http://dx.doi.org/10.18778/8220-046-1 Magdalena Rosińska-Bukowska – University of Lodz, Faculty of Economics and Sociology Department of International Business and Trade, 90-255 Lodz, 3/5 POW Street https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4525-0751 INITIATING EDITOR Beata Koźniewska REVIEWER Barbara Jankowska PROOFREADING Mark Muirhead TYPESETTING AGENT PR TECHNICAL EDITOR Anna Sońta COVER DESIGN Agencja Reklamowa efectoro Cover Image: © Depositphotos.com/Stori http://dx.doi.org/10.18778/8220-046-1 © Copyright by Magdalena Rosińska-Bukowska, Łódź 2020 © Copyright for this edition by University of Łódź, Łódź 2020 Published by Łódź University Press First edition. W.09230.19.0.M Publisher’s sheets 10.0; printing sheets 10.5 ISBN 978-83-8220-046-1 e-ISBN 978-83-8220-047-8 Łódź University Press 90-131 Łódź, 8 Lindleya St. www.wydawnictwo.uni.lodz.pl e-mail: [email protected] phone. (42) 665 58 63 Contents List of abbreviations 7 Introduction 9 Chapter I Concept of a global business network in light of economic theory 15 1.1. Network approach – the genesis and evolution of network thinking 15 1.2. Business networks as a type of regulation model 19 1.3. Attributes of a global business network – a comparison with other network models 27 Chapter II The structure of a global business network 35 2.1. Transnational corporations – the evolution of the business model 35 2.2. The role of globalisation in shaping global business networks 42 2.3. A business integration model – the target structure of a global business network 47 2.4. Attributes of the orchestrators of global business networks 53 Chapter III Stratification of the capital of network organisations 59 3.1. The systemic nature of an organisation’s layers of capital 59 3.2. An organisation’s knowledge capital – intellectual capital vs human capital 64 3.3. The importance of an “organisation’s knowledge capital” in its corporate strategies – based on research for industry sector leaders 72 3.4. Capital of the orchestrators of global business networks 85 Chapter IV The competitiveness of network enterprises 95 4.1. The competitiveness of enterprises in light of the modern enterprise theory 95 4.2. The system of international competitiveness 103 4.3. The concept of the international competitiveness of enterprises 111 6 Contents Chapter V Assessing the competitiveness of global business networks 121 5.1. Selected methods of a multi-dimensional assessment of complex structures 122 5.2. A measure of the ability to create value-added – an aggregated assessment of GBN efficiency from the point of view of an orchestrator 132 Conclusions 143 References 153 List of tables and diagrams 167 List of abbreviations A – asset value (A), total assets (A) AEC – accumulated economic capital (AEC) AM – the American model (AM) Am – amortisation (Am) AVA – assets value abroad (AVA) CE – capital employed (CE) CEE – capital employed efficiency (CEE) CR – cooperative relations (CR) CSV – Creating Shared Value (CSV) E – employment (E) EA – employment abroad (EA) ENE – enterprise’s normalised earnings (ENE) EVA – Economic Value-added (EVA) FDI – foreign direct investment (FDI) FINC – financial capital (FINC) FL – financial leverage (FL) GBN – global business network (GBN) GTM – Grounded Theory Methodology (GTM) HC – human capital (HC) HCE – human capital efficiency (HCE) HVA – Holistic Value Approach (HVA) IE – income of an enterprise (IE) IAM – Intangible Assets Monitor (IAM) IC – intellectual capital (IC) ICBC – Intellectual Capital Benchmarking System (ICBS) ICE – intellectual capital efficiency (ICE) ICdVAL – Intellectual Capital Dynamic Value (ICdVAL) ICEC – international competitiveness of economies (ICEC) ICEN – international competitiveness of enterprises (ICEN) IMD – the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) INNC – innovation capital (INNC) INNS – institutional capital (INSC) 8 List of abbreviations KCE – Knowledge Capital Earnings (KCE) MAC – the World's Most Admired Companies (MAC) MARC – market capital (MARC) M&As – mergers and acquisitions (M&As) MDA – Multidimensional Statistical Analysis (MDA) MV – market value (MV) MVA – market value-added (MVA) NIE – new institutional economics (NIE) NIS – strategy of network internationalisation (NIS) OP – operating profit (OP) ORGC – organisational capital (ORGC) OKC – organisation’s knowledge capital (OKC) OL – ownership links (OL) OLI – the ownership-location-internalisation paradigm (OLI) P – profit (P) PE – personnel expenses (PE) R&D – research and development (R&D) ROA – return on assets (ROA) ROE – return on equity (ROE) ROS – return on sales (ROS) S – sales (S), total income from sales (S) SC – strategic connections (SC) SCE – structural capital efficiency (SCE) SE – stockholder’s equity (SE) SICAV – Synthetic Indicator of Creation of Added Value (SICAV) SM – the system model (SM) SNA – Social Network Analysis (SNA) SVA – sales value abroad (SVA) TA – tangible assets (TA) TAT – total assets turnover (TAT) TNC – transnational corporation (TNC) TNI – transnationality index (TNI) TOE – total operating expense (TOE) TOI – total operating income (TOI) Top-TNCs – the most powerful transnational corporations (Top-TNCs) WBG – the World Bank Group (WBG) WEF – the World Economic Forum (WEF) WIR – the World Investment Report (WIR) VA – value-added (VA) VAIC – Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) Introduction The evolving global economy is the key determinant of changes to the business strategies of all categories of agents that operate in business, including transnational corporations (TNCs). By pursuing a strategy of network internationalisation (NIS),1 corporations broaden the scope of business integration.2 As a result, global business network (GBN) structures develop around the most powerful transnational corporations (Top-TNCs). Due to their ability to combine competition and cooperation (coopetition3) and utilise a networking approach (networking in chains during the creation of value-added4) and the concept of orchestration (based on regulation theory5), they are able to create value-added, which is their key task. This work is based on a theory that in the global economy of the 21st century, there is an ongoing transformation of classic transnational corporations. It is based on the division of functions and hierarchical structures into network organisations 1 D. Blankenburg, A Network Approach to Foreign Market Entry, [in:] Business Marketing: An Interaction and Network Perspective, K. Moller, D. Wilson (eds), Kluwer Academic Publisher, Norwell 1995. 2 M. Rosińska-Bukowska, The Most Powerful Corporations of the Modern World. Case Studies, Publisher of the Academy of International Studies Lodz, Lodz 2011, pp. 237–242. 3 P. Ritala, Coopetition Strategy – When is it Successful? Empirical Evidence on Innovation and Market Performance, “British Journal of Management” 2012, vol. 23 (3), pp. 307–324, http:// onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8551.2011.00741.x/epdf [accessed: 04.07.2016]. 4 G. Gereffi, J. Humphrey, T. Sturgeon, The Governance of Global Value Chains, “Review of International Political Economy” 2005, vol. 12 (1). 5 T. Pedersen, M. Venzin, T.M. Devinney, L. Tihanyi, Introduction to Part II: Orchestration of the Global Network Organisation, [in:] Orchestration of the Global Network Organisation, T. Pedersen, M. Venzin, T.M. Devinney, L. Tihanyi (eds), “Advances in International Management” 2014, vol. 27, pp. 37–41; G. Thompson, J. Frances, R. Levacic, J. Mitchell, Markets, Hierarchies and Networks: The Co-ordination of Social Life, Sage Publications, London 1991, pp. 265–276. 10 Introduction with hybrid, globally-dispersed structures, wherein the Top-TNCs perform the functions of orchestrators of GBNs.6 As a consequence of changes to the global economy, the Top-TNCs have evolved, thus changing their positions in the global business system. This observation constitutes the foundation for the reflections in this book. The unique role of GBN orchestrators needs highlighting; their task is to maximise the synergy effect by implementing the idea of coopetition and orchestration in a multi- focal, web-like network that consists of members positioned at several levels and pursuing their own business models. An orchestrator is responsible for a GBN’s continuous ability to create value-added to the evolving standards. It is achieved by fostering the “organisation’s knowledge capital” (OKC) and implementing NIS based on regulation theory, enabling various types of structural integration (the stratification of network capital) and the standardisation (coordinating, unifying, replicating, diversifying) of business processes and market segmentation or the transfer of network knowledge.7 GBN competitiveness is systemic and is based on multiplying the accumulated economic capital (AEC) thanks to the development of intellectual capital (IC) while taking into account the equal involvement of three subsystems of IC: innovation, organisation and relations with the environment. The explanation of the essence of GBNs requires an interdisciplinary approach, referring to notions such as the theory of competitiveness, the strategy of internationalisation, the concept of knowledge management, the network approach, intellectual capital, and regulation theory. In conclusion, the evolution of the Top-TNCs resulted in the formation of GBNs – the model of entangled organisations, whose task is to incorporate the priorities of their members’ individual developmental paths into a common system of values.8 It means developing subsequent layers