Global supply chains, institutional constraints and firm level adaptations: A comparative study of Chinese service outsourcing firms

Zhu, J ORCID: 0000-0001-7891-0491 and Morgan, G (2018) Global supply chains, institutional constraints and firm level adaptations: A comparative study of Chinese service outsourcing firms Human Relations, 71 (4). pp. 510-535. ISSN 0018-7267, 1741-282X

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Abstract

The focus on inter-firm governance relations within global supply chains analysis has left social relations at workplaces as a ‘black box’ and relatively underdiscussed. Through an in-depth, comparative study of two Chinese IT service providers for Japanese clients, this article explores how the work and employment relations in the supplier firm are shaped by the institutional contexts of both the supplier firm and the lead firm as well as by the nature of the global supply chain in which they are located. The article shows how the intersection of global supply chains and local institutional environments creates potential gaps between what is required by the lead firms and what is feasible within the supplier firms. Therefore, managers in the supplier firm have to negotiate ways of managing these expectations in the light of their own institutional constraints and possibilities. We identify three forms of adaptation made by the suppliers that we describe as wholesale adaptation, ceremonial adaptation and minimal adaptation to lead firms’ expectations. We argue that these interactions and forms of adaptation can be extended and explored more generally in global supply chains and provide the basis for a fruitful integration of institutional approaches with global supply chain analysis.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	3509 Transportation, Logistics and Supply Chains, 35 Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services, 3507 Strategy, Management and Organisational Behaviour
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	18 Sep 2020 07:42
Last Modified:	30 Jan 2026 14:06
DOI:	10.1177/0018726717713830
Related Websites:	Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3101608
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