Reconfiguring external and internal networks for resilience, agility and ambidexterity under geopolitical volatility
Umair Tanveer, Thinh Gia Hoang, Shamaila Ishaq, Stefan GoldPurpose
Geopolitical tensions and economic policy volatility are compelling multinational firms to redesign both external supply chain networks and their intra-organisational networks of plants, subsidiaries and governance. This study examines how intra-organisational networks are redesigned in response to geopolitically induced reshaping of external supply chain networks and how this redesign enables resilience, agility and ambidexterity.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a qualitative multiple-case design with three longitudinal focal cases and five supporting cases. The data comprise 58 semi-structured interviews, supplemented by secondary documents to reconstruct case trajectories over time.
Findings
Geopolitically driven external network reshaping heightens dependence and power asymmetry through concentrated bottlenecks, low substitutability, and compliance-gated access. Firms respond through buffering, bridging, and selective internalisation, but these moves become effective only when internal decision rights, subsidiary mandates, and integration capacity are redesigned.
Originality/value
The study conceptualises external and intra-organisational network restructuring as a coupled, dependence-driven process under geopolitical volatility. It extends Resource Dependence Theory by showing that dependence-management strategies require internal re-architecture to become executable, thereby reframing resilience, agility, and ambidexterity as outcomes of organisational redesign rather than static capabilities.