Transnational labour migration and the offshoring of knowledge-intensive business services within global production networks: The case of a German automotive company in Turkey

Abstract

Even though labour has been an important research topic in the field of economic geography for many years, up to now little has been known about transnational labour migration of highly skilled employees in global production networks. This article examines the role and the impact of highly skilled (re-)migrants of Turkish origin who studied and/or worked in Germany for several years in knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) offshoring. To do so we analyse the empirical case of a German automotive company that operates as a lead firm within a global automotive production network. The company has insourced enterprise resource planning (ERP) software services from their suppliers in Germany and offshored those to a captive offshore service centre in Istanbul (Turkey). Based on our empirical material, we found that highly skilled (re-)migrants of Turkish origin are used as boundary spanners to efficiently and effectively manage the knowledge transfers from the onshore organizations to the service centre in Istanbul. Thereby, highly skilled (re-)migrants of Turkish origin help to mitigate resistance and facilitate the dis- and re-embedding of knowledge within the offshoring process. The exploration of highly skilled labour migration from a transnational perspective contributes to the discussion about the role of labour in global production networks.

Highly skilled (re‐)migrants in multinational enterprises: Facilitators of cross‐border knowledge transfers

“…It could be demonstrated that the life paths of individuals have a decisive influence on whether actors possess the abilities and motivation to foster cross‐border knowledge transfers (Faulconbridge, 2014; Felin & Foss, 2005; Minbaeva, 2013). This study indicates that highly skilled migrants who are embedded in more than one society (Furusawa & Brewster, 2015; Müller & Franz, 2019) are able to facilitate cross‐border knowledge transfer in MNEs by creating social proximity and bridging institutional distances between company locations.…”

“…Beyond their professional expertise, highly skilled (re-)migrants of Turkish origin are mostly fluent in German and Turkish. They are able to understand the different culturalinstitutional contexts in Germany and Turkey, which reflects their dual societal embeddedness (Müller & Franz, 2019).…”

“…Coe & Bunnell, 2003; Saxenian, 2006; Williams, 2007). They are usually embedded within the different cultural and institutional contexts of their home and host countries, which reflects their specific ‘ dual’ societal embeddedness (Müller & Franz, 2019). Societal embeddedness describes ‘the importance of where an actor comes from, considering the societal (i.e., cultural, political, etc.)…”

Küreselleşmeni̇n Ekonomi̇k Coğrafya Alanina Kavramsal Yansimalari

“…Kimileri küreselleşmenin seçkin bir azınlığa yaradığını söylemekte ve Bauman'ın Victor Keegan'dan aktardığına göre söz konusu düşünceye sahip olanlar küreselleşmeyi yeni bir haydutluk biçimi olarak adlandırmaktadırlar (Bauman, 2017 (Henn, 2012, Bathelt ve Henn, 2014, Bathelt ve Li, 2013. Türkiye üzerine yapılan bir araştırmada da görüldüğü üzere, sermaye akışkanlığı paranın yanı sıra kurumsal, kültürel, teknolojik anlamda da bir bilgi transferine kapı aralamaktadır (Müller ve Franz, 2019). Dolayısıyla küreselleşmenin seyri, yukarıda bahsedilen küresel üretim ağı, küresel değer zinciri ve doğrudan yabancı yatırımlar gibi mekânsal etkileşime dayanan konseptlerin de geleceğini de tayin edebilecektir.…”

Evolution Characteristics and Regional Roles’ Influencing Factors of Interprovincial Population Mobility Network in China

“…Previous research on population flow mainly focuses on how people move among different countries, such as immigration [4][5][6][7], travel abroad [8], or refugee migration [9,10]. Additionally, they also focus on how residents float around the country.…”