The politics of quality and the reshaping of global production chains: the case of renewable battery manufacturing

Keywords: economic restructure, global production chains, politics of quality, Industry 4.0, value capture
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 11:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 12:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 41

Abstract

The COVID black swan event created a global ‘pause’ – as communities went into lock down, whole industry sectors shut down and global supply chains were disrupted. This came with a rising awareness of devastating consequences of unfettered consumption and the realization that novel virus spillover events were caused by human-wild animal interactions that resulted from environmental degradation and climate change. A slightly different world emerged from this ‘pause’, where accelerated adoption of Industry 4.0, strengthening of local supply chains and greater attention to carbon-reduced production are transforming markets. Commodity markets are of particular interest, as some traditionally price-taker are shifting to price-maker markets dictated by product quality. Knowledge is still limited on how this will restructure production chains or create opportunities for new industries to emerge, particularly those focused on green technologies.
This paper explores the findings of 20 stakeholder interviews selected for their insights into the emerging battery industry in Australia, Europe, and Japan to better understand how demand for ‘carbon-zero’ resource production and advanced manufacturing are reshaping global commodity, battery chemistry and manufacturing markets. Drawing on the ‘politics of quality’ concept, frequently used in agriculture, this paper examines how firms create and capture value to increase productivity and sell competitively to end-producers, including Panasonic, BASF, Tesla, and Mercedes Benz, who demand low carbon production across their value chain. Findings show that technology and ‘politics of quality’ are reshaping production networks, leveling the playing field between multinationals and small business and changing who has access to consumer markets.