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The interdependence of regional trade and production networks has important implications for national prosperity, regional stability and the internationalization of production. We ask: What are the locational patterns of trade in value-added in East Asia and how are these patterns changing over time? The disintermediation of value chains and the externalization of business activity create hubs of capability and extend value chains between countries. We adopt input-output techniques to analyze the evolution of production networks in East Asia over the period 1990-2005 from a value chain perspective. A high density of cross-border interaction is reported alongside changing geographic dynamics, and an informal integration derived from intermediates trade in value-addition. The locational interdependence of developed and less-developed countries across the region leverages on the heterogeneity of locationspecific advantages within the region.

In this paper we report on how middle managers in a Russian subsidiary translate empowerment, a ‘western’ management concept imposed by the Finnish headquarters. The analysis shows that in their discursive struggles these middle managers mobilised proverbs to address competing discourses that reflected imported and local ideals of good management. We advance organisational translation research by highlighting the value of proverbs as an understudied discursive resource in translation activities on the ground. The paper also examines the dual role of middle managers as both translators and implementers of an imported and imposed concept in a multinational corporation. Translation work carried out by middle managers in multinationals has received limited attention in previous research. Finally, by bringing together the discursive and the interlingual, we join recent efforts to broaden the definition of translation to encompass translation work undertaken in multilingual organisations.