Competition, Competitive Advantage, and Clusters

Competition, Competitive Advantage, and Clusters
Author: Robert Huggins
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2012-09-20
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0191635987

Harvard professor, Michael Porter has been one of the most influential figures in strategic management research over the last three decades. He infused a rigorous theoretical framework of industrial organization economics with the then still embryonic field of strategic management and elevated it to its current status as an academic discipline. Porter's outstanding career is also characterized by its cross-disciplinary nature. Following his most important work on strategic management, he then made a leap to the policy side and dealt with a completely different set of analytical units. More recently he has made a foray into inner city development, environmental regulations, and health care services. Throughout these explorations Porter has maintained his integrative approach, seeking a road that links management case studies and the general model building of mainstream economics. With expert contributors from a range of disciplines including strategic management, economic development, economic geography, and planning, this book assesses the contribution Michael Porter has made to these respective disciplines. It clarifies the sources of tension and controversy relating to all the major strands of Porter's work, and provides academics, students, and practitioners with a critical guide for the application of Porter's models. The book highlights that while many of the criticisms of Porter's ideas are valid, they are almost an inevitable outcome for a scholar who has sought to build bridges across wide disciplinary valleys. His work has provided others with a set of frameworks to explore in more depth the nature of competition, competitive advantage, and clusters from a range of vantage points.

Competitive Advantages through Clusters

Competitive Advantages through Clusters
Author: Saša Šarić
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 251
Release: 2012-03-31
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3834935549

The world over, clusters are home to leading firms and institutions that compete on the edge of technology. They can be found in developed and developing countries alike and comprise such famous ones as Silicon Valley, London ‟s financial center, ceramic tile and fashion in north Italy, wine in Bordeaux, automotive in Stuttgart and Munich, software in Bangalore, and manufacturing in China ‟s Pearl-river delta. Today they are studied by a variety of scholars from different fields including economists, social scientists, and strategists, but also by a growing number of business practitioners and policy makers.3 As a result, knowledge on the capacity of clusters to promote regional economic development and national prosperity and the role of local industrial policy in creating new clusters has increased rapidly in recent years The present research is best described as being exploratory in nature. It elaborates and extends existing theory. By doing so, it takes up a distinct position within scientific theory that is defined by three levels of analysis: (1) the meta-methodological level, (2) the methodological level, and (3) the theoretical level.

Business Clusters

Business Clusters
Author: C. Jayachandran
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2020-11-29
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1000083799

The book contains a selection of papers on business clusters in its multiple perspectives. It has evolved from the research symposium organized by the The Society for Global Business and Economic Development (SGBED), an international group of academicians, at Dubai during January 2009. It begins with an introduction to the concept of clusters, and then examines their link to a host of strategic issues, such as their nexus to competitive advantage, their performance vis-à-vis their competitors who are not similarly agglomerated, and the challenges in measuring the performance of clusters. Regional economic clusters have serious policy implications. Governments, local as well as national, have used clusters as the unit for investment and infrastructure upgrading policies. It focuses on the normative aspects as well as practices and provides pointers on how public policies can help the development and growth of regional economic clusters. With numerous examples and cases from a host countries such as Dubai, Mexico, Spain and Karnataka (India), the book is a must read for all students of business strategy.

Regional Competitiveness

Regional Competitiveness
Author: Ron Martin
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2012-11-12
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1136012540

There is now a wide spread interest in regions as a key focus in the organization and governance of economic growth and wealth creation. This important book considers the factors that influence and shape the competitive performance of regions. This is not just an issue of academic interest and debate, but also of increasing policy deliberation and action. However, as the readings in this book make clear, the very idea of regional competitiveness is itself complex and contentious. Many academics and policy makers have used the concept without fully considering what is meant by the term and how it can be measured. Policy formulation has tended to rush ahead of understanding and analysis, and the purpose of this book is to close this important gap in understanding. This book was previously published as a special issue of Regional Studies.

Logistics Clusters

Logistics Clusters
Author: Yossi Sheffi
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2012-09-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0262305097

How logistics clusters can create jobs while providing companies with competitive advantage. Why is Memphis home to hundreds of motor carrier terminals and distribution centers? Why does the tiny island-nation of Singapore handle a fifth of the world's maritime containers and half the world's annual supply of crude oil? Which jobs can replace lost manufacturing jobs in advanced economies? Some of the answers to these questions are rooted in the phenomenon of logistics clusters—geographically concentrated sets of logistics-related business activities. In this book, supply chain management expert Yossi Sheffi explains why Memphis, Singapore, Chicago, Rotterdam, Los Angeles, and scores of other locations have been successful in developing such clusters while others have not. Sheffi outlines the characteristic “positive feedback loop” of logistics clusters development and what differentiates them from other industrial clusters; how logistics clusters “add value” by generating other industrial activities; why firms should locate their distribution and value-added activities in logistics clusters; and the proper role of government support, in the form of investment, regulation, and trade policy. Sheffi also argues for the most important advantage offered by logistics clusters in today's recession-plagued economy: jobs, many of them open to low-skilled workers, that are concentrated locally and not “offshorable.” These logistics clusters offer what is rare in today's economy: authentic success stories. For this reason, numerous regional and central governments as well as scores of real estate developers are investing in the development of such clusters. View a trailer for the book at: http://techtv.mit.edu/videos/22284-logistics-clusters-yossi-sheffi

Clusters and Competitive Advantage

Clusters and Competitive Advantage
Author: Ö. Öz
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2004-09-21
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0230512461

This book aims to clarify the link between geographic clustering and international competitiveness in light of the Turkish experience, a subject that is high on the agendas of researchers as well as policy makers and strategic planners. The key findings of the study are discussed with respect to the recent debates on clusters to provide a full account of what the Turkish experience, when looked from the viewpoint of the strategic management discipline, offers to further intellectual thinking on clusters.

Local Clusters in Global Value Chains

Local Clusters in Global Value Chains
Author: Valentina De Marchi
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 392
Release: 2017-07-28
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1351723995

The international fragmentation of economic activities – from research and design to production and marketing – described through the lens of the global value chain (GVC) approach impacts the structure and performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) agglomerated in economic clusters. The consolidation of GVCs ruled by global lead firms and the recession of 2008-09 exacerbated the pressures on cluster actors that based their competitive advantage on local systems, spurring an increasing heterogeneity, both across and within clusters, that is still overlooked in the literature. Drawing on detailed studies of different industries and countries, Local Clusters in Global Value Chains shows the co-evolutionary trajectories of clusters and GVCs, and the role of firms and their strategies in organizing manufacturing and innovation activities in the context of ongoing technological shifts. The book explores the tension between place-based variables and global drivers of change, and the possibility for territories containing such clusters to prosper in the new global scenario. By adopting insights from the GVC framework and management studies, the book discusses how the internationalization strategies of firms create opportunities as well as constraints for adaptive upgrading in clusters. This book is of interest to both researchers and policy-makers who are interested in the dynamic sources of competitive advantage in the global economy.

Sustainable Port Clusters and Economic Development

Sustainable Port Clusters and Economic Development
Author: Elvira Haezendonck
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 195
Release: 2019-03-18
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3319966588

This book belongs to the Port Economics and Global Supply Chain Management strand of the Palgrave Studies in Maritime Economics book series, commissioned by Hercules Haralambides. This book addresses the strategic alignment between port authorities and their supply chain partners, with a focus on governance challenges. Many port (authority) managers are engaged in efforts to improve their strategic alignment with business partners in their proximate geographic region, yet the economic objectives pursued can vary widely. These objectives can include improvements in port competitiveness and stability of traffic flows, as well as better access to scarce resources such as land and capital, or simply more control over the logistics chain. Using various Benelux seaports as case studies, the authors of this volume show that improving strategic alignment can involve a wide variety of different governance choices, ranging from top-down to bottom-up alliance formation, from project-driven to multi-activity collaboration, and from long-term contracting to full-fledged mergers. This book with state-of-the-art insight on modern port governance will be of interest to port managers around the globe, as well as to lecturers and students in maritime educational programs. Chapter 4 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Clusters of Competitiveness

Clusters of Competitiveness
Author: Raj Nallari
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 150
Release: 2013-08-28
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1464800499

Competition, competitiveness, innovation and growth are inherently linked. This book covers the main ideas underlying competitiveness and its applications, drawing lessons for developing economies and relevant policy recommendations.

Handbook of Research on Global Competitive Advantage through Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Handbook of Research on Global Competitive Advantage through Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Author: Carmo Farinha, Luís M.
Publisher: IGI Global
Total Pages: 820
Release: 2015-04-30
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 146668349X

As businesses seek to compete on a global stage, they must be constantly aware of pressures from all levels: regional, local, and worldwide. The organizations that can best build advantages in diverse environments achieve the greatest success. The Handbook of Research on Global Competitive Advantage through Innovation and Entrepreneurship explores the emergence of new ideas and opportunities in various markets and provides organizational leaders with the tools they need to take full advantage of those opportunities. With a focus on economic growth in a fast-paced environment, this handbook is a critical reference for business leaders, economists, and students of economic theory.