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Lubricating Globalisation: Logistics Service Providers, Transnational Production Networks and Prospects for Labour Organisation
Based at the Department of Geography, Queen Mary, University of London , this research is a three-year funded CASE studentship by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), involving collaboration with the International Transport Workers Federation. It commenced in October 2004.
Competitive advantage sought through cost reduction and enhanced services has resulted in many corporations pursuing strategies which involve the re-distribution of production activities through the relocation of their own manufacturing operations to locations with lower labour costs and/or are developing ever more complex networks with suppliers and producers through contracting out and outsourcing arrangements on an international or global scale. Progressively more attention is being placed upon the logistics process and it is becoming a central concern within many corporations. Correspondingly, strategic decision-making within organisations is now focusing on the management and control of logistics services as a source of enhancing further their competitive advantage in the global economy.
Logistics service providers play a vital role in the movement of goods, particularly as the complexity of supply and production arrangements increases. Trends within the logistics sector itself are resulting in the emergence of a number of powerful and significant logistics service providers with a global reach through their own logistics networks. The interaction of such logistics service providers with suppliers, producers and lead organisations in transnational production networks through various contracts raises important issues around the types of logistics services provided and demanded, their implications for employment and skill requirements within the sector, and the increasing necessity for re-regulation of the sector at a global level. Additionally, there is a need for further understanding of the forms of relationships evolving between actors within such arrangements including implications for employment practices and industrial relations.
The research takes a case study approach focusing on corporate headquarters situated in Europe and logistics activities in two key nodes; Chicago, USA and Hong Kong, China. It will also incorporate interviews with other sector players and competitors, trade unions organising in the transport and logistics sector and key officials within international institutions including the ILO, UNCTAD, OECD, NAFTA and European Commission.
To date, research into transnational production networks has tended to focus on production rather than the contribution of producer service providers within such networks. As such, this research is located within the context of a number of key academic debates. Most importantly, the growth and significance of logistics will be explored in the context of debates about economic globalisation, networked capitalism, global commodity chains and the importance of producer services.
It will contribute to the ESRC’s themes Economic Performance and Development and Work and Organisation. It will pay particular attention to the implications of logistics operations for the geography of employment policy and practice and what this means for trade union organisation. These are key research priorities identified by the funding institution, Economic and Social Research Council which is the UK’s prominent research body for economic research. Additionally in line with the collaborative nature of the research with the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), these are also key aspects that the ITF wants to be addressed in the research.
The ITF is a global union federation. It is a federation of 621 transport trade unions in 137 countries, representing around 5 million workers. The ITF organises workers in ships, ports, railways, road freight and passenger transport, inland waterways, fisheries, tourism and civil aviation. It represents workers’ interests in international bodies that take decisions affecting jobs, employment conditions, or safety. It also takes up the interests of transport workers with other international bodies such as the OECD, IMF, the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation.
Anyone with interests in these areas or whose organisation wishes to participate in the research should contact:
Paula Hamilton
Email:
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Department of Geography
Queen Mary, University of London
Mile End Road
LONDON E1 4NS
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