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THE STRATEGIC FACTORS SHAPING COMPETITIVENESS FOR MARITIME CLUSTERS: AN OVERVIEW
Peter J. StavroulakisPhD Student, Department of Maritime Studies, University of Piraeus
Prof. Stratos PapadimitriouProfessor, Department of Maritime Studies, University of Piraeus
WCTRS SIG2 2015 Conference ‘The Port and Maritime Sector: Key Developments and Challenges’11-12 May, University of Antwerp
Introduction Competitiveness is an intrinsic characteristic
of firms within industrial clusters Agglomeration economies are attractive for
they enjoy numerous competencies Studying industrial clusters gives birth to
strategic management topics
Objective The provision of a topology of strategic factors
concerning maritime clusters, their critical linkages with factors concerning other industrial clusters and their differentiation (if any)
Data/Methodology Literature/critical review Instrument extraction for inventory
compilation
Clusters, a Fascinating Phenomenon
Nature projects them as manifestations of abundance
Whether referencing clusters of insects such as ants or bees or clusters of industries, the astonishment we may hold is the same, for we can observe a marvelous instance of systems on ‘the edge of chaos’ (Macintosh e.a., 2007), self-sustained and always versatile, not only adapting, but always thriving within a complex and ever-changing environment
Why Bother? The paradigm is along the lines that
within this particular edge of chaos there is order, that within a given geographic location and following the ever-dictating scarcity principle, all members of the cluster may be able to benefit
Clusters require severe scrutiny, pristine analysis and recruitment of mighty mathematical instruments and even thence they do not surrender their mysteries completely
Clusters as it seems are a prominent part not only of strategy and business, but society, nature and life
Clusters as a Cornerstone for Analysis Natural attribute within human beings to
observe patterns and assign them to clusters has posed as the cornerstone of novel scientific domains (e.g. John Snow, 1854)
Intrinsic Cluster Parameter: Paradox
Paradox is inherent in cluster manifestation:a. For Smith it’s an ‘invisible hand’ that will
guide the benefit of a society within a geographical location “to promote an end which was no part of his intention”
b. For Marshall whence illustrating the near-permanence of localization it is the mysteries that are no mysteries “but as it were in the air, the children learn many of them subconsciously”
Industrial Cluster Theory Foundations
Cost reductions from Marshallian factors (1890/1920)1. labor market pooling in proximity-locality2. shared inputs-local supplier linkages3. knowledge spillovers (local)
4. The initiation of the localized industry requires the pertinent conditions, albeit physical potential (concentration of resources) and/or a centralized trigger effect
Marshallian Factors Today
Utilized from a variety of perspectives, e.g. to extract location strategies (Alcacer & Chung, 2010)
Research suggests that these factors are still prevalent (Potter and Watts, 2014)
Though Jacobs (1969) argues that the knowledge spillover source (and its underlying causes) lies in industry diversification and that its benefits are extra-industrial
Jacobs vs. Marshall Van Der Panne (2004) shows that innovation is favored
by Marshallian factors Beaudry and Schiffauerova (2009) conclude that both
models are viable Helsley and Strange (2014) demonstrate relevance of a
synergistic theory Galliano et alli (2014) highlight the benefits from utilizing
a model of the fusion of externalities, for “an area can be both diversified and specialized in the activity in which the firm in question is engaged”
This synergy of typologies may hint to a novel response as to the analysis of agglomeration economies, for the two concepts may not be regarded as mutually exclusive with respect to innovation
Modern Cluster Theory, M. Porter
“Increasing the current (static) productivity of constituent firms or industries, the increasing of capacity of cluster participants for innovation and productivity growth and stimulating new business formation that supports innovation and expands the cluster”
“Competitive advantage within the global economy seems to be local”
Diamond model
Cluster Theory Framework
Simmie (2004) shows that innovation (as a global dynamic system) drives competitiveness and discusses the linked processes that are productivity, innovation and competitiveness
Carbonara, N. (2004) directly links clusters’ competitiveness to innovation potential and their ‘cognitive system’ and provides a cluster typology with respect to distinct learning processes
Martin and Sunley (2003) provide a deconstruction of the cluster concept and its caveats and point out the fact that caution is required whence utilizing the concept
Industrial Clusters - SpecificsLinked Concepts: Knowledge creation
(Bathelt et alli, 2004; Feldman and Audretsch, 1999)
Centralization(Hendry et alli, 2000)
Innovation (Hassink, 1997; Delgado et alli, 2010; Simmie, 2004)
Culture(Gibson and Kong, 2005)
Policy-governance (Helmsing, 2001)
Cluster Theory Corollaries
Scope: City competitiveness can be examined within a cluster
approach framework (Lyamzin, 2005) Eco-innovation (Daddi e.a., 2012) can be examined with
its relation to competitivenessInstruments: Zhang et alli (2010) utilize the analytic hierarchy
process and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation Spencer et alli (2010) extract the basic parameters of
clusters from literature and find a correlation of clustering and financial output
Maritime Clusters Laaksonen and Mäkinen (2013)
utilize Porter’s diamond to analyze the competitiveness of the Baltic Sea maritime cluster
Benito et alli (2003) utilize the diamond model to analyze Norway’s maritime sector
Isaksen (2009) analyzes various Norwegian industrial clusters in terms of innovation dynamics
Jenssen (2003) explores the linkages of innovation and competitiveness
Shinohara (2010) Analyzes the Japanese maritime cluster to
promote the concept of ‘sustainable competitiveness’ with respect to the cluster
Stresses the importance of a shared culture and policy:1. education and research system2. corporate management style 3. mechanism of communications, knowledge
creation and its transmission 4. value system of work
Results Main factors affecting industrial cluster
competitiveness seem to bear similarities and there is little controversy as to the scope of the factors, as opposed to their breadth
Except for evident differentiation in industries and corporate culture, there exists no basic differentiation of the strategic factors with respect to maritime clusters
Main categories of strategic factors affecting:1. Cluster formulation2. Cluster competitiveness
Inventory CompilationRelated factors’ grouping: Cluster Formulation
1. Agglomeration Economies2. Domestic Industry3. Core Activity4. Conditions
Cluster Competitiveness 1. Oversight 2. Driving Industries 3. Infrastructure 4. Dynamics5. Linkages
Conclusions
A taxonomy based on cause and effect diagrams has been formulated as to the strategic factors and causes of competitiveness
The inventory of strategic factors can facilitate the review and analysis of strategic management of maritime clusters
It includes the pertinent indicators that have to be taken under consideration, as extracted from literature
Limitations and Future Directions
This overview in no way can be considered as a panacea, but rather as a dynamic inventory that has to be challenged, enriched and trialed
It would maybe yield interesting results to institute a quantitative methodological instrument to provide an analysis of the factors included herein
Empirical investigation for the prioritization of strategic factors