Managing the Intellectual Potential of Global Value Chains in the Context of Digitalization Challenges

Abstract

This article delves into the interrelationship among contemporary economic phenomena, namely global value chains, digitalization, and the management of intellectual potential. The paper scrutinizes and underscores the antecedents that led to the inception of the global value chains concept, and delineates an evolutionary diagram of this notion. The aim of this paper is to examine the importance of global value chain challenges and their impact in the digitalization context. To achieve this goal, the Delphi method of collective examination is used in order to conduct a large-scale survey with the involvement of economists working in the global value chains field. The results of the study show that the factor “Lack of skills in the use of digital technologies” is the most influential, and the factor “Corporate culture” is the least influential. A statistical survey was carried out, involving a sample of sixty respondents who are experts in the field. Subsequently, a number of challenges were ranked based on the scores obtained through the Delphi collective examination methodology. The research confirms the pronounced significance of macro groups encompassing challenges to cyber security and the degree of digitalization among the company’s personnel. The novelty of this research lies in the proposed classification of the challenges of the global value chains in the digitalization context and conclusions obtained thanks to the collective expertise regarding the significance of the classified factors.