WP5

Understanding strategies of R&D offshoring by Northern and Southern firms


WP5 analyses strategies of both Northern and Southern multinationals and low, medium and high R&D intensive industries for offshoring innovation activities. It assesses the alignment (or lack thereof) between MNCs strategies and institutional frameworks by detecting the emerging role of negotiated standards between Northern and Southern countries in the new context of GINs. Its objective is:

  • To understand the contribution of fragmentation of production to the creation of GINs from a firm perspective, by exploring:
    - The role played by the stages of the production processes offshored
    - The role of the adoption of ICTs in determining different firms’ internationalization modes
    - How different innovation strategies interact with the internationalization ones
    - MNC’s views and needs regarding institutional frameworks

WP leader:
UoS (University of Sussex)

Partners involved:
FEEM (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei)
CEDEPLAR-UFMG (Centro de Desenvolvimento e Planejamento Regional)
GUCAS (Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Science)
CBS (Copenhagen Business School)
IBS (Institute for Baltic Studies)
IIIT-B (International Institute of Information Technology)
LdA (Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano)
NIFU-STEP (Norwegian Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education)
HSRC (Human Sciences Research Council)
ULUND (University of Lund)
UP (GIBS, Gordon Institute of Business Science at University of Pretoria)

WP5 has concluded its activities in March 2011. The following reports have been published:

D5.1: "Understanding strategies of R&D offshoring by Northern and Southern firms" ...read more
D5.2: "The role of institutional frameworks in decisions of MNC’s to offshore innovation-related activities, and the relationship between fragmentation of productive and knowledge activities" ...read more