From servant to master: Power repositioning of emerging-market companies in global value chains

In this article, I analyze how emerging-market firms upgrade their capabilities. Complementing the upgrading-through-technological capabilities view, I propose a power-repositioning argument, whereby local firms improve their power position through taking more control of the chain as part of the upgrading process. In particular, I argue that international expansion toward downstream activities enhances the power position of emerging-market supplier firms in globally integrated buyer-driven industries. This process enables local firms to break away from low-value-added positions within the value chain and exert more power within the governance structure of global value chains.