ABSTRACT
Part IV of the book is devoted to the core functions within a multinational enterprise (MNE), starting with upstream, production-side operations – a topic inextricably linked to the customer-facing activities occurring on the downstream side of companies’ global value chains. The latter are shaped by marketing practitioners’ preference for diverse product portfolios facilitating international sales, while the former are shaped by upstream operatives’ preference for economies of scale enabling lower return costs (being the basis upon which they are judged). The chapter begins with an introduction to knowledge management on both a national and a corporate scale before initiating a key section on global supply chain management. This involvesscrutinising the international outsourcing trends that have had (and continue to have) an enormous impact on multinational configurations and cross-border trade volumes. The third section studies international production, with a clear distinction being drawn between manufacturing and assembly operations, each pursuing its own efficiency logic. This paves the way for a final analysis of international logistics and trade operations - the nuts and bolts of international commerce.
