Abstract

This paper outlines a study of the global supply chain of the aviation industry, which relies of theory and tools of a standard network analysis. The industry is described as a system of nodes, each of them being a distinct group of manufacturers with similar vertical specializations. The quality assessments of the customer/supplier relationships among these nodes, provided by experts, are used to infer the hierarchical structure of the industry, in such way to identify nodes (tasks) that are more strategically relevant. Moreover, by considering the portfolio of vertical specializations of almost 8.000 firms (chosen worldwide, based on their participation in at least one the most important aviation programs), this study assesses the probability for each type of firm to develop skills and know-how in a given node (tasks), based on the kind of specializations it has already achieved. This allows to detect some transition patterns, according to which selected firms (in this case, Italian firms) can hopefully evolve, in the aim to make their presence in aviation global supply chains more and more relevant.