From Hierarchies to Ecosystems: Technological Architecture and Organizational Orchestrators in China’s EV Sectors

• In Event: Economic Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Roundtable 10: Theorizing Organizations

Abstract

This paper examines the organizational transformation of the automotive industry in the transition to the electric vehicle (EV) era. I argue that the creative destruction driven by EV technologies has generated coordination challenges for traditional pyramid-shaped OEM–supplier networks. As multi-layered architectural innovation increases cross-firm interdependence, established hierarchical supply structures become misaligned with new coordination requirements. In response, decentralized and interconnected ecosystem forms have emerged as alternative modes of inter-organizational governance. Drawing on a longitudinal case study of China’s EV industry over the past two decades, I identify two interacting processes that drive ecosystem formation: technological orchestration led by bottleneck architectural suppliers, and infrastructural orchestration led by local governments. These findings contribute to the study of industrial political economy from a techno-social and organizational perspective.

Author

• Yuanhang Zhu, Yale University