Lise Lillebrygfjeld Halse

The role of clusters in global maritime value networks

Purpose – The paper aims to explore the effects of geographic proximity among firms in value networks on service provision and service exchange. Design/methodology/approach – A case study of the offshore supply vessel shipbuilding and shipping cluster in the North-Western More region of Norway with focus on the new ship contracting process. Findings – The case study reveals how service provision and service exchange are facilitated by geographical proximity among firms. Research limitations/implications – Study findings should be validated in further research, and the effects of other forms of proximity (cultural, social, cognitive and institutional) on co-creation of value also need to be considered. Considering the role of operant resources in developing competence in clusters and wider value networks offers interesting opportunities for further research. Originality/value – This study proposes an alternative view of co-creation of value in value networks and responds to calls for research on how value ...

Backsourcing and Knowledge Re-integration: A Case Study

Recently, the interest in the phenomenon of backsourcing has increased, which has been inspired by awareness of the real costs of global outsourcing and the importance of keeping manufacturing in-house or in geographical proximity. However, backsourcing research is still in its infancy. In particular, this strategy requires a successful knowledge re-integration process when organizations employ backsourcing as their new sourcing strategy, which is addressed in this paper. To expand the understanding of backsourcing, a literature review of this phenomenon is given, and based on findings from a case company in the Norwegian shipbuilding industry, we present critical success factors for knowledge re-integration when bringing manufacturing back in-house.

Implementation of Lean Project Planning: A Knowledge Transfer Perspective

During the last decades, the Norwegian shipbuilding industry has successfully delivered complex and customized offshore vessels for the global market. This industry has historically been characterized by highly skilled workmanship that makes flexible adaptations and improvements in the production process possible, which has been a competitive advantage of the industry. Nevertheless, more complex projects, competitive pressure and globally distributed value chains, call for more formalized planning and cross learning between shipbuilding projects. Consequently, shipyards in the industry have started to focus more on structured planning tools such as Lean Project Planning (LPP). In this paper, we consider the implementation of LPP from a knowledge transfer perspective, with emphasize on the role of the context in the implementation process.

Global Shift-Back's: A Strategy for Reviving Manufacturing Competences

Global businesses base their sourcing operations and manufacturing decisions primarily on financial principles and metrics. What is often disregarded is the strategic value of domestic locations and contextual tacit knowledge. However, recent empirical work on knowledge flows shows that proximity is crucial. The risk of losing knowledge and important competencies developed through generations within companies and value chains needs to be considered when developing a global sourcing strategy. This chapter sheds light on how global shift-backs, through backshoring are seen to affect organizations that are located in a high-cost country. Based on interviews with managers and key personnel within a specific industry, we explore how companies preserve innovative capabilities when considering closing down (captive) offshore centers or when embarking on a backshoring strategy. The implications derived from the case offers valuable insights into how organizational capabilities could be restored when companies bring manufacturing back.

Managing reversed (global) outsourcing – the role of knowledge, technology and time

Purpose Against the recent trend toward reversed global outsourcing, the purpose of this paper is to provide insights on how the internal process can be handled once the decision on reverse outsourcing has been made. The authors focus in particular on in-house knowledge and technology requirements. Design/methodology/approach To explore the topic at hand, the researchers conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with five companies operating in two different industry sectors. Findings Reversed outsourcing accentuates challenges relating to retained knowledge. When embarking on reversed outsourcing, companies need to acknowledge the effort to revive and renew capabilities in order to perform technical operations and advanced manufacturing production. Research limitations/implications The research is based on case studies in a Scandinavian context. Further empirical research from other high-cost locations is needed to validate the findings. Originality/value Explorative qualitative research is scarce in the emergent literature on reversed outsourcing. The paper provides practical and theoretical insights into how to handle diminishing knowledge in companies that are re-evaluating their sourcing strategies. It adds a knowledge dimension within the emergent literature. A framework for key success factors and propositions is also provided.

Global Value Chains in Shipbuilding: Governance and Knowledge Exchange

Over the last decades, the Norwegian shipbuilding industry has become increasingly globalized, with offshoring of production of to low cost locations. Globally dispersed production of complex and customized ships has proven to be challenging with respect to coordination of activities and exchange of knowledge. The paper investigates how different governance alternatives affect knowledge exchange in the global value chains of two shipbuilding groups. The findings indicate that vertical integration facilitates coordination and knowledge transfer to foreign shipyards. However, reverse knowledge transfer through these linkages seems to be limited. This may have implications for the future innovativeness of this industry.

Implementing Lean in Engineer-to-Order Industry: A Case Study

There is generally agreed that lean pull production principles like Kanban, ConWIP or takt time are successful tools within repetitive production where with one-piece flow, where each job produces exactly what the next job needs, when it is needed and with no inventory in between the stations. To our knowledge, very little research is done on implementation of these concepts within Engineer-to-Order (ETO) environment. This paper presents a case study on implementing the three principles within a Norwegian company that builds complex and highly customized vessels for the offshore industry.

Kapittel 19: Kunnskapsbygging og backshoring

The backshoring phenomenon has recently prompted wide attention among academics and practitioners in Western countries. Based on case studies in the Norwegian offshore cluster, we provide insights on how knowledge-building in production is affected by advanced automation and technology implementation, when embarking on backshoring. The intent of this study is to explore potential knowledgerelated challenges that businesses may encounter when production return to its home

The IoT Technological Maturity Assessment Scorecard: A Case Study of Norwegian Manufacturing Companies

The accelerated use of technologies has led to what is termed the fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0. It is based on machinery, robots, production lines, items and operators connected via the Internet to each other and to back-end systems, as a part of the Internet of Things (IoT). In this paper, we propose a new IoT Technological Maturity Assessment Scorecard that can assist manufacturers in adopting IoT-technologies. To demonstrate the Scorecard, we present a case study applying the scorecard in four Norwegian manufacturing companies.

Getting Ready for the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Innovation in Small and Medium Sized Companies

Companies are currently preparing for the fourth industrial revolution, which is envisioned to radically change manufacturing processes, logistics and business models in global manufacturing networks. Previous research have emphasized the need to respond to the changing landscape of the digital economy in dynamic and innovative ways. This study aims at exploring how small and medium-sized companies are prepared to meet this opportunity and challenge. In order to do this we have applied insights from innovation theories and empirical findings from eight companies that are part of two industrial clusters. The findings in this study indicate that even though most of the case companies have ambitions to position themselves in a new digital landscape, they prepare themselves differently. We see that organizations that has progressed furthest in implementing Industry 4.0 related concepts are the ones that make actively use of their external network in cooperation and sharing knowledge. These companies also have managed the balance between exploration and exploitation internally, where employees are both engaged in efficient manufacturing of existing products and product development. Consequently, we claim that both openness and organizational ambidexterity is vital for successful implementation of Industry 4.0.