Global manufacturing businesses manage a flexible use of time and\nspace, in order to take the most of different manufacturing locations: thus,\ncompanies are pressed to search for manufacturing solutions that can\ncombine both manufacturing time and spatial requirements, in order to\ncontrol and guard the most convenient global areas with own strategic\nmanufacturing units.\nBusinesses face competition also by associating with other businesses,\ncreating a competitive network by stressing many and intense relationships:\ntwo or more companies achieve mutual advantage by giving up the absolute\ncontrol they held over certain business processes, to exploit common benefits\ngenerated by their association.\nThis realize a radical re-thinking of their whole organization: through a\nmassive recourse to outsourcing strategies ââ?¬â?? with the aim to take the best\nfrom the market by developing complex mechanisms aimed to implementing\nthe competitive relationships either ââ?¬Ë?individuallyââ?¬â?¢ or in association with other\nbusinesses (suppliers, distributors, or even competitors) ââ?¬â?? internal skills\nundergo a progressive reduction until the ââ?¬Ë?core businessââ?¬â?¢ remains under strict\ncontrol.\nThe shared activities can be realized in interfirm business units, representing\nthe smallest part of a cooperative network.\nIn this paper we examine the fundamental international literature on alliances\nand network, finding a new perspective on interfirm business units\nplacement and performance evaluation.
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