An integrative typology of global strategy and global value chains: the management and organization of cross‐border activities

We contend that a synthesis between the literatures on global strategy and global value chains (GVCs) is mutually beneficial. A typology of four themes—managed cross-border activities, network optimization, bottom-up upgrading, and strategic coevolution—illustrates the underlying concepts and mechanisms that these two approaches share in common. Our integrative typology provides an analytical framework to understand the interplay between the statics of GVC governance and the dynamics of firm strategy. Firm-level actions are a key factor in effective GVC-level policy making, and our framework provides a roadmap to analyze how major disruptions, such as digitalization and pandemics, affect the symbiotic relationships between GVCs and firm strategy.