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Operations network development: internationalisation and externalisation of value chain activities

Considering the increased significance of both internationalisation and externalisation of manufacturing, this paper aims to provide an integrated understanding of internationalisation and externalisation and seek to identify further development trends. First, this paper investigates and summarises the existing literature in order to examine what has been done on internationalisation and externalisation. An adapted matrix is further presented in order to illustrate a roadmap for the manufacturing system evolution. Claiming that conceptual insights tell only one of the two worlds (i.e. research and practice) of operations management, this paper successively explores what is actually happening in practice on the basis of three case studies selected from the global operations networks (GONE) project, which is a joint-effort between several Danish universities and aims to deepen the understandings on GONE. The empirical findings suggest that the discussions on internationalisation and externalisation need to be extended from manufacturing activity to other value chain activities. Two development trajectories are further identified and combined. Their similarities and differences are correspondingly compared. Based on these findings, some managerial recommendations are given at the end.