HWR Research Competence Center

In a globalised world marked by multiple crises – including climate change, armed conflicts and pandemics – the HWR Research Competence Centre ‘Challenges and Resilience of Global Supply and Value Chains’ develops new concepts for research, politics, companies and international organisations.

Affiliated with the Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR), we bring together expertise from scholars in sociology, criminology, security management, business administration, economics, political science and law to conduct research on various interrelated aspects of supply and value chains. We are funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Project members from the HWR Berlin: 

Prof. Dr. Silke Bustamante, Prof. Dr. Tobias Börger, Prof. Dr. Eckhard Hein, Prof. Dr. Daniela Hunold, Prof. Dr. Dmitry Ivanov, Prof. Dr. Matthias Kötter, Prof. Dr. Vincenz Leuschner, Prof. Dr. Stefanie Lorenzen, Prof. Dr. Andrea Pelzeter, Prof. Dr. Markus Schultze-Kraft, Prof. Dr. Martina Sproll, Prof. Dr. Christina Teipen

Project partners:

• Prof. Dr. Bruno de Conti; University of Campinas, Brazil
• Prof. Dr. Praveen Jha; Jawaharlal Nehru University; New Delhi, India
• Prof. Dr. Premilla D’Cruz; Indian Institute of Management; Ahmedabad, India
• Prof. Dr. Ermesto Noronha; Indian Institute of Management; Ahmedabad, India
• Prof. Dr. Ben Scully, University of the Witswatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

What motivates you to conduct this research?

Global supply and value chains are a central element of the global economy – and at the same time a magnifying glass for many of the major challenges of our time: ecological crises, social inequalities, geopolitical tensions and supply risks. Crises repeatedly highlight how vulnerable these systems are. We are motivated by the question of how resilience emerges in global value creation processes – and how economic efficiency can be combined with ecological, social and legal responsibility. This is precisely what we investigate from different disciplinary perspectives – in a team that brings theory and practice together.

What is the starting point?

At the HWR Berlin, we have worked on various aspects of global supply and value chains in different research projects over the years – from social and economic upgrading to supply chain law, digital resilience and control. With the competence centre, we are now systematically pooling this knowledge – both theoretically and methodologically.

To this end, 13 professors from seven disciplines have joined forces across campuses and disciplines – from economics, law, social sciences and political science. Many of them have been researching this topic for years, while others are bringing completely new perspectives and ideas to the table. Together with international partners in Brazil, India and South Africa, we are creating a framework that allows us to rethink global supply chains in all their complexity with this mix of experience and fresh perspectives – and to develop innovative research approaches together.

What are the specific goals of the project?

Our research initiative pursues several goals: We want to develop new concepts for comprehensively assessing the resilience of global supply and value chains – economically, socially, ecologically and legally. At the same time, we analyse how different crises – such as pandemics, geopolitical tensions or climate change – specifically affect these chains. A central concern for us is the further development of existing theories and methods in an interdisciplinary framework. From this, we derive practical recommendations for action and create structures for promoting young academics, for example by offering qualifications for doctoral students.

How does the project team intend to achieve these goals?

Good research requires intelligent questions – and sometimes a suitcase. This autumn, several colleagues from our team will be travelling to the countries featured in our case studies, while our international partners conduct interviews in Brazil, India and South Africa.

Our work is divided into five research clusters, in which we examine global supply and production relationships from very different angles. We combine theoretical approaches with empirical research – such as case studies, interviews, discourse analyses and simulation models – to bring together different perspectives in order to better understand complex global dynamics and develop new solutions.

What have you discovered so far?

We are currently in the midst of preparing our field research – and in many areas we are already well underway. Initial interviews are underway or about to start in several clusters, while in other areas we are already analysing texts and political debates. The conceptual work is well advanced, and the close cooperation within the team in particular is constantly bringing new perspectives to light – for example, on the interplay between crises, regulation, corporate strategies and social reactions. It is precisely this complexity that makes the research so exciting.

What surprised you?

What really surprised us was how fundamentally different professional perspectives are – even when it comes to terms that seem self-evident at first glance. Right from the start, there were intense discussions about why we were talking about “supply chains” and “value chains” in the first place – and what the difference actually is. For some, this was immediately clear, for others it was not at all. These different understandings reflect the diversity of our professional backgrounds – and at the same time highlight the importance of mutual exchange. This is precisely how something new emerges.

What contribution does the project make to sustainability?

Sustainability is a key theme that runs through all clusters of the project – for example, in relation to ecological resilience, legal due diligence or social dynamics. Sustainability is the focus of Cluster E, which examines how companies – particularly those in the medical technology sector – can make global supply chains more transparent, assessable and ultimately more sustainable, for example through participatory mapping, indicator systems and new business models.
Contact

Department of Police and Security Management
Prof. Dr. Hartmut Aden
hartmut.aden(at)hwr-berlin.de