actors while taking the network of the firms into consideration. Originality/value The paper is novel in that the authors investigate the strategy of a supplier from their own perspective, not that of a customer. Applying and contrasting different theoretical approaches to this particular topic may considered to be valuable as well.

Foxconned Labour as the Dark Side of the Information Age: Working Conditions at Apple’s Contract Manufacturers in China.

Apple is one of the most dominant and most admired computer companies in the world. But hidden behind the clean surface of Apple’s advanced gadgets lies a dirty world of work. This paper focuses on the dark side of the information age by looking at working conditions in the workshops of Apple’s contract manufacturers in China. For this purpose I suggest a systematic model of working conditions that can be used for assessing and comparing work in different industries. Departing from Karl Marx’s circuit of capital it identifies elements that shape working conditions throughout the capital accumulation process including productive forces, relations of production, the production process, products, and labour legislation. Subsequently I apply this model to the realm of electronics manufacturing. Based on research conducted by corporate watchdogs this paper provides detailed insights into the work and life reality of workers in Apple’s first tier supplier factories. An analysis of Apple’s response to labour rights allegations furthermore reveals three ideological patterns that rather obscure existing problems than offering viable solutions.