Technological catch-up by component suppliers in the Pakistani automotive industry: A four-dimensional analysis

• Published in: Industrial marketing management Vol. 50; pp. 40 - 50
• Main Authors: Khan, Zaheer, Nicholson, John D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Elsevier Inc 01.10.2015; Elsevier Sequoia S.A
• Subjects: Automobile industry; Automotive parts industry; B2B relationships; Catch-up; Critical realism; Dimensional analysis; Emerging markets; Joint ventures; Knowledge transfer; Pakistan; Relationship marketing; Studies; Vendor supplier relations; Pakistan; B2B relationships; Critical realism; Catch-up; Knowledge transfer; Emerging markets
• ISSN: 0019-8501; 1873-2062
• DOI: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.05.023

This qualitative paper reports findings of an investigation into buyer–supplier interaction in the Pakistani auto-parts industry. We conceptualize technological catch-up by Pakistani suppliers in four relatio-spatial dimensions with international joint ventures (IJVs) as mediating gateways between dimensions. A critical realist lens is deployed to connect macro-level constructs with micro-level concepts and expose the interplay between agency (micro-level) and structurally constraining (macro-level) conditions inherent in a late-liberalizing emerging economy. Key findings are that catch-up occurs in four temporally overlapping dimensions in which, different macro-level governance mechanisms and firm-level orientations transform and affect the degree of catch-up. The findings support an optimum pathway for catch-up from an apprentice like transactional state in Dimension One to a fourth dimension in which relational interaction with foreign suppliers becomes lightly mediated by the IJV's gateway. •The paper presents a multi-level analysis of technological catch-up from the perspective of emerging market suppliers.•The paper explores how the dual networks of a developed economy IJV affect catch-up by emerging market suppliers.•Findings show how different dyadic relational and transactional stances in different spatial dimensions affect catch-up.•Using a critical realist lens, the paper presents a challenge to dichotomous agency/structure perspectives exploring catch-up.