Abstract
The Indian auto sector as a whole and the commercial vehicle industry in India have grown rapidly ever since inception in the 1920s. This study aimed to determine the patterns in the growth of the Indian origin firms in the commercial vehicle industry. Thus, by deconstructing the longitudinal timeline for the period ranging from 1928 to 2022 and developing case studies of six firms, we document their evolution process. The findings reveal the increasingly dominant role played by the firms and the trends associated with the industry. Specifically, it was observed that all strategic actions were prompted by a need to access technology or fulfil regulatory environment policies by the incumbent firms and to enter a new country or a new segment in it by the international players. Furthermore, as the industry grew at a rapid rate and correspondingly did the power of the Indian origin firms, the mode of governance evolved from mere licensing to at times hostile acquisitions, suggesting a shift in the bargaining power. Observed also was the simultaneous pursuance of multiple modes of governance through multi-party strategic alliances, as opposed to earlier times where the options were pursued sequentially.
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The data collected and analysed during the current study are available with the corresponding author and can be made available on reasonable request.
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The authors would like to express their gratitude to all the contributors, reviewers, JGBC editorial team and the editor-in-chief of the journal for their sincere efforts in reviewing this article. The comments, critical but always fair, at every step helped us further refine our work and present a vastly improved version of our original work. For this, we are truly indebted to the anonymous reviewers and the JGBC editorial team as in the absence of the same, the paper would not have significantly improved its scope and quality.
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AB has prepared the original draft of the manuscript, RP has added the various academic elements (industry evolution, strategic options pursued by firms, implications of the study) including the formatting and all revision comments that were incorporated in the manuscript.
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Bhat, A., Prabhudesai, R. From Side Props to Key Actors: The Evolution of Indian Origin Commercial Vehicle Firms from Periphery to Prominence. JGBC 17 (Suppl 1), 68–75 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42943-022-00066-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42943-022-00066-8