Knowledge Collaboration in Global Value Chains: A Comparison of Supplier Selection between a Forerunner and a Latecomer

Do forerunners in global value chains (GVCs) select supplier in knowledge collaboration in a different way from latecomers? There are many factors in the selection criteria in co-creating GVC value and enhancing a focal firm’s competitiveness. However, little has been revealed on how firms select their GVC suppliers from the knowledge embeddedness perspective. Furthermore, latecomers and forerunners have gaps in knowledge that may result in different weights on the same selection elements. Based on the knowledge embeddedness theory, we compare the selection criteria of a latecomer (Huawei) with a forerunner (Apple). Specifically, we identify 129 Apple or Huawei global suppliers in 2018 and collect 144,496 patents of these suppliers. Using the data of patents and the tracking of backward citations from 2013 to 2017, we find that, as a latecomer, Huawei depends more on criteria of structural hole positions in GVC knowledge network, knowledge base, and scientific knowledge than Apple does. We further conduct scenario analysis to understand Huawei’s decoupling possibility from GVCs under tech cold war.