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Heritage and Satellite Manufacturing: Firm-level Competitiveness and the Management of Risk in Global Production Networks

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  • Chloe A. Billing
  • John R. Bryson

Abstract

This article explores the role that product- and firm-centered heritage plays as an advantage-creating resource and competitive dynamic in contributing to minimizing risks for firms in global production networks (GPN). Research on the management of risk has been identified as critical for developing an understanding of the underlying determinants of GPN. In the satellite industry, key risks relate to launch, extreme conditions in outer space, and challenges concerning repair. These risks are minimized by the development and management of heritage. Heritage is a reputational asset founded on proven technology embedded in products and/or firm-based relationships that have values or associations that accumulate and are passed down over time. The risks associated with the space sector are extreme; however, heritage also plays an important but unacknowledged role in other economic sectors, including shipping, nuclear energy, rail, medical technologies, and aviation. The article adds to the economic geography literature in three ways. First, it highlights the central role that regulators and insurance providers play in defining market imperatives for GPN. Second, it identifies and explores heritage as a reputational asset, providing both a source of competitiveness and a competitive dynamic influencing firm-based routines and interfirm relationships. Third, it provides the first in-depth analysis of the satellite industry in the context of heritage—a sector that impacts on the everyday activities of government agencies, citizens, and firms. This analysis of heritage is based on eighty in-depth interviews with representatives from across the UK space sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Chloe A. Billing & John R. Bryson, 2019. "Heritage and Satellite Manufacturing: Firm-level Competitiveness and the Management of Risk in Global Production Networks," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 95(5), pages 423-441, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:recgxx:v:95:y:2019:i:5:p:423-441
    DOI: 10.1080/00130095.2019.1589370
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    Cited by:

    1. Philip Völlers & Thomas Neise & Philip Verfürth & Martin Franz & Felix Bücken & Kim Philip Schumacher, 2023. "Revisiting risk in the Global Production Network approach 2.0 - Towards a performative risk narrative perspective," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 55(8), pages 1838-1858, November.
    2. Mariachiara Barzotto & Lisa De Propris, 2021. "The value of firm linkages in the age of industry 4.0: a qualitative comparative analysis," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 67(2), pages 245-272, October.
    3. Mohammed Musa Bayero, 2023. "IT Infrastructure, Knowledge Management and Firm Competitiveness: Exploring Mediating Role of IT Outsourcing in Nigeria," International Journal of Global Business and Competitiveness, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 43-58, June.
    4. Henry Wai-chung, 2023. "From Regional to Global and Back Again? A Future Agenda for Regional Evolution and (De)Globalized Production Networks in Regional Studies," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2312, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised May 2023.

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