An Empirical Typology of Global Production Networks : Exploring Opportunities for Reconfiguration and Calibration

Most typologies of production networks either provide a description of which subunits networks are composed or of their structural-geographic features. These typologies allow to map, delayer and diagnose networks and this way manage complexity. However, they usually do not hold an empirical answer to the question which steps could be taken to improve a production network’s performance. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to provide a holistic, empirically-grounded typology of production networks from which performance-improving measures can be deduced. We draw on a combination of clustering methodology and statistical tests to analyze the survey data we collected. We cluster networks based on their different network capabilities and explore existing differences in structure and performance. We identify five types of differently focused manufacturing networks: (1) externally focused networks, (2) unfocused networks, (3) lowcapability networks, (4) internally focused networks, and (5) all-round networks. Based on our analyses, we suggest two types of network improvement strategies: Reconfiguration, i.e. the change to a structurally similar but higher-performing network type; and calibration, i.e., targeted capability adjustments within a given network type. To inform managerial action, we explore improvement potential for each network type. On the conceptual level, we deviate from the atomistic approach, reducing complexity not by asking “what subunits does a network consist of?” but “what can a network do?”