Author: Andrea Szalavetz

In: Post-Communist Economies, 11 Mar 2025

DOI: 10.1080/14631377.2025.2470007

Abstract

Analysing qualitative data obtained from experts and technology startups in Central and Eastern Europe, we evaluate Meyer and Peng’s proposition about the fading distinctiveness of the CEE region. Assessing founders’ entrepreneurial journeys, practices, and problems encountered, we find that rather than being CEE- specific, tech entrepreneurs’ contextual constraints and coping strategies resemble those of emerging-economy entrepreneurs. Learning and adaptation throughout CEE founders’ entrepreneurial journey involves convergence to the mainstream practices asso- ciated with Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. The only undisputably CEE-specific features that we identified are related to certain per- sonality traits and capability deficits of the founders. This suggests that the behavioural patterns that entrepreneurs developed in the institutional and cultural environment of the command economy have been transmitted to the subsequent generation: they con- tinue to influence today’s tech entrepreneurs’ ambitions and abil- ities. Scholars’ widely shared hypothesis that generational change in CEE would create discontinuity in entrepreneurial quality is rejected.

A Szalavetz, A.: Technology startups in Central and Eastern Europe: are they CEE-specific? bejegyzés először VGI-én jelent meg.

Authors: Andrea Szalavetz, Agnieszka Skala

In: Geoforum, 154, 104074

Abstract

Some of the best technology startups born in CEE moved their headquarters to a foreign jurisdiction before scaling. These ventures became ‘foreign’ companies but kept the principal business functions in the countries of origin. We theorize about this phenomenon, referred to as virtual relocation, and consider what it conveys for the asserted reduced relevance of location-bound advantages and constraints in the digital era. We take a process approach and investigate the cases of 34 technology startups from Poland, Hungary, and Romania. We find that CEE startups’ choice of a ‘virtual’ type of relocation can be traced back to the tension between the retention factors and the push/pull factors influencing their locational decision. We show that the factors that push CEE startups away from their home countries, pull them to the destination country, and make them retain specific business functions in their home countries are equally location bound. If virtually relocated startups manage to seize the assumed opportunities in the destination country and scale, the virtualness of the HQ office will gradually fade: employment starts growing also at the HQ location.

A Szalavetz, A., Skala, A.: An empty shell? Relocation of central and eastern European startups, virtual headquarters and beyond bejegyzés először VGI-én jelent meg.

Author: Andrea Szalavetz

In: International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management (2024)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1504/IJATM.2024.10065215

Abstract

In response to the emergence of software-defined vehicles, incumbent OEMs announced software-focused strategies. Seeking to move software development in-house, they invested in building the requisite capabilities. This paper develops propositions about whether and how OEMs’ software-focused strategies might reshape the division of labour and value in automotive value chains. We propose that the evolution of industry architecture is shaped not only by incumbents’ shifting transactional choices regarding how they access the new technology inputs. There are several – occasionally counteracting – forces at play, generated by the efforts, interactions, and strategic pivots of heterogeneous actors. We argue that against predictions of disruptive change, the relative stability of industry architecture is also a conceivable scenario. Although incumbent OEMs’ software-related strategic initiatives were only partially successful in terms of financial performance, their investments in the internalisation of various software-defined functions will prevent excessive value migration and the commoditisation of their core offerings.

A Szalavetz, A.: In-house software development for software-defined vehicles: major changes ahead in automotive value chains? bejegyzés először VGI-én jelent meg.

Vor der Transition zur Elektromobilität

Authors: Martin Krzywdzinski, Bolesław Domański, Ştefan Guga, Krzysztof Gwosdz, Julia Kubisa, Katarína Lukáčová, Monika Martišková, Tibor Meszmann, Petr Pavlínek, Katarzyna Rakowska and Andrea Szalavetz

In: Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Working Paper Forschungsförderung Nummer 326, März 2024

Abstract (in German)

Die Transition zur Elektromobilität verläuft in Mittelost- und Südosteuropa langsamer als in Deutschland; zugleich wachsen Länder wie Polen und Ungarn zu wichtigen Komponentenstandorten für Elektromobilität heran. Daher werden durch die Transition mittelfristig keine negativen Beschäftigungseffekte erwartet, allerdings bleiben die Handlungsbedingungen für Gewerkschaften schwierig. Bei der Organisierung der Automobilzuliefererindustrie gibt es nur geringe Erfolge und die Koordination von Gewerkschaften innerhalb der Automobilzulieferbranche bleibt eher schwach.

A Szalavetz, A. et al.: Branchenanalyse Automobil- und Automobilzulieferindustrie in Mittelost- und Südosteuropa bejegyzés először VGI-én jelent meg.