Rolls-Royce in Singapore: Becoming a real partner in the group’s global network

• Main Authors: DE MEYER, Arnoud, JOSHI, Havovi
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2015
• Subjects: Manufacturing; manufacturing networks; ecosystems; knowledge management; operations; innovation; internationalisation; talent development; knowledge transfer; Human Resources Management; International Business; Operations and Supply Chain Management
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cases_coll_all/110; https://cmp.smu.edu.sg/case/3561
• Institution: Singapore Management University

This relatively short case describes the development of Rolls-Royce’s (RR) Seletar plant in Singapore, and in particular how the plant moved very quickly from a factory receiving information and innovation from its sister facility in the United Kingdom to a node in RR’s manufacturing network. The Seletar plant in Singapore is RR’s first overseas plant to assemble aircraft engines, as well as to produce some high tech components. It examines how to maintain the good network interactions after the plant has matured, and the initial attention paid to the new plant by the UK management has subsided. The case also pays particular attention to the transfer of knowledge from the UK to Singapore and the development of a capable local workforce and management. It is suitable for use in a course on operations management, to highlight a discussion of internationalisation of operations and global plant networks. It can also be used in a course on international management to illustrate how to manage knowledge in an international network. And can be used together with another case about the development by RR of an ecosystem to groom local manufacturing talent: “Rolls-Royce in Singapore: Harnessing the Power of the Ecosystem to Drive Growth”, by Arnoud de Meyer, Peter Williamson, Havovi Joshi and Christopher Dula, SMU-13-0031, http://casewriting.smu.edu.sg/case/rolls-royce-singapore-harnessing-power-ecosystem-drive-growth).