As a result of globalisation, firms across both developed and developing countries are experiencing increased competition. Globalisation has both positive and negative consequences for firms, and the net effect may depend on the manner in which the country where a firm is located participates in the global market. Both the global commodity chain (GCC) and global value chain (GVC) approaches assess countries' integration (either successfully or unsuccessfully) into the global market. The international floriculture industry is one that is constantly changing and has a highly competitive environment. These challenges require that its participants be successfully integrated into the market and constantly improve their competitive positions. The South African floriculture industry has become more integrated into the global market since it opened up its economy in 1994. Both revenue and employment in this industry have increased since then. However, South Africa remains fairly uncompetitive compared with its African counterparts. The overall aim of this study was to assess the impact of the global floriculture industry on both the competitiveness of the South African floriculture industry and its integration into the global market. The GCC and GVC approaches were used in this assessment. The literature study provided background to these approaches in the context of globalisation. A detailed description was further given to the attributes and challenges of the global floriculture arena, together with a delineation of the South African floriculture industry. The empirical study was conducted through a mail-based questionnaire, which was mailed to the members of the South African Flower Export Council. The response rate of the survey was 59 per cent and can be considered high for a mail-based questionnaire. The responses were analysed according to the elements of the GVC and GCC approaches. This enabled an analysis of the global chains that the exporters form part of. Hence, it identified the role players and variables within these chains that influence the ultimate income of the floriculture industry. From the empirical findings it was possible to determine the South African export floriculture industry's strengths and weaknesses. The conclusion drawn was that the South African floriculture industry functions successful internationally, according to the elements of the GCC and GVC approaches. However, the industry does not participate to its full potential in the global market and lacks competitiveness. These findings supported the assumptions in the literature study. Once the South African floriculture exporters become more export-oriented (i.e. shift their focus from the domestic to the international market), the industry's competitiveness will enhance. Becoming further integrated into the global market by increasing both the volumes and values of their exports can do this. Ultimately the exporters will be able to move into better and more competitive global chains (i.e. export more directly). / Thesis (M.Com. (International Commerce))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

As a result of globalisation, firms across both developed and developing countries are experiencing increased competition. Globalisation has both positive and negative consequences for firms, and the net effect may depend on the manner in which the country where a firm is located participates in the global market. Both the global commodity chain (GCC) and global value chain (GVC) approaches assess countries' integration (either successfully or unsuccessfully) into the global market. The international floriculture industry is one that is constantly changing and has a highly competitive environment. These challenges require that its participants be successfully integrated into the market and constantly improve their competitive positions. The South African floriculture industry has become more integrated into the global market since it opened up its economy in 1994. Both revenue and employment in this industry have increased since then. However, South Africa remains fairly uncompetitive compared with its African counterparts. The overall aim of this study was to assess the impact of the global floriculture industry on both the competitiveness of the South African floriculture industry and its integration into the global market. The GCC and GVC approaches were used in this assessment. The literature study provided background to these approaches in the context of globalisation. A detailed description was further given to the attributes and challenges of the global floriculture arena, together with a delineation of the South African floriculture industry. The empirical study was conducted through a mail-based questionnaire, which was mailed to the members of the South African Flower Export Council. The response rate of the survey was 59 per cent and can be considered high for a mail-based questionnaire. The responses were analysed according to the elements of the GVC and GCC approaches. This enabled an analysis of the global chains that the exporters form part of. Hence, it identified the role players and variables within these chains that influence the ultimate income of the floriculture industry. From the empirical findings it was possible to determine the South African export floriculture industry's strengths and weaknesses. The conclusion drawn was that the South African floriculture industry functions successful internationally, according to the elements of the GCC and GVC approaches. However, the industry does not participate to its full potential in the global market and lacks competitiveness. These findings supported the assumptions in the literature study. Once the South African floriculture exporters become more export-oriented (i.e. shift their focus from the domestic to the international market), the industry's competitiveness will enhance. Becoming further integrated into the global market by increasing both the volumes and values of their exports can do this. Ultimately the exporters will be able to move into better and more competitive global chains (i.e. export more directly). / Thesis (M.Com. (International Commerce))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

This thesis aims to contribute to global value chain studies by examining an empirical case of vietnamese apparel firms in Swedish clothing value chains with a focus on insertion and upgrading issues . we apply mixed method of  both qualitative and quantitative tools from a holistic approach researching from both vietnamese suppliers and Swedish buyers perspective. Our findings show some progressive improvements of Vietnamese suppliers in GVC especially of private sector. In swedish value chain trust and long term cooperative business realtions for mutual benefits are among the key points for insertion and ugrading. On Vietnamese suppliers side, lack of information serves as the main reson for their reluctance in approaching Swedish market . Willingness to listen to buyer's advice or suggestions and management strategic Vision of development are critical for upgrading sucess of suppliers.

Throughout the history of capitalism, the process of industrialisation has been recognised as the engine of economic development. No region in the world ‘suffers’ more acutely from a lack of industrialisation than Africa, clearly highlighting the need for industrial policy. However, the formulation of such policies is not straightforward in the current era of globalised production. In recent years, a debate has taken hold over whether the geographical expansion and increased fragmentation of production networks—often referred to as the expansion of global value chains (GVCs)—calls for new approaches to industrial policy in developing countries. By drawing on the case of Ethiopia, this dissertation demonstrates that industrial policy in developing countries needs no new ‘magic bullet’ in the era of expanding GVCs. The dissertation applies a funnelling technique, meaning that each chapter builds on information presented and arguments made in the preceding chapters. Chapter 2 contextualises the importance of manufacturing and industrial policy for economic development in Africa. The chapter argues that the manufacturing sector continues to play an integral role in the process of economic development, and discusses the role of the state in the process of industrialisation, arguing that there are strong justifications for intervention through industrial policy. Chapter 3 looks at how the expansion of GVCs affects the productive structures of developing countries, particularly those in Africa, and asks if industrial policy has to change in this new global production environment. I argue that the fundamental problems of participating in GVCs are the same as when countries like South Korea and Taiwan industrialised between 1960 and 1990, although on a different scale. Chapter 4 analyses Ethiopia’s industrialisation trajectory and GVC-oriented industrial policies in the textile and leather industries. This analysis is based on 6 months of fieldwork in Ethiopia, where I carried out several interviews with stakeholders in the private and public sector and collected and collated datasets on industrial performance in collaboration with government agencies. While the findings of this chapter make an original empirical contribution to explaining the specific case of Ethiopia, the insights provided by the analysis offer broader conceptual conclusions as well.

A globalização da economia tem induzido as empresas a se integrarem em diferentes tipos de aglomerações industriais. Estas aglomerações geralmente podem ser definidas a partir de dois aspectos principais: a sequência de relacionamentos entre empresas para distribuição dos produtos nos mercados regionais e globais, as chamadas cadeias produtivas ou globais de valor, e a concentração geográfica das empresas em um determinado território, denominada de cluster ou aglomeração industrial. Neste sentido, a globalização e a regionalização andam juntas, pois quanto mais global é o consumo de um determinado bem, maior a tendência de concentração espacial de empresas complementares para a produção deste bem. Porém a simples concentração geográfica da produção, por si, só não é suficiente para aumentar a competitividade das empresas da aglomeração. É necessário que sejam articuladas ações coletivas de direção e coordenação, de forma a aumentar a competitividade do conjunto de empresas envolvidas no esforço denominado de governança. Buscando contribuir com esta questão, o trabalho propõe o desenvolvimento de um modelo de análise de governança e uma metodologia de implantação para inserção competitiva de aglomerações industriais em cadeias globais de valor. Para atingir este objetivo, a pesquisa inicia com a caracterização das aglomerações industriais sejam elas baseadas em produtos ou baseadas no território. Na sequência são identificados vários aspectos relacionados à governança de aglomerações industriais, de forma a identificar os elementos-base para a proposição de um modelo de análise da governança. Com os elementos identificados, é proposto um modelo inicial de análise de governança. Este modelo é aplicado inicialmente em algumas aglomerações industriais maduras, já inseridas competitivamente em cadeias globais de valor. A partir desta aplicação é proposto um modelo final e uma metodologia passo a passo para a sua implementação. Finalmente, buscando testar a aplicabilidade do modelo e da metodologia desenvolvidos, o mesmo é aplicado parcialmente em uma aglomeração industrial. Por fim, a partir de um estudo de caso, são apresentadas as conclusões e recomendações relativas ao modelo, à metodologia e ao estudo de caso decorrentes do trabalho desenvolvido. / The globalization of the economy has leaded the companies to integrate themselves in different kind of agglomerations. These agglomerations can be defined by two principal aspects: The sequence of relationships between companies organized to distribute the goods on regional or global markets, called productive chain or global value chains, and the geographic concentration of firms in a specific territory, called industrial agglomeration or cluster. On this way, globalization and regionalization can run together because how global is the consumption of a specific good, bigger is the tendency to concentrate complementary companies to produce it. But the geographic production concentration itself is not enough to increase the competitiveness of the agglomerated companies. It is necessary the articulation of collective actions to get direction and coordination to the group of companies in order to increase the competitiveness that are called governance. To contribute with this question, this paper proposes the development of a model of governance analysis and a methodology to promote the competitive insertion of clusters in global value chains. To achieve this goal the research begins with the characterization of industrial agglomerations in terms of products produced or based in a specific territory. In the sequence some aspects related to the governance of industrial agglomerations are acknowledged in order to identify the baseelements that will be used to propose a governance model. With the elements identified is proposed an initial governance analysis model. This model was preliminary applied in three mature industrial clusters that are actually inserted in global value chains. After this preliminary application, it is proposed a final governance model and a step-by-step methodology for their implementation. Finally to evaluate the applicability of the developing model and his methodology, the model is partially applied in an industrial agglomeration. In the end, based on this case study, are presented conclusions and recommendations related to the model, the methodology and the case study developed in this work.

In the last three decades, the global economy has witnessed an ambivalent phenomenon of integration through disintegration. Whilst the amount of regional and global trade dramatically increased, vertical specialisation prompted the outsourcing of manufacturing, assembling, and other business functions regionally and globally. The slicing up of value chains and the consequent surge in trade of intermediate goods drew the attention of scholars interested in the economic, social, and environmental consequences of this phenomenon. Yet, most of the literature on value chains has concentrated on the institutional and market linkages between firms in developed economies and delocalised suppliers in the global South. Conversely, less attention has been paid to the rise in South-South trade that accompanied the development of South- South and regional value chains. The following chapters provide new evidence on the opportunities and constraints that participation in value chains across North-South, South-South, and regional trajectories entails for local suppliers in developing countries. This is achieved by means of a mixed-methods approach that combines firm-level export data with over 100 semi-structured interviews across the Kenyan leather sector. On the one hand, results show how North-South value chains are characterised by more profitable and stable relationships between buyers and local suppliers. Nonetheless, whilst defined by higher product and process standards, linkages with developed economies appear to prevent rather than encourage local value addition. On the other hand, South-South value chains are governed by instability and distrust underpinned by pressures to reduce prices and lack of upgrading opportunities. Like the global South, regional value chains are characterised by fierce competition and low profitability. Even so, they often constitute an alternative for small suppliers willing to venture into new products and functions. Particularly, the local and regional markets represent an upgrading platform for innovative firms whose low capital endowments prevent them from accessing premium North-South value chains. In this case, industrial policy and entrepreneurship play a crucial role in enabling smallholders to upgrade in a competitive environment.

Rise of offshoring services to developing countries has led to the participation of small offshoring services providers in the global value chains. Many inter-disciplinary researches have understood whether participation in global value chains (GVCs) leads to beneficial outcomes for small suppliers. However, the institutional dynamics that may hamper or support small supplier upgrading has not received much attention. This is especially true for small offshoring services providers (OSPs) who are operating in an adverse institutional environment represented by low quality institutions, political instability, and political conflicts. Taking an offshoring service provider’s (OSP) perspective, this paper aims to understand the how Pakistani OSPs bypass/address the challenges of upgrading and move to significant positions in global value chains. Anchoring this work in the relational economic geography, global value chain, and international business, an analytical framework is developed based upon three conceptual building blocks: Upgrading challenges, strategic responses, and upgrading. The thesis adopts qualitative interview technique to collect data from seventeen Pakistani OSPs. The textual data which is interpreted using template analysis technique shows that some Pakistani OSPs demonstrate ‘resilient’ strategies to upgrade in GVCs. The differences in the resilience of OSPs are dependent upon a) level of responsiveness of OSPs to cope with all or some of the upgrading challenges, b) to adapt the changing demands of GVCs. It is understood that OSPs showing high level of responsiveness and adaptation are able to truly upgrade in global value chain by gaining legitimacy in GVCs for their ability to successfully meet GVC conventions and legitimise operation in an adverse economy.

A globalização da economia tem induzido as empresas a se integrarem em diferentes tipos de aglomerações industriais. Estas aglomerações geralmente podem ser definidas a partir de dois aspectos principais: a sequência de relacionamentos entre empresas para distribuição dos produtos nos mercados regionais e globais, as chamadas cadeias produtivas ou globais de valor, e a concentração geográfica das empresas em um determinado território, denominada de cluster ou aglomeração industrial. Neste sentido, a globalização e a regionalização andam juntas, pois quanto mais global é o consumo de um determinado bem, maior a tendência de concentração espacial de empresas complementares para a produção deste bem. Porém a simples concentração geográfica da produção, por si, só não é suficiente para aumentar a competitividade das empresas da aglomeração. É necessário que sejam articuladas ações coletivas de direção e coordenação, de forma a aumentar a competitividade do conjunto de empresas envolvidas no esforço denominado de governança. Buscando contribuir com esta questão, o trabalho propõe o desenvolvimento de um modelo de análise de governança e uma metodologia de implantação para inserção competitiva de aglomerações industriais em cadeias globais de valor. Para atingir este objetivo, a pesquisa inicia com a caracterização das aglomerações industriais sejam elas baseadas em produtos ou baseadas no território. Na sequência são identificados vários aspectos relacionados à governança de aglomerações industriais, de forma a identificar os elementos-base para a proposição de um modelo de análise da governança. Com os elementos identificados, é proposto um modelo inicial de análise de governança. Este modelo é aplicado inicialmente em algumas aglomerações industriais maduras, já inseridas competitivamente em cadeias globais de valor. A partir desta aplicação é proposto um modelo final e uma metodologia passo a passo para a sua implementação. Finalmente, buscando testar a aplicabilidade do modelo e da metodologia desenvolvidos, o mesmo é aplicado parcialmente em uma aglomeração industrial. Por fim, a partir de um estudo de caso, são apresentadas as conclusões e recomendações relativas ao modelo, à metodologia e ao estudo de caso decorrentes do trabalho desenvolvido. / The globalization of the economy has leaded the companies to integrate themselves in different kind of agglomerations. These agglomerations can be defined by two principal aspects: The sequence of relationships between companies organized to distribute the goods on regional or global markets, called productive chain or global value chains, and the geographic concentration of firms in a specific territory, called industrial agglomeration or cluster. On this way, globalization and regionalization can run together because how global is the consumption of a specific good, bigger is the tendency to concentrate complementary companies to produce it. But the geographic production concentration itself is not enough to increase the competitiveness of the agglomerated companies. It is necessary the articulation of collective actions to get direction and coordination to the group of companies in order to increase the competitiveness that are called governance. To contribute with this question, this paper proposes the development of a model of governance analysis and a methodology to promote the competitive insertion of clusters in global value chains. To achieve this goal the research begins with the characterization of industrial agglomerations in terms of products produced or based in a specific territory. In the sequence some aspects related to the governance of industrial agglomerations are acknowledged in order to identify the baseelements that will be used to propose a governance model. With the elements identified is proposed an initial governance analysis model. This model was preliminary applied in three mature industrial clusters that are actually inserted in global value chains. After this preliminary application, it is proposed a final governance model and a step-by-step methodology for their implementation. Finally to evaluate the applicability of the developing model and his methodology, the model is partially applied in an industrial agglomeration. In the end, based on this case study, are presented conclusions and recommendations related to the model, the methodology and the case study developed in this work.

abstract: The problem concerning the access to energy has become an increasingly acute matter of concern in low-income areas. Currently an estimated 1.2 billion people don't have access to energy (IEA, 2014). Following the declaration of 2012 as "The International Year of Sustainable Energy for All" by the United Nations General Assembly (UNDP, 2014), this alarming situation of energy poverty has resulted in the creation of new partnerships between governments, NGOs (Non-Governmental Organization), and large multi-national corporations. This study is focused on the evaluation of sustainability of a development project in Gutu, Zimbabwe that is initiated by Schneider Electric Corporation's BipBop Program. This program aims to provide access to energy via photo-voltaic cells and battery kits for daily use. It is expected that this project will have a high impact on sustainable development, and creation of value, which in turn is expected to allow participation in global supply chains. The results gathered from the analysis show that the development project to be piloted in Gutu, Zimbabwe is likely to have a "high impact on sustainability". The project is therefore considered an effective sustainable development project that aims to promote, and develop local Zimbabwean markets through increased transactions and the creation of sustainable supply chains that are expected to recruit Zimbabwe into the global value chains. / Dissertation/Thesis / Original copies of all the figures / Masters Thesis Global Technology and Development 2014

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo investigar os efeitos trazidos pelo padrão 4C para a produção de café no Brasil. Mais especificamente analisar quais tipos de melhorias (upgrading) foram trazidas aos produtores que adotaram o padrão 4C. As melhorias podem ser classificadas em econômicas, sociais e ambientais. Para isso foi utilizada uma abordagem metodológica qualitativa de estudo de caso. A primeira etapa da pesquisa correspondeu a uma revisão sistemática de literatura, em que foi possível formular proposições. Em seguida foram realizadas entrevistas com agentes da cadeia de valor do café - meso-instituições, cooperativas e produtores. Através de entrevistas, análise de documentos e reportagens sobre o assunto publicados em jornais e revistas especializadas, foram levantados dados que foram analisados com o auxílio do software de análise qualitativa Atlas TI. Os resultados indicam que grande parte das melhorias podem ser caracterizadas como upgrading ambiental. Além disso, os resultados mostram que a adoção do padrão 4C fez com que os produtores organizassem melhores seus processos de produção e tivessem maior controle das atividades relacionados ao cultivo de café com padrão 4C. / The present work had as objective to investigate the effects brought by the 4C standard for Brazilian coffee agriculture. More specifically, analyze what types of improvements (upgradings) brought to producers that adopt the 4C standard. Improvements can be classified as economic, social and environmental. For this, a qualitative methodological approach of case studies was used. The first stage of the research corresponded to a systematic literature review, in which it was possible at the end to formulate the propositions. Interviews were then conducted with various agents within the coffee value chain - meso-institutions, cooperatives and producers. Through interviews, document analysis and articles published in specialized journals and journals, data were collected that were analyzed using the qualitative analysis software Atlas TI. The results indicate that most of the improvements can be characterized as environmental upgrading. In addition, the results show that the adoption of the 4C standard made farmers better organize their production processes and have more control of activities related to 4C coffee cultivation.